Thursday, July 5, 2012 Game Recap & Discussion [SPOILERS]

[Austin Powers]

The thing with Alaska is that there is enough people in Anchorage that they'd need cars, and Anchorage is where something like 40% of the state's people live. It's wrong for the same reason NYC makes NY right.

Even in Kodiak, where Pit Bull will be sent once that Facebook Wal Mart contest is over, is such that you'd need a car or snowplow to get to Wal Mart, I would think.

[Fishercat]

Honolulu's traffic was horrific, but I figured with such a large rural population, with the likely spiked price of everything, would dissuade people from driving. Not so much, though I was surprised NY was so low.

I really enjoyed this game til FJ. Glad they all got it right, but man, the wagers. I can't imagine finally getting on the show and wagering in that kind of way. To recap, I'll spoiler the scores just in case

Spoiler: show

1st Place: 12,600 (100)
2nd Place: 10,000 (2401)
3rd Place: 6,200 (1000)

To me, it seems like first place must wager to cover 2nd. I THINK I know what she was getting at: bidding 100 kept third place from having any shot at coming back, guaranteeing at least 2k and making it a two horse race. I disagree with the strategy entirely of course, but I see it. She got incredibly lucky that second place's wager was so conservative.

2nd place baffles me. I mean, I get it. A 2,401 bet guarantees him second place, but I see literally no downside to bidding, say, 2601, or up to 3799 (hell, if he wanted to push 10k, I wouldn't blame him, but the ideal range was 2601-3799). Let's face it, if he gets it wrong and 3rd place gets it right, odds were pretty good that a rational bet passes him anyway. I think with that little of a difference, you have to pressure the leader to get it right.

Third, I don't have a huge issue with. The logical bets of 7601 and 2601, if they both got it wrong, put the leader at 4999 and the 2nd place player at 7399. As such, I would have preferred an 1200 bet, but 1000 at least keeps him ahead on a single get without jeopardizing him completely on a triple stumper.

I know that if I ever get on the show, I'll probably bring 2k into Final Jeopardy, but if I can go in with a lead, I can't imagine wagering to give it up to a reasonable bet.

Oh well, what's done is done. I still like the new champ, great personality and solid knowledge base, so no complaints on that front. I even liked the game, even if some of those bowling clues were TSes (Double is a reasonably common bowling term, for the record, but I think you have to bowl enough for it to stick). Those clues in general were a bit odd.

[Vanya]

Never occurred to guess New York, simply because every time I see pictures of New York streets, they're always packed with cars.

Yeahbut, they are mostly taxis (13,000 of 'em):



My brother lives in Queens, and drives to work (also in Queens). But nearly everyone I have met from NYC does not know how to drive. Easy FJ.

[Le Master]

I take it these contestants don't obsessively watch Seinfeld.

0:50
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=grM3U3qf ... page#t=50s

[jeff6286]

So the reason that 58% figure seemed so low to all of us is that it didn't say "residents of driving age", it just said residents. So all the NY children under age 16 contribute to pull that number down pretty significantly. The first list I've been able to find online has data from 2003-2004, and it shows NY and TX as both having 59% of the population (With District of Columbia actually "first" with 56.9%) with licenses, while the list based on driving age population has the District of Columbia at 67.3%, followed by NY 74.9%, MN 76.6%, TX 81.6%, IL 82.4%, MD 82.9%, then CA, HI, CO, PA, IA. Alaska is 48th on this list, so apparently everyone in Alaska has drivers licenses, meaning that those of us who thought that was a good answer (myself included) could not have been more wrong.

Links to those two lists: http://www.statemaster.com/graph/trn_li ... per-capita
http://www.statemaster.com/graph/trn_li ... population

If someone can find a more recent list, please post a link, as my google searching has come up empty thus far.

[hbomb1947]

Never occurred to guess New York, simply because every time I see pictures of New York streets, they're always packed with cars.

Yeahbut, they are mostly taxis (13,000 of 'em):



My brother lives in Queens, and drives to work (also in Queens). But nearly everyone I have met from NYC does not know how to drive. Easy FJ.

Umm, no it's not an easy FJ. Leaving aside all the distinguished people on this board who got it wrong . . . A large percentage of the people in NYC aren't from New York originally (it's one of those cities that the best and brightest famously gravitate to), and would have learned to drive while attending suburban high schools in the towns that they grew up in. And again, Manhattan does not equal New York State.

