Transcript 11/10/2009 Tony Westmoreland (ToT #9)

[BBTranscriptTeam]

Tony Westmoreland #9
Says he really needed the money and did not want to risk it even though the ATE, also Ken Jennings, provided what turned out to be the correct answer at 100K.
However his wife said go ahead and risk it now.

Time banked: 2:22 Total time 3:07

(potential) $1M:
What great thinker's death is attributed to a chill he caught while stuffing a chicken with snow for an experiment on refrigeration?
A. Pythagoras B. Archimedes
C. Isaac Newton D. Francis Bacon

still shot

Spoiler

He was leaning towards D but admits he does not know it and can't eliminate any choices for sure. He decides to leave with the $50K again.

D. Francis Bacon (walk at 1:02)

After Tony walks, they introduce Sam Murray, the ToT player for tomorrow.

[vettech]

Man, I had this one!!

Spoiler

I eliminated A and B immediately because they were Greek and wouldn't be playing with a lot of snow. I figured if it were Newton I would've heard about it. So Bacon by process of elimination. I'm sure someone will point out the flaw in that logic, but it led me down the right road.

Now, whether I would've had the guts to go for it in that situation, it would depend. If I had only gotten to $50K, probably. Any higher, maybe not.

[drew scheeler]

Instaget for me.

Also, Pythagoras was the leader of a cult of vegetarians. I don't think that he would play with chickens.

[hanzz]

I thought it was

Spoiler

Archimedes

because

Spoiler

he seemed like the kind of eccentric to do an experiment like that, and he seemed to dabble in that area of physics often.

Ah well, tough luck for Tony!

But I guess

Spoiler

since we know there is indeed a Million-dollar winner, no harm, no foul!

[themanwho]

But I guess

Spoiler

since we know there is indeed a Million-dollar winner, no harm, no foul!

Or,

Spoiler

in Mr. Bacon's case, it would have been no fowl, no harm

!

-MM

[MarleysGh0st]

TPTB like the contestants with the economic need stories, this season, but it doesn't make for an exciting tournament when they can't accept the risk of a 40:1 pay-out.

[themanintheseersuckersuit]

I thought it was

Spoiler

Archimedes

because

Spoiler

he seemed like the kind of eccentric to do an experiment like that, and he seemed to dabble in that area of physics often.

Ah well, tough luck for Tony!

But I guess

Spoiler

since we know there is indeed a Million-dollar winner, no harm, no foul!

Spoiler

The death of Archimedes is a great and tragic story in itself.

Spoiler

[MarleysGh0st]

In Tony's original stack, the topic for his $1 million question was supposed to be "Nostradamus". Since this question can't fit that topic, by any stretch of the imagination, this would refute the suggestion that TPTB saved the contestants original questions for the tournament.

viewtopic.php?f=1&t=22801

[Bob Juch]

This is the second one I knew cold (pun intended) - before the answers were shown.

[rgcviper]

But I guess

Spoiler

since we know there is indeed a Million-dollar winner, no harm, no foul!

Personally, I'd put some big quotation marks around that

Spoiler

"million-dollar winner"

phrase, since the ToT still seems like such a manufactured win.

[Sigh ...]

[Snaxx]

But I guess

Spoiler

since we know there is indeed a Million-dollar winner, no harm, no foul!

Personally, I'd put some big quotation marks around that

Spoiler

"million-dollar winner"

phrase, since the ToT still seems like such a manufactured win.

[Sigh ...]

The winner won't care since he/she can cash that $1M check just as the others did. Oh, not the case, as it will be an annuity.

[lv42day]

If you look at it from the perspective of a 40 to 1 payout, then it would seem to make sense to risk it. But if you look at it another way.... If someone off the street were to offer you a one in four chance of winning a million dollars, (like picking a random playing card, if its a heart you win), but it will cost you $25,000 if you pick a club, spade or diamond, would you take him up on the offer?
And another question, I'm sure you've discussed this in a thread I haven't read: the promos for the show say that there is a "guaranteed" million dollar winner. If I am understanding the rules correctly, in theory, everyone could simply decide not to go for it, meaning there would be no winner, right?

[MarleysGh0st]

If you look at it from the perspective of a 40 to 1 payout, then it would seem to make sense to risk it. But if you look at it another way.... If someone off the street were to offer you a one in four chance of winning a million dollars, (like picking a random playing card, if its a heart you win), but it will cost you $25,000 if you pick a club, spade or diamond, would you take him up on the offer?
And another question, I'm sure you've discussed this in a thread I haven't read: the promos for the show say that there is a "guaranteed" million dollar winner. If I am understanding the rules correctly, in theory, everyone could simply decide not to go for it, meaning there would be no winner, right?

Someone off the street making that offer would undoubtedly be a scam artist, but if I could confirm that this was a legitimate offer, yes, I'd take the bet. You will never, ever, see a casino make that offer, though.*

Yes, according to the rules, everyone might walk away or guess incorrectly. The "guaranteed" winner is a spoiler TPTB have given away, in an attempt to increase viewership. Whether that's a good thing for them to do or not has been a subject of debate.



*This tournament further complicates the odds, since if anyone ahead of Tony answered correctly, he would not get the $1 million after all, had he gone for it.

