LAST EDITED ON 04-23-09 AT 07:34 PM (EST)

The Deaf Card

You've heard of the "race card" before, but The Amazing Race is definitely more interesting in the "deaf card" instead. This week, there was a big hoopla over Kisha/Jen's attitude toward deaf people. And, they ran into each other a lot.

Mark/Michael finished last, of course, and were eliminated.

Week 9 Results
1st place - Lakisha/Jennifer (2x)
2nd place - Tammy/Victor (1.6x)
3rd place - Margie/Luke (1.2x)
4th place - Jaime/Cara (.2x)
5th place - Mark/Michael (0x)

6 hours, 32 minutes

...That was the correct answer to the bonus game. Very few people got the bonus correct this week, or at least within their time range. There were a couple successful Risky Bets.

For the main wagers, the 4th place (.2x) finish for Jaime/Cara ended up hurting a lot of scores across the board, as they were the most popular pick. Unlikely winners Lakisha/Jennifer finished 1st, which was unexpected to many.

This week's Perfect Bet Award goes to ARNutz (3.08x) for betting a huge amount on Kisha/Jen fully comped. Special shout-out to jbenz (2.6x), who made another comped Kisha/Jen wager. Good job!

Speaking of which, the Greatest Gainer Award also goes to jbenz for jumping 9 ranks to #13 over. Nicely played.

Leaderboard
1. ARNutz - 4621
2. 5cats - 4044
3. Yogi - 2113
4. louislam - 729
5. KwietOne - 686
6. flipxcyd - 567
7. sarah1234 - 442
8. Weez - 378
9. taffnic 375
10. FFantasyFX - 332
11. Higgs - 263
12. SilverStar - 222
13. jbenz - 190
14. Jims02 - 160
15. Belle Book - 153
16. Element King - 150
17. CTgirl - 132
18. vennui - 102
19. MzTee - 94
20. Quepea - 92
21. bbenzenberg - 82
22. beau_30 - 67
23. Ontheroadagain - 48
24. tvgeek401 - 46
25. LeftPinky - 30
26. shilfiell - 28
27. dragonflies - 15
28. esquire - 12
29. michel - 6
30. kidflash212 - 4
31. suzzee - 4
32. popeave - 2
33. Corvis - 1

"I have a weird feeling that this could be a real game-changing week." - Jims02 (04/14/09)

And it certainly was. The top spots have shifted around dramatically, showing how unpredictable this game can be. The question is if/when the tables will turn again? All it takes is one poor week, after all.

Week 10 Payout Table
1st place - 2x
2nd place - 1.5x
3rd place - .5x
4th place - 0x

Boring payout table for now, but that's because we'll have a spicy table next week. It's going to be so lucrative that we won't need a bonus game next week.

Bonus Game - Bad Credit? No Problem!

Ever since the Federal Bank of Jims got its huge bailout, I don't care about credit scores or equity doodads anymore. Credit for everybody! "Bad debts?" I don't even know that term. "Liquidity?" Pah!

Pah, I say!

This week, players have the ability to borrow 1,000 points from the Federal Bank of Jims, and use these points for your wagers this week. There are only four conditions.

1) If you take a loan, you have to post your picks before 7 PM Eastern time on Sunday, April 26. That's one hour earlier than normal.
2) You can't comp a wager on any loaned points.
3) You have to pay back the entire loan next week.
4) You also have to payback 25% interest on those points.

In other words, if you borrow 1,000 points this week, I'm going to be collecting the 1,000 points next week, plus 250 points of interest. But, if you can take that 1,000 points and double it to 2,000 points, then paying back 1,250 isn't a big deal. But if you lose the points on a bad wager? I still want my points back.

I can be very persuasive. I've hired Max Headroom as my personal debt collector.

And you don't have to borrow all 1000 points if you don't want to. That's just the max.

Remember, that I'm not giving out comped payouts on the loaned points. So, if your wager looks like...

200 points to spend.

200 points - Lakisha/Jennifer
1st place - 3.5x
2nd place - 0x

Borrowing 1000 points.
1000 points - Lakisha/Jennifer

And, let's say Kisha/Jennifer finish 1st. Your 200 points would gain the 3.5x multiplier, but the other 1,000 will simply get the 2x. If you're going to borrow, try to make that wager separate, so I can tell which wager goes with the comped payout (if applicable).

For those who enjoy math, the above entry would end up with a score of 1450 for next week after taking back the loaned points/interest. A big jump from 200 this week, huh?

TAR14 Teams Remaining
Cara/Jaime
Lakisha/Jennifer
Margie/Luke
Tammy/Victor

Good luck, everyone!

It's been a roller coaster ride for me this season, but I'm determined to finish Top Ten.