[Vanya]

I take it these contestants don't obsessively watch Seinfeld.

Or they have a lot of sex.

[Bob78164]

Figures that the all-in suicide wager would've won.

For FJ I spent a bunch of time trying to think of geographical reasons why such a low % of residents would be drivers, then gave up and WAGged NY. In hindsight, it makes sense, with all the mass transit, but 58% still seems awfully low. Those 58% sure do clog up the roads.

Also, a moment of silence for all the Daily Doubles that Chris flushed down the toilet

I think "residents" includes kids who are too young to drive. --Bob

[TenPoundHammer]

Okay, if even I call you out on a bad wager, it was a bad wager. And remember, I'm the one who couldn't even add 50 + 20 + 10 correctly.

Stupid moment du jour: "Oh, that line in bowling where you get a foul if you step over it. What's it called?"

Rhubarb can mean something other than the food? That cost me a run.

I went with AK, figuring the many towns out there that are on remote islands and can only be reached by plane, boat, etc. Congratulations to me — that is my 10,000th incorrect guess in a row!

[Johnblue]

I live on Long Island an up until 3 yrs ago I could have sworn everybody over 16 had a license & a car. The recession has eased the traffic, ong with gas prices. Sadly, I guessed Utah because I figured all those young Mormons would lower the percentage. Ah well...

I was stunned by some of the TSs, especially the actor ones & tungsten. I only know that because of J!

Good game overall except for the middle huy's bad DD wagers/misses. Looking forward to new champ's return.

[Bob78164]

Honolulu's traffic was horrific, but I figured with such a large rural population, with the likely spiked price of everything, would dissuade people from driving. Not so much, though I was surprised NY was so low.

I really enjoyed this game til FJ. Glad they all got it right, but man, the wagers. I can't imagine finally getting on the show and wagering in that kind of way. To recap, I'll spoiler the scores just in case

Spoiler: show

1st Place: 12,600 (100)
2nd Place: 10,000 (2401)
3rd Place: 6,200 (1000)

To me, it seems like first place must wager to cover 2nd. I THINK I know what she was getting at: bidding 100 kept third place from having any shot at coming back, guaranteeing at least 2k and making it a two horse race. I disagree with the strategy entirely of course, but I see it. She got incredibly lucky that second place's wager was so conservative.

2nd place baffles me. I mean, I get it. A 2,401 bet guarantees him second place, but I see literally no downside to bidding, say, 2601, or up to 3799 (hell, if he wanted to push 10k, I wouldn't blame him, but the ideal range was 2601-3799). Let's face it, if he gets it wrong and 3rd place gets it right, odds were pretty good that a rational bet passes him anyway. I think with that little of a difference, you have to pressure the leader to get it right.

Third, I don't have a huge issue with. The logical bets of 7601 and 2601, if they both got it wrong, put the leader at 4999 and the 2nd place player at 7399. As such, I would have preferred an 1200 bet, but 1000 at least keeps him ahead on a single get without jeopardizing him completely on a triple stumper.

I know that if I ever get on the show, I'll probably bring 2k into Final Jeopardy, but if I can go in with a lead, I can't imagine wagering to give it up to a reasonable bet.

Oh well, what's done is done. I still like the new champ, great personality and solid knowledge base, so no complaints on that front. I even liked the game, even if some of those bowling clues were TSes (Double is a reasonably common bowling term, for the record, but I think you have to bowl enough for it to stick). Those clues in general were a bit odd.

There's virtually no reason for third-place to wager 1200. I think I can count on my thumbs the number of times I've seen leaders wager more than the shut-out wager. So if third-place is going to wager more than 1000, she might as well go all-in. --Bob

[Vanya]

My brother lives in Queens, and drives to work (also in Queens). But nearly everyone I have met from NYC does not know how to drive. Easy FJ.

Umm, no it's not an easy FJ. Leaving aside all the distinguished people on this board who got it wrong . . . A large percentage of the people in NYC aren't from New York originally (it's one of those cities that the best and brightest famously gravitate to), and would have learned to drive while attending suburban high schools in the towns that they grew up in. And again, Manhattan does not equal New York State.

OK, easy for me.

