What do people think of the bartender's FJ strategy? IIRC, he's bet enough from second to give himself a $1 lead, which means he's relying on either a zero bet or a miss by the leader.

It feels wrong, but I can't put my finger on why. Maybe I'm being results-oriented, seeing him get the answer and thinking "you should've doubled up!"

Normally when you have at least 2/3 the leader's total (and 3rd is a non-factor), the standard strategy is to bet very small or $0. The reasoning is that you're losing whenever 1st place gets FJ right anyway, but now you'll win anytime they get it wrong, regardless of whether you do (assuming 1st makes the standard bet to cover your double-up).

In this case though, looks like 3rd place was a possibility to shove, so he had to cover her double-up too. This means he had to bet too much to win on a triple stumper, unless 1st place overbets also. (I didn't watch the episode yet so I'm just going by what I see on j-archive.)

In a rational opponents situation, if you have to get it right to win, then just shove unless your odds are slim and the 2nd vs 3rd matters to you (and does NOT sacrifice your win%).

But I can’t fault people Too much for making the minimum cover bet as long as they don’t screw up their chance to win. Lots of weird overbets that give backdoor win chances.

Much less upset at some missed EV vs blown chance to win.

And Dennis with the classic underbet on two DDs and then a massive overbet down only $700 in FJ. Should had the lead. Had all kinds of room to stay above first’s cover bet but somehow managed to finish third.

Friday wagers

John Cuevas: 10600-7801=2799
Heather Nelson: 9200-1401=7799 (New Champ)
Ashwin Monian: 6000-1=5999

2nd can cover 3rd safely without dropping belows 3rds current score and also staying above 1sts cover bet miss. I like the instinct not to shove but she didn’t consider all the options and underbet. (2801 ideal)

3rd Should at least wager enough to get above 2nds cover miss (400) And has room to cover 2nds 1401 miss by Betting 1800. Again I like the instinct to not shove but still doesn’t understand the math in play.

So they both tried to go up a level but effed it up.

One clue left on the board and it's a Daily Double, scores are:

16000
13400
11200

First gets it and wagers..................4000.

Bought you basically nothing. I guess it made 3rd wager something. But yeah you either go huge or go very small there.

LOL literary knowledge on the stage yesterday.

Dates of 1933 and 1955 in the FJ clue and two contestants pick poets born in 1817 and 1819.

Yes I yelled at the TV “wrong century morons”

Just took the online test. Don't feel I killed it, but did close to as well as I could.

A few subjects (the Tony Awards, something about Shakespeare) that I had absolutely no idea on, so just plugged in a play name.

I feel like there was only one or two I really should've gotten but blanked, or got the answer late enough to be unable to complete typing it in before the test moved forward.

It wasn't really clear how/when they respond, but I assume I'll get an email in the next few days telling me my score.

you don't get a score. I took the test too. Missed the same subjects you mentioned as well. The only easy question I doinked on was blanking on who wrote the 50 shades books.

Pretty sure you just wait to be invited to an inperson audition or just get crickets until you take it again next time.

If you're missing a question about MacBeth, you really need to bone up on your Shakespeare if you expect to compete; that's one of the most popular categories.

I got 42/50 (could have gotten 48 by cheating... they should probably only give you 10 seconds to answer).

Yeah, I see in their response no scores given out. Maybe I'll have to employ some hackers from the DPRK.

Also blanked on the 50 shades question, and the Russian author up front.

I think there's very little shot at me getting to an audition. I probably scored a bit below you, in the 38-40 range. You're right, though, if I ever got a call, I'd want to study up on literature and art.

I also found it strange that they make you pick your audition city before the test. There were none near me, so I picked Minneapolis, which is near my hometown. I'm thinking if I happened into an audition, I could also spin up north for a visit.

But that would depend on the time of year. I don't want to fly into MSP in the winter any more. If it was a winter audition, I'd rather go to Miami or LA or something.

Seems as if it should be reversed: "Hey, we'd like to have you audition, here are upcoming cities and dates, which work for you?" instead.

Apparently they notify by email up to a year later if they're interested.

Here's a link to an FAQ page if anyone's interested.

I killed the first half (maybe missed 1), but had 4 blanks in the second 25 plus 3 uncertain, so it looks like I'm hovering around 42.

I've usually chosen Boston as my audition city or NY the one time Boston wasn't on the list. This year, I was shocked (pleasantly) to see Providence as an option. Maybe that bodes well for me.

Just watched this and it was amazing. It's not like she immediately said 4k either, she thought about it for a few seconds and then settled on 4k as the right amount.

Also that 'Subway subs are wrapped in' clue was stupid. Paper is a valid answer. As is tortilla.

Page/beep and maybe email should have been accepted on that fax me answer. Did they correct the net score for beep me after they accepted page me?

Was it me or did the three contestants look like the other kids competing for the chocolate factory?

Also champ made another DD faux pas. Two columns of clues. Two DDs left and she goes vertical. Almost caught her the game. Way to goad the guy into shoving Alex.

A beeper and a pager are the same thing.

A fax machine isn't even in the same ballpark.

If "Page me" is right, so is "beep me" and "fax me" is wrong.

If "Fax me" is right, the other two are wrong.

Terrible decision.

Did they adjust the score for the wrapped in paper question?

"Fax me" and "Page me" were both on the candy. "Beep Me" wasn't. Still, it's a bad clue which has 2 possible answers and they didn't pin it down further.

I'm in the contestant pool right now, so I was only able to take the test for fun yesterday and today. Yesterday seemed easier to me, at 44 right. Today was 38, though I biffed on ones I definitely should have known.

OK, then that makes sense. I only remembered "Fax me". I accept that creating unique clues has to be hard. That said, this one was a miss.

Champ last night getting really angry about being beat on the buzzer had my wife laughing.

Yeah, I noticed her reaction on the wider shot a couple of times. I kind of felt she knew the game was slipping away, and was trying to press to catch up.

She got crushed in the buzzer at the end so I don’t think her LOL 2,000 DD wager cost her but it certainly could have.

Way late to the party but finally caught up GOAT episodes. Ken is a boss and even if Brad is past his prime I always have felt like just on pure knowledge Ken is the best. James gave it a good run. Feel like Arthur or Roger would have been better suited. Really seemed like Brad fired the first answer that came to his head on all his failed DDs.