Go Speed Racer

As someone who is sometimes critical of the tasks on The Amazing Race, gotta say that Roadblock was super cool. Not just because of the whole racecar thing, but because they got to rappel their way down and everything. They really put a lot into that task, making it a lot of fun to watch.

Week 7 Results
1st place - Leo/Jamal (2x)
2nd place - Jason/Amy (1.9x)
3rd place - Travis/Nicole (.9x)
4th place - Tim/Marie (.7x)
5th place - Ally/Ashley (.5x)
6th place - Nicky/Kim (0x)

And Then There Were Ten

Scores were fairly solid this week overall. It was a week of many small gains (thanks to Jason/Amy) and small losses (thanks to Travis/Nicole). The Lucky 7 bonus game proved to be a tricky one, however, with only one player getting it correct.

We did lose another three players week, though: taffnic, mikey, and Jims02. It was just one of those situations where the odds were stacked against us and we had to roll the dice. It didn't work out this time, but hey, there's always next season. Thanks for playing.

This week's Greatest Gainer Award, uh, was a 6-way tie. Congratulations to Belle Book, bbenzenberg, Yogi, beau_30, FFantasyFX, and kduck, who all slid forward 1 rank for the week. Hey, it's something, right?

The Perfect Bet Award goes to louislam (1.8x), who was the only person to get the Lucky 7 bonus, as well as bet on Leo/Jamal. Nice going!

Leaderboard
1. louislam - 337
2. sarah1234 - 209
3. Ontheroadagain - 150
4. Belle Book - 99
5. bbenzenberg - 90
6. Yogi - 88
7. beau_30 - 69
8. IanQuentin - 46
9. FfantasyFX - 10
10. kduck - 4
11. taffnic - 0
12. mikey - 0
13. Jims02 - 0

louislam has managed to hang onto that top spot, now that all of the previous leaders have swept away the curses. Will that curse come back or will louislam maintain a comfortable lead? Whatever happens, at least you can all claim a Top 10 finish for the season!

Week 8 Payout Table
1st place - 2x
2nd place - 1.5x
3rd place - 1.2x
4th place - 1.1x
5th place - .2x
6th place - 0x

Max Individual Bet - 90 points
Max Booster - 2x

A reversal of last week's payout table. Let's see if it changes booster strategies.

Bonus Game - Playing it Straight

In this game, players can make a side-bet on three TAR teams, in an attempt to make a three-team straight. In poker, a straight consists of five cards in ascending/descending order (like 9-8-7-6-5). However, in the TAR Casino Game, a straight is a set of three teams who finished back-to-back-to-back in the rankings.

For example, in last week's results:
Leo/Jamal, Jason/Amy, and Travis/Nicole would make a straight, since they placed all in a row (1st/2nd/3rd). Same with Tim/Marie, Ally/Ashley, and Nicky/Kim (4th/5th/6th).

So, there's going to be more than one correct answer. It doesn't even matter what your intent was with the bet. In your head, you could pick your teams thinking they'd be 6th/5th/4th and they could end up finishing 2nd/3rd/4th... And you'd still win! The only thing I care about is whether the 3 teams finish back-to-back-to-back.

Straight Payout Table
3-Team Straight - 5x
No Straight - 0x

Max Bet - 70 points

You may only make one bonus wager, and the limit is 70 points on that wager. A successful bonus wager will have two components, 1) the amount you're betting, and 2) the three teams you're picking for the straight.

A sample bonus entry could look like:

Bonus - 70 points
Jason/Amy, Tim/Marie, Nicky/Kim

And that's all there is to it! Let me know if you have any questions, and I'll take a look.

TAR23 Teams Remaining
Ally/Ashley
Jason/Amy
Leo/Jamal
Nicky/Kim
Tim/Marie
Travis/Nicole

Good luck everyone!

Next week is probably the SAME/DIFFERENT bonus game, with a super big payout possibility.