[Austin Powers]

The FJ is not "easy" because the state that is second - Texas - has nothing in common with New York, or so all my friends in both tell me. Except for large immigrant populations - which certainly helps with the stat.

I'm not a fan of questions that require you to essentially guess the correct reasoning to get to the answer. I could see any number of thought processes leading you to a certain state, and it's not like you'd know the right process to take as a matter of fact. I think the numbers showing that so many states are under 65% registration points to this.

[jeff6286]

My brother lives in Queens, and drives to work (also in Queens). But nearly everyone I have met from NYC does not know how to drive. Easy FJ.

Umm, no it's not an easy FJ. Leaving aside all the distinguished people on this board who got it wrong . . . A large percentage of the people in NYC aren't from New York originally (it's one of those cities that the best and brightest famously gravitate to), and would have learned to drive while attending suburban high schools in the towns that they grew up in. And again, Manhattan does not equal New York State.

OK, easy for me.

I thought New York was the "obvious" answer, but wasn't sure if that would mean that it was right or wrong. I immediately wrote down New York, California, Hawaii, then after a few seconds crossed out California (Everyone in L.A. drives, right?), then wrote down Alaska as well. I thought long and hard about just sticking with NY since I figured I would guess wrong on Alaska/Hawaii, but then thinking about how spread out Alaska is, and that lots of people might travel by plane, boat (?), snowmobile (do you need a license for those?), I decided to cross out NY and Hawaii and stick with Alaska. Turns out I thought about it way too much and should have stuck with the obvious answer. However, based on the lists I've seen, New York is nowhere close to being a runaway leader in this statistic, so just because the most obvious answer turned out to be correct doesn't (to me) mean that it was an easy clue.

[TenPoundHammer]

I'm not a fan of questions that require you to essentially guess the correct reasoning to get to the answer. I could see any number of thought processes leading you to a certain state, and it's not like you'd know the right process to take as a matter of fact. I think the numbers showing that so many states are under 65% registration points to this.

This. My logic skills are completely lacking, but I still felt Alaska was a good guess. I never would've imagined that NY was right, since I didn't a.) think about taxis and stuff, or b.) think that NYC would tilt the numbers that much since NY is a very large state with lots of sizeable metro areas.

[bpmod]

OK. In hindsight, I probably should have gotten NY. I drive in New York state quite frequently, and it should be abundantly clear that quite a few of the drivers I have encountered there do not have licenses.

But in all seriousness, even though I know lots of people who don't own cars, nor drive on a regular basis (myself included*), I do not know very many who do not have licenses.

*Even without a car of my own, I will have driven over 20,000km this year.

Brian

[jeff6286]

*Even without a car of my own, I will have driven over 20,000km this year.
Brian

I've been driving for over 15 years, and I don't think I've ever driven a single kilometer. All my driving has been in miles.

[TenPoundHammer]

I've been driving for over 15 years, and I don't think I've ever driven a single kilometer. All my driving has been in miles.

He's here all week. Try your waitress and tip your veal.

[Bamaman]

Facts & Figures
With only 58% of residents, this U.S. state has the lowest percentage of licensed drivers.

Spoiler: show

What is New York?

Stephanie Fontaine: $12,600+$100=$12,700...now a 1-day champion with $12,700
Ron KIng: $10,000+$2,401=$12,401
Chris Sullivan: $6,200+$1,000=$7,200

I liked Chris' wager on one point. He beats Stephanie if they are both wrong and she makes the MSB. However, he does not have enough to catch Ron if Ron makes the MSB.

A gutsy bet by Steph and not one I'd make, but it paid off.

On FJ, New York was all that came to mind and couldn't come up with anything else. I've always heard nobody in NYC drives, so I went with it.

I had never heard of an octant, but went with it since it fit the 1/8 clue and began with an o. Not sure if it would be octant or octent, but i mumbled my reply enough to here it could sound like either and gave myself credit for it.

I did not know the element, but the hint started with a w, so I WAGed tungsten (thanks TD games) and got it.



Chris was in bad shape on the last DD. He did not seem to like the category and could not take the lead or even second place, without risking getting locked out. I wish one of the others had gotten the penultimate clue to see how they'd bet.

[trainman]

I live on Long Island an up until 3 yrs ago I could have sworn everybody over 16 had a license & a car.

My one "offline" friend who is not a licensed driver grew up in Hicksville (and now lives in Astoria, Queens).