Scores after Day 1, in case you’ve forgotten:
Leonard Cooper $3,000
Barrett Block $17,600
Nilai Sarda $19,000
J! round categories:
GUINNESS WORLD RECORDS
THE WEATHER & GEOGRAPHY REPORT
VIDEO GAME TIMELINE
TAKING “OFF”
HOW NOBEL OF THEM
ODDS & ENDS
Nilai went straight to wok on the Daily Double hunt and found it right away (under HOW NOBEL OF THEM $800) Betting the full $1,000, his clue was: He got his job at age 4; 49 years later, in 1989, he won a Nobel Peace Prize. Unfortunately, his incorrect answer and his score fell to -$1,000 right out of the gate.
It was a very competitive game from there on out, with Nilai and Leonard picking up most of the clues! Barrett only got in five times in 28 clues (3 correct, 2 negs), whereas the other two built up their scores! The scores after the Jeopardy! round:
Leonard $5,800
Nilai $4,800
Barrett $1,800
One surprising fact for me (GUINNESS $200): How low can you go in this party dance? One girl passed under a bar set just 8 1/2 inches off the floor — how on earth is that even possible?!?
DJ! round categories:
IT HAPPENED IN FEBRUARY
SPACE STUFF
FILM FEST
AMERICAN LIT
TEEN-LETTER WORDS
ODD ENDS
You’ve got to hand it to Nilai, doing his best to take out the Daily Doubles! He picked off the first one, on the 4th clue of the round (IT HAPPENED IN FEBRUARY $1200) Scores at this point were:
Nilai $8,400
Leonard $5,800
Barrett $1,800
Nilai bet just $2,000. His clue: Though technically in winter, the protests that toppled Egypt’s leader in February 2011 were part of this This time, Nilai gave the correct response, and his score went up to $10,400!
Meanwhile, Leonard and Barrett, who had taken a couple of $400 clues throughout the round, eventually joined in the hunt as we moved through the round. Good on them! As it turns out, the final Daily Double was at the $800 level (under AMERICAN LIT)! Leonard got to play it. Barrett had picked up on the buzzer a bit, and Nilai got a few clues, but Leonard built his score up to $18,200 by the time he got to answer the clue. The full scores were:
Leonard $18,200
Nilai $13,600
Barrett $8,200
Leonard tried to take full advantage, betting $18,000 on the clue! Good on you!
His clue: In Reginald Rose’s play “Twelve Angry Men”, the men are all members of one of these – his correct response put him at $36,200!
Going into Final, the scores were:
Leonard $37,000 ($3,000 yesterday)
Nilai $14,400 ($19,000 yesterday)
Barrett $9,000 ($17,600 yesterday)
Wagering strategy:
Nilai’s highest possible score is $47,800. Barrett’s is $35,600. Thus, Leonard needs to bet $7,801 here to guarantee he beats Nilai. If he’s wrong, he falls to $32,199. Thus, Barrett might as well bet everything, because the only way he wins is if he’s right. For Nilai, betting $1,200 to stay above $32,200 won’t work as it doesn’t keep Barrett locked out, so *he* might as well bet everything as well!
FJ! category: MILITARY MEN
FJ! clue: On June 6, 1944 he said, “The eyes of the world are upon you”
Barrett 9000 + 9000 = 18000 + 17600 = 35600
Nilai 14400 – 7000 = 7400 + 19000 = 26400
Leonard 37000 – 0 = 37000 + 3000 = 40000
Leonard is a very lucky man. He was very close to having a lot of egg on his face, because he wasn’t so guaranteed to win that $75,000! I was floored by that bet!
What this means now, after watching this tournament, I’m just going to flat out offer this: If you’re going onto the Teen Tournament in the future, I will be more than willing to help you with betting strategy. Chances are, your opposition isn’t going to know anything about this, and it will help your chances considerably!
The Tournament of Champions starts tomorrow — I’m sure the play will be stellar!