LAST EDITED ON 12-07-12 AT 09:08 PM (EST)

Tilting at Windmills

Man, was I worried at the beginning of this episode. Because it really looked like another week without any bunching, and that can get old after awhile. I mean, bunching can get obnoxious sometimes, but you gotta mix it in somewhat or it'll get way too predictable. Seeing Josh/Brent finally catch up to the group was a breath of fresh air.

And them finishing 3rd might've saved my hide...

Week 9 Results
1st place - Trey/Lexi (2x)
2nd place - Jaymes/James (1.6x)
3rd place - Josh/Brent (1.4x)
4th place - Nadiya/Natalie (0x)

Whoa Crazy Crazy

I have to admit, after busting out of the Casino game this season myself, I haven't been watching players' wagers much as they come in. So, you can imagine my surprise this week when I was scoring the entries and found the large majority of players bet on 3 of the 4 teams. Which is strange, considering generally only the Top 2 teams score positive. Sometimes, people like to hedge their bets, but it was so widespread this week, that something must've been up.

Yeah. I see it now. I put a typo in last week's Payout Table for 3rd place. I had 1.4x instead of .4x.

I have to admit, I was incredibly bitter and salty about this fact at first, because I felt like it was a pretty obvious typo, given how I've structured every other payout table ever. So I admit I was a little surprised I didn't get a PM or a question about it last week. But at the same time, I have to acknowledge that it's my goof-up, so I should be more upset about my carelessness than anything else.

So, given how the typo affected many players' betting decisions, it would be unfair of me to go back and change it to .4x. So, I scored it as 1.4x like I originally posted it would be. At the very least, I am a man of my word.

I apologize for the goof-up, and will make sure to be more careful in the future.

Luckily, only 2 players bet on Josh/Brent this week, so this ruling isn't going to dramatically affect the game. If Nadiya/Natalie would've finished 3rd, then it would've been a dicier situation. Ironically, me making an "easy" payout table actually cost a lot of points overall, as Nadiya/Natalie was usually the 3rd team added on to most wagers.

Amidst all this scoring stuff, we did lose one final player this week, beau_30. Unfortunately, borrowing the 120 points did him in. The slightly good news is that, by some math miracle, at least he didn't finish in the red, somehow settling back at exactly 0 points. There have been plenty of players that have finished out owing me points and had to wash dishes to make up for it.

This week's Greatest Gainer Award goes to Ontheroadagain and sarah1234, who both climbed 6 ranks to enter the Top 5 for this final week. Talk about making a move at the right minute! Nicely done.

The Perfect Bet Award goes to both taffnic and equire who both borrowed those points to score a rockin' 4.67x payout. Other really awesome scores this week were udg (3.3x) and Pplys (3x), among others. Great job to all!

Leaderboard
1. Yogi - 695 (2.4x)
2. louislam - 655 (2.2x)
3. flipxcyd - 464 (2.2x)
4. Ontheroadagain - 415
5. sarah1234 - 405
6. Belle Book - 384 (2.2x)
7. CTgirl - 380 (2.2x)
8. Floyd1 - 358 (2.2x)
9. Georjanna - 345
10. IanQuentin - 294 (2.4x)
11. chiubakka - 220 (2.2x)
12. jbenz - 207
13. Starshine - 191
14. Pplys - 177
15. alemattos - 167 (2.2x)
16. udg - 132 (2.2x)
17. Max Headroom - 129 (2.2x)
18. bbenzenberg - 121 (2.2x)
19. Snidget - 91
20. popeave - 82 (2.2x)
21. MzTee - 68
22. vennui - 64 (2.4x)
23. kduck - 58
24. taffnic - 56
25. esquire - 56 (2.6x)
26. KwietOne - 38 (2.4x)
27. VisionQuest - 13
28. beau_30 - 0

Well, here we are going into the final week. In some respects, the TAR Casino Game is about setting yourself up for that final week, giving yourself that chance to take a stab at a win. Yogi still sits atop the leaderboard, but he is still definitely catchable. This is the biggest week of the year, so make those final picks count!

Finale Rules

We are now in the finale leg, so I should go over a couple of the slight rule changes that applies to the finale.

1. The overall team rankings (and payouts) will be based on the finish order at the Finish Line of The Amazing Race. Since we have 4 teams and may have two legs to go, the first leg will only determine who finishes 4th overall (0x), while the final 3 go on to determine teams 1, 2, and 3.

2. The final week is No Limit on your regular wager. Feel free to wager as many of your points as you wish on the regular game. There is a bet limit on the bonus game, however.

3. Lockout bonuses are still in effect, if you have one. I didn't tell you guys to stop picking them, so they're definitely still on.

4. You are allowed to make your finale wager in secret if you so desire, by sending me a private message. If you want to keep opponents guessing, it might not be a bad idea. I'm out of the game, so you don't have to worry about me peeking at them.

Finale Payout Table
1st place - 2x
2nd place - 1.3x
3rd place - .7x
4th place - 0x

Max Individual Bet - NO LIMIT

No goof-ups on this payout table. I double-checked it this time.

Bonus Game - If I Had a "Million" Dollars

In this game, players may wager on which team will say the word "million" first. As always, variations of the word will count, such as "millions", "millionaires", or "omgabbieandryangetstwomillionitsnotfair". All we're looking for is M-I-L-L-I-O-N to be spoken by them.

The recaps don't count as part of the episode, and if none of the teams ever say it (it has happened once before), then no answer is correct and all bonus wagers score 0x.

"Million" Payout Table
Correct Answer - 4x
Incorrect Answer - 0x

Max Bet - 40 points

The bonus game can sometimes determine the winner of this whole thing, so pick carefully!

TAR21 Teams Remaining
Jaymes/James
Josh/Brent
Nadiya/Natalie
Trey/Lexi

Good luck! It should be an exciting finish!

A 2003 IceCat original