Andy with the recap of the final regular game before 4 weeks of tournaments!
The Teen Tournament starts tomorrow; here are the 15 contestants!
Lila Anderson, Minnetonka, MN
Kelton Ellis, Macon, GA
Irene Vazquez, Houston, TX
Brittany Poppen, Goodyear, AZ
Nilai Sarda, Marietta, GA
Katie Stone, El Paso, TX
Arjun Byju, Sarasota, FL
William Crouch, Warner Robbins, GA
Olivia Hummer, Covina, CA
Tori Amos, Englewood, OH
Leonard Cooper, Little Rock, AR
Jordan Villanueva, Moweaqua, IL
Barrett Block, Lexington, KY
Emily Greenberg, Westport, CT
Joe Vertnik, Mound, MN
Back to the regular play for a few more minutes, though! Robert Chodola and Allison Swanberg are the challengers for Joshua Brakhage! Joshua has won $69,611 for 4 days so far!
Just a reminder: if Joshua loses today, he’s in this Tournament of Champions. If he wins today, he gets held off until the next one!
If you’ve got questions you’d like us to ask of any of today’s contestants, let us know!
J! Round categories:
MINT MARKS
RECENT BOOKS
AMERICAN KNIGHTS
THE RACE IS ON
NATURE
WE’RE PULLING 3 Gs
The opening 15 clues belonged mostly to Joshua! He even got the $400 clue about snakes in NATURE! His checked shirt created an interesting effect on my TV — you’d think a TV news producer would know better!
At the end of 15 clues, the scores sat at:
Joshua $5,400
Alison $1,600
Robert $1,000
The crowd appreciated Robert’s eyerolling on the following clue (RECENT BOOKS $800): In 2012 these 2 words preceded “Darker” & “Freed” on The New York Times bestseller list.
The Daily Double was in AMERICAN KNIGHTS $800, and it took a long time to find (the penultimate clue of the round!). Joshua got to play it, with scores sitting at:
Joshua $9,000
Alison $4,000
Robert $2,200
Joshua bet just $1,000. His clue: For his “outstanding contribution to global economic stability”, he was honored in 2002. Alex was plum shocked when Joshua came up with the correct answer, bringing his score to $10,000!
At the end of the round, after Robert negged the $1,000 clue, picked up by Joshua, the scores were:
Joshua $11,000
Allison $4,000
Robert $1,200
DJ! round categories:
MINT MARKS
THE ARTIST
FOREIGN WORDS & PHRASES
THE 1940s
HONORARY ACADEMY AWARDS
“E”-OGRAPHY
Coming out of the break, Allison and Robert found their buzzer mojo, and were making a comeback! However, it was Joshua who played the first Daily Double, under THE 1940s $1600. Scores:
Joshua $13,400
Allison $8,400
Robert $5,200
He bet just $600. His clue: In 1948, Ilona Elek retained her Olympic fencing title–pretty impressive, as the previous title was in this year. Another correct response put him at $14,000, but I can’t help but think he’s leaving a ton of money on the table!
It definitely seemed like the conservative betting was going to come back to haunt Joshua when Alison, after picking up the $2,000 clue in “E”-OGRAPHY, was within striking distance when she picked up the final Daily Double (under HONORARY ACADEMY AWARDS $1200).
Joshua $16,400
Allison $12,000
Robert $5,200
Her bet: just $4,000. Sigh. Her clue: 1966: To Yakima Canutt “For achievements as” one of these & “for developing safety devices to protect” them. Her correct response put her at $16,000.
That’s one thing I can never understand: why contestants in general are so afraid to bet money on Daily Doubles, yet are so willing to bet way too much money in Final Jeopardy! By my experience, Daily Doubles play easier than Final Jeopardy!
Back to the game, Joshua was only able to ring in on a $400 clue, whereas Allison and Robert picked up the rest of the HONORARY ACADEMY AWARDS and MINT MARKS clues, leading to scores going into Final Jeopardy! of:
Allison $20,800
Joshua $16,800
Robert $8,000
FJ! category: METEOROLOGICAL TERMS
FJ! clue: In the 1940s an anemometer aided Antarctic experiments that 1st determined this measurement heard in weather reports
Robert 8000 – 7500 = 500
Joshua 16800 + 16794 = 33594
Allison 20800 – 3500 = 17300
Really not sure what Allison was thinking with that bet. I’m sure Jeanie will ask about it in her Q&A, though!
That said, in Allison’s spot, if you really think that Joshua is going to bet small here (i.e. less than $800), you yourself have to make sure that you don’t fall beneath $17,600! I could have seen plenty of justification for a bet of $3,199 or smaller here, but not $3,500.
That said, Joshua’s now got a 5-day total of $103,205! He’ll be back after the Tournament of Champions to continue his run!
Here are the final standings for the February 2013 Tournament of Champions:
1. Monica Thieu $100,000 (College Champion)
2. Patrick Quinn $100,000 (Feb. 2012 Teacher’s Champion)
3. Colby Burnett $100,000 (Nov. 2012 Teacher’s Champion)
4. Jason Keller $213,900 (9 wins)
5. Keith Whitener $147,597 (7 wins)
6. Stephanie Jass $147,570 (7 wins)
7. Joel Pool $116,800 (6 wins)
8. Dave Leach $98,054 (6 wins)
9. David Menchaca $115,503 (5 wins)
10. Kristin Morgan $69,058 (5 wins)
11. Paul Nelson $54,900 (5 wins)
12. Jason Shore $85,200 (4 wins)
13. David Gard $84,700 (4 wins)
14. Ashok Poozhikunnel $69,002 (4 wins)
15. Dan McShane $62,001 (4 wins)
—
16. Patrick Morrison $80,701 (3 wins)
17. Francis Lansangan $78,401 (3 wins)
18. Matt Samberg $61,402 (3 wins)
19. Andy Baggarly $60,402 (3 wins)
20. Kris Hamilton $60,301 (3 wins)
21. Alistair Bell $56,800 (3 wins)
22. Paula Menasche $55,100 (3 wins)
23. Stephanie Fontaine $54,500 (3 wins)
24. Joey Falco $53,999 (3 wins)
25. Susan Jann $53,800 (3 wins)
26. Erin Zweiner $53,399 (3 wins)
27. Beau Henson $51,203 (3 wins)
28. Margaret Swanson $48,000 (3 wins)
29. Claudia Gray $45,202 (3 wins)
30. Dan Adkison $37,400 (3 wins)
31. Jacob Silverman $35,998 (3 wins)
32. Jessamine Price $26,803 (3 wins)
and, here are the standings for the following Tournament:
1. Joshua Brakhage $103,205 (5 wins)
The Teen Tournament starts tomorrow! Jeanie will have the first quarterfinal!