LAST EDITED ON 04-20-11 AT 11:01 PM (EST)

Chim Chim Cher-ee

Chim chiminey
Chim chiminey
Chim chim cher-ee!
Vienna almost doomed team Gallory!

Chim chiminey
Chim chiminey
Chim chim cher-oo!
Those TAR Producers sure don't have a clue!

Man, that was an easy Roadblock. Probably one of the Top 5 Easiest Roadblocks Ever, even when including the dreaded Family Edition. It's not too big of a deal, since the rest of the episode was such a mess for the teams, but it was still kinda surprising how easy it turned out to be.

Maybe it was just really hard to find, given Zev/Justin's rise from 5th to 2nd en route to it?

Week 8 Results
1st place - Zev/Justin (2x)
2nd place - Flight Time/Big Easy (1.8x)
3rd place - Kent/Vyxsin (.9x)
4th place - Kisha/Jen (.7x)
5th place - Jet/Cord (.6x)
6th place - Gary/Mallory (.5x)

Ouch, Gallory.

Tricky week for the game, as last week's previews were super-unhelpful. They showed Gary/Mallory and Zev/Justin struggling with meals. The Globetrotters and Goths having trouble with the beds. And Jet/Cord and Jen/Kisha were talking to themselves about how bad they were doing.

A good number of people nailed the Jet/Cord and Jen/Kisha bets. What was really funny, though, was that Kent/Vyxsin didn't garner even one 3rd place bet (or 2nd place, for that matter)... And considering there are only 6 teams, that says something about TAR Casino Confidence in this team.

The real story was Gary/Mallory's last place finish, which was unexpected by most everyone. It ended up knocking several players out of the game: Max Headroom, qwertypie, IanQuentin, vince3, sarah1234, and Nume. Thanks for playing, all of you! Have a Snapple, on the house.

Or a Snapple-flavored cocktail. I call it a Snappletini.

This week's Greatest Gainer Award goes to jbenz, who climbed 12 ranks to #21 overall. Special shout-out to Snidget and Scuba Steve, who climbed 10 ranks each. Very nicely done, yo.

There can really be only one Perfect Bet Award is pretty much a tie, as jbenz, Snidget, and Scuba Steve each scored 1.8x with Globetrotters bets. I'd better watch you three... There must be some card-counting or something going on. I saw that "21" movie. I know how it works.

Leaderboard
1. Yogi - 804
2. KwietOne - 796
3. CTgirl - 712
4. Jims02 - 711
5. FFantasyFX - 701
6. ARNutz - 698
7. Corvis - 608
8. vennui - 500
9. beau_30 - 490
10. flipxycd - 480
11. Belle Book - 471
12. michel - 449
13. Ontheroadagain - 370
14. louislam - 350
15. esquire - 287
16. Georjanna - 240
17. cahaya - 156
18. samboohoo - 117
19. bbenzenberg - 108
20. Scuba Steve - 101
21. jbenz - 95
22. Travelor - 78
23. chiubakka - 74
24. tvgeek401 - 64
25. Element King - 61
26. kduck - 54
27. Weez - 53
28. Snidget - 53
29. alemattos - 45
30. MzTee - 39
31. dragonflies - 36
32. kidflash212 - 25
33. Starshine - 12
34. popeave - 6
35. VisionQuest - 3
36. Max Headroom - 0
37. qwertypie - 0
38. IanQuentin - 0
39. vince3 - 0
40. sarah1234 - 0
41. Nume - 0

Yogi has retaken the top spot. However, KwietOne really made a big move toward the top, being the only Top 10 player to go for a solo Zev/Justin and Globetrotters bet. It should be a close finish!

Week 9 Payout Table
1st place - 2x
2nd place - 1.5x
3rd place - 1.2x
4th place - .9x
5th place - .4x
6th place - 0x

Max Individual Bet - 120 points

The bet sizes are staying the same this week, so I gotta at least change the payout table. I gotta do something to earn my paycheck this week.

Here's the Bonus Payout Table for the week.

Bonus Payout Table
2nd place - 5x
3rd place - 5x
4th place - 5x
5th place - 5x
6th place - 5x

Max Individual Bet - 15 points
Max Number of Bets - 5

Doubles are still on for Unique Wagers. Let's see if someone can nab one this week.

TAR17 Teams Remaining
Gary/Mallory
Flight Time/Big Easy
Jet/Cord
Kent/Vyxsin
LaKisha/Jennifer
Zev/Justin

Good luck!

California Trip Notes
1. Went bungee jumping, which was amazing. I was surprised at how chill I was about the whole thing... Even climbing over the side of the bridge, I wasn't that scared. It wasn't until they counted 5-4-3-2-1 that my adrenaline went from 0 to 100. And then I freaked out and did the smallest little hop off the edge.
2. The bungee jump was accompanied by a 10 mile hike. I'm not a big exerciser or runner, so I'm proud that I pushed myself through it (with minimal complaining!).
3. Went to Universal Studios. Really fun, The Simpsons Ride was my favorite. We even saw a Waterworld Stunt Show, which is about a kitschy and amazing as you'd think it would be. That guy doing Dennis Hopper's role was perfect!
4. My early TAR entry didn't doom me. I was expecting a later preview to make my entry look silly.
5. Jet-lag is awful. Took the red-eye back Monday night, got about 2 hours of sleep on the plane. I was positively narcoleptic by 6 PM Tuesday night.