Monday, November 2, 2015

[php snippet=33]

Things I like:

• the promo video for the 2015 Tournament of Champions

Things I don’t like:

• when Daylight Saving Time ends and I have to wear bright colors for a 5:00 p.m. run
• when people don’t wager properly

Marcus very nearly took this one down before Final, but our returning champ has a shot:

Katie Walker	Christine Qualey	Marcus Lewis
8,200	6,100	15,400

Tonight’s Final Jeopardy! category is:

WORLD GEOGRAPHY

 

First-order calculations

This one’s easy: Katie has to get it right to have a shot, so she should wager everything. Marcus can wager up to 3,200 to stay above a double-up by Christine.

Christine should play for second place; wagering zero is totally fine.

Katie		Christine		Marcus
8,200		6,100		15,400
FIRST-ORDER		SECOND-ORDER		COVER ZERO
min	max	min	max	min	max
6,200				1,000	3,200

What actually happened

Katie		Christine		Marcus
8,200		6,100		15,400
4,100		3,900		1,001
12,300		10,000		14,399
				min	max
8,200				1,001	3,199

Yikes. Looks like Katie decided to play for second place.

This is a violation of perhaps my most important rule: if you have to get it right to have a chance to win, just wager everything. (It also does call into question my advice to max out your wager as the leader on the assumption your opponents will wager rationally.)

We’ll see what Marcus does with his second chance at life tomorrow.

The Final Jeopardy! clue

WORLD GEOGRAPHY

THIS COUNTRY HAS 8 OF THE WORLD’S 10 HIGHEST PEAKS

[spoiler]What is Nepal?[/spoiler]

[php snippet=33]