[lv42day]

Marley, you are either very brave, or very rich, or both. I don't think I would take that bet. One in four odds are too risky for me. (Maybe I'd do 1 in 2, but definitely not 1 in 4)
And also to make a point that undoubtedly was made by someone else in another thread....I don't know if this ToT championship is any more manufactured, than the million dollar winners in primetime, when the questions were easier. This is not just my opinion, but the opinion of many, the PT questions were easier.

[silverscreenselect]

If you look at it from the perspective of a 40 to 1 payout, then it would seem to make sense to risk it. But if you look at it another way.... If someone off the street were to offer you a one in four chance of winning a million dollars, (like picking a random playing card, if its a heart you win), but it will cost you $25,000 if you pick a club, spade or diamond, would you take him up on the offer?

If someone on the street walked up to me with what seemed like a sure proposition, I would be willing to bet any amount of money that I would lose if I took him up on it....

[TheConfessor]

Is this the first time it was revealed to the public that the checks used on the show are fake? They have usually tried to maintain the illusion that the checks are real.

[MarleysGh0st]

Is this the first time it was revealed to the public that the checks used on the show are fake? They have usually tried to maintain the illusion that the checks are real.

No, Meredith has occasionally made a lighthearted comment about how the $1 million check she holds in her hand is fake. IIRC, she has never acknowledged that there is no such thing as a $1 million check anymore, since that prize level will be paid out as an annuity.

[ulysses5019]

Is this the first time it was revealed to the public that the checks used on the show are fake? They have usually tried to maintain the illusion that the checks are real.

Meredith gave me my "million dollar check" when i asked her for it on air.

[ulysses5019]

Marley, you are either very brave, or very rich, or both. I don't think I would take that bet. One in four odds are too risky for me. (Maybe I'd do 1 in 2, but definitely not 1 in 4)
And also to make a point that undoubtedly was made by someone else in another thread....I don't know if this ToT championship is any more manufactured, than the million dollar winners in primetime, when the questions were easier. This is not just my opinion, but the opinion of many, the PT questions were easier.

Hmmmmm, I wonder what I would do.

[Rexer25]

Marley, you are either very brave, or very rich, or both. I don't think I would take that bet. One in four odds are too risky for me. (Maybe I'd do 1 in 2, but definitely not 1 in 4)
And also to make a point that undoubtedly was made by someone else in another thread....I don't know if this ToT championship is any more manufactured, than the million dollar winners in primetime, when the questions were easier. This is not just my opinion, but the opinion of many, the PT questions were easier.

Hmmmmm, I wonder what I would do.

You'd trade it all for the new, improved avatar generator.

[MarleysGh0st]

So, I don't think I'm very brave. Does the capacity to make a $25K wager like this (assuming complete legitimacy) make me very rich?

I know TPTB already consider me very dull and very demographically undesirable.

[NellyLunatic1980]

So this must've been that Great Thinkers/Brainiacs question that we've frequently seen at the top of the category tree for the last 14 months.

(potential) $1M:
What great thinker's death is attributed to a chill he caught while stuffing a chicken with snow for an experiment on refrigeration?
A. Pythagoras B. Archimedes
C. Isaac Newton D. Francis Bacon

From the comfort of my bedroom, I got the right answer. But in the HS, I doubt that I would've gone for it because I couldn't eliminate any of the other choices.

[lv42day]

Marley, imho, the capacity and willingness to take a bet like this, would mean that you can't be poor. If you were poor, you wouldn't have the 25 grand to begin with. If you were middle class, 25 grand can still greatly impact the quality of your life. (How much help you can give the kids for college, whether you can get another decent car, or make do with what you got, etc. etc etc. ad nauseum) I think it would take somewhere in the upper class (or maybe upper middle class), to view 25 grand so casually, that you would take this bet, that is 3 to 4 against you.

[TheConfessor]

Marley, imho, the capacity and willingness to take a bet like this, would mean that you can't be poor. If you were poor, you wouldn't have the 25 grand to begin with.

None of the ten finalists are "poor." They each have at least 50 grand to play with, and they are risking, at most, half of the free money that they just won. You could make the same argument for every step along the way in the money tree. Everyone who has ever played the game has had to decide their personal limits for risk tolerance and decide whether to walk away or go for it on every question. These ten people have been given an exceptional opportunity. On a regular episode, if a contestant who just won $50K decided to answer one more question for $100K, it wouldn't raise an eyebrow. If instead, he can answer one more question and jump from $50K to $1 million, why would you view that decision as irrational?

[Phil Ken Sebbin]

If you look at it from the perspective of a 40 to 1 payout, then it would seem to make sense to risk it. But if you look at it another way.... If someone off the street were to offer you a one in four chance of winning a million dollars, (like picking a random playing card, if its a heart you win), but it will cost you $25,000 if you pick a club, spade or diamond, would you take him up on the offer?

Does the fact that a number of people who compete after you and all of which have the ability to "take" the win from you factor into this equation? Do you go for it knowing that if you are wrong you will lose $25,000 but if you are right you may win $1MM?

I don't have an answer. I think I would have to be at least 50% certain of the answer to risk it but I think I would risk it at the $50k level if I was able to limit it to 2 choices.