Tuesday, March 3, 2015

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We started our week off with a very good game – will we keep it up?

Indeed, we will! Aggressive Daily Double hunting, solid wagering, and a wealth of knowledge have led us to this situation.

(Did I mention it’s snowing again?)

Thomas Phillips	Alvin Chin	Erin Summers
10,000	16,100	23,400

Tonight’s Final Jeopardy! category is:

U.S. STATES

Before Thomas received credit for “no decision,” bringing his score up from 8,400, things were more complicated; now, they’re straightforward.

First-order calculations

Second doubles up

If Alvin doubles his score, he’ll have 32,200.

To cover him, Erin will need to wager 8,800.

Thomas	Alvin	Erin
10,000	16,100	23,400
	16,100	8,800
	32,200	32,200

An incorrect response with that wager will leave Erin with 14,600.

To stay above her total, Alvin can wager up to 1,500.

Thomas must respond correctly to have a shot, so all-in is the way to go.

Thomas	Alvin	Erin
10,000	16,100	23,400
4,600	1,500	8,800
14,600	14,600	14,600

Third doubles up

A successful doubling will put Thomas at 20,000.

To cover this, Alvin should wager at least 3,900 – but since he must get it right to have a shot, he should go for broke.

Erin could wager at most 3,400 to guarantee a win against Thomas – but she’d risk having Alvin pass her.

Thomas	Alvin	Erin
10,000	16,100	23,400
10,000	3,900	3,400
20,000	20,000	20,000

Had Thomas remained at 8,400, Alvin could have covered him with just 700, giving him a legitimate lower range (and possibly entering into some mind games with Erin).

Here’s where we stand:

That’s basically all we have to do.

What actually happened

Alvin came to win – and he was duly rewarded, taking home the fourth-largest payday of the season. (Remember our biggest score was that tie at $36,400 – a huge hit for the production crew, I’m sure.)

Thomas gets pink because he fails to cover that possible (but bad) 1,500 wager out of Alvin.

The Final Jeopardy! clue

U.S. STATES

IT’S THE ONLY STATE NAME THAT CAN BE TYPED USING THE LETTERS ON ONLY ONE ROW OF THE STANDARD KEYBOARD

[spoiler]What is Alaska?[/spoiler]

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