October 3, 2011 Game Recap (EP #5471; for Jared)

Jared, you did a swell job tonight despite the rash of TU missolves!

Score: 8

TU1&2: Not a bad guess by Jared on 1, but it isn't right. I got that one between buzzes by remembering what the theme week was, since most of the time TU1 is theme-related. Lizzy's guess on 2 was just plain bad, but I was able to get it at the same time as her buzz.

R1: Wow, that's a BIG cruise on the wheel! I solved this with just AR - after I figured out AWARD, the rest fell into line. Rona solves after clearing the last multiple, but I would've liked to see her go farther.

R2: Another new category in TV QUOTE, which goes unannounced by Pat. Wasted double on the Wild card by Rona to start things off. Would've been better to save triple T rather than use it on the Kia, but at least Rona got money out of it... until LaT hits. Jared extends his lead with the Prize Puzzle here, and Rona's Kia tag withers away. I got this one with STIN.

R3: This was a very nice solvable puzzle, but we won't get a perfect round out of it. Jared takes advantage of Lizzy's dud S (a somewhat nonsensical call IMO given the board at the time) by hitting top dollar for a double R and a quick solve to pile on the bucks. Lizzy still hasn't scored - she's on gooseegg alert now!

TU3: SNOWDRAGONS?!? I'm speechless on that one... Rona is trying to close it up, but will she have time?

R4 (partial speedup): $1,450's not a bad number, but there's only one multiple consonant in this whole puzzle (the P), and Jared finds it to cap off a solid performance. I got this one by the start of the speedup if not before. Lizzy seals her gooseegg here, while Rona takes home a decent amount of cash.

Bonus: Jared uses Andy's combo here, and he and I both get this one! 50 grand will make a nice payday for him!

Overall: Rona tried to get into the game, but this one's all Jared. 20 thousand in the maingame and a 50K bonus makes for a nice episode - though I wish it were a bit more competitive, I also give it an above-average 8/10. Congrats JaredB!!!

TU1: Jared, you should have kept in mind that the first Toss Up almost always relates to the theme of the week.

R1: I got this with just the R and As, but that's mainly because I saw the closing of the show on a stream before I watched the show, so...

R2: Keep it up with the puzzle/category variety for the PPs. ;D

R3: S? Lucky break for Jared at the end there.

TU3: I probably would have made the same mistake. Never heard of those, plus I know nothing about flowers.

R4: I got this with just the N and T, without any edge this time.

BR: Great job taking our BR advice into consideration, Jared! See how much it paid off? ;D I also loved how wild the audience reacted to $50K. That was a bigger reaction than some $100K wins.

For I believe the first time this season, Bankrupt wasn't hit at all tonight!

Looks like the 1/2 Car tags will always be Kia, seeing that they changed the graphic on the scoreboard. I hope it's not always the same car, though.

Who was the woman that was blurred out during the Emmy's clips? I saw it on TV originally, but I forget who it was, or even anyone significant.

Jared, spend your winnings wisely, and have fun in New York.

I got R2, R4 and the Bonus Round with no letters showing. Surprisingly, that's the second time I got JOB FAIR without any letters.

Hey, Wheel category exports - has a category ever premiered being the prize puzzle (obviously it'd have to be a recent one)? If so, what was the last one to do so?

And here's a taste from the very beginnings of my MultiGameAnalysis work:



In 281 spins in the first 10 games, the minimum is 33, Q1 is 48, median is 60, Q3 is 68, max is 97, the mean is 59.17 with standard deviation of 13.10, and 67 is the mode.

For Jared:



Adding in tonight:



Big stdev bump, huh?

Lumping all the spins together makes things unbalanced (that is, the more spins a player has, the more influence s/he has on the stats). So from this, basically, you get the idea of any average spin at any time by this: the average is about 59-60, and about 68% of the time any one spin is between 45 and 75 (from the bell curve, within 1 stdev).

This particular analysis will have to be refined / added to to get the average player's spin, but for now I'm working on getting every major stat basically functional... it will be awhile, but I hope this taste was interesting

Hey all!

Went absent from the forums for a while with all the craziness surrounding the show and work and etc.

I definitely had a great time recording this episode, and THANK YOU for the BGHO recommendation. I would have gone with a standard CDMA or CDHA or something like that had I not gotten the chance to experiment with it in online versions of the game.

As far as what I will do with the money, I will be taking care of some credit card bills (the economy hits everyone!) I also plan to donate some to charity and thoroughly enjoy my New York trip. Aside from that, putting money in the bank.

Thanks all for your recommendations and support!!
Jared

Again, sorry for the delay in response. I would love to give a full experience recap! I will do it in two parts. Here goes part one.

My blog links to the pre-audition/audition stages, as well as finding out I would be a contestant. Here is that link: www.jaredwheeloffortune.blogspot.com/

Here is my post-selection take on my experience. I will post this to my official blog after posting.

2 weeks to wait. Running to the dry cleaners. Does this suit still fit? Shirt and tie? Jacket no tie? Full three piece suit? Should I drive up the night before? Bear traffic in the morning? What if my alarm doesn't go off? Should I just stay up all night? No, that's not a good idea. No sleep is a slow brain. What am I going to do about work?

The questions that run through your mind when faced with a potentially life altering 23 minutes. Although a short two weeks away, the time can drag and the questions continue to build. Snap forward to August 17th.

The time went by much more quickly than I had imagined. I found myself on the 405 freeway about 6am the day before my filming. 4 meetings ahead. A massage booked for 6:30 that night. Finding a hotel in an area I hadn't been to in over a year. I breezed through the work day and *attempted* to check into my hotel early. When I arrived, they had no record of my reservation. An hour was spent on the phone with the site I book my hotels through before we realized what happened. I booked my hotel for the following night! Of course, the room I had booked was non refundable, so I had to jump some hurdles.

I ended up figuring out a situation that satisfied both the hotel and the booking agency with no additional money out of pocket. I headed to my room with a heavy head and laid down a while. I went and grabbed dinner in the hotel restaurant and treated myself to a steak. I knew I needed a good meal with the day ahead. After a beer, I headed out to my much needed massage, and man was it worth it! I left so relaxed, grabbed a shower, laid in bed and realized what I faced the next day.

Here came the restlessness. I intentionally avoided game shows, and finally found myself waking up at 4:30am the day of my filming. I didn't go back to sleep.

I decided I needed some breakfast, and went to find a Denny's near the studio. I figured there had to be something close, so I followed the directions I had brought with me to the studio in Culver City. I drove several blocks in each direction, and no Denny's!!!! I finally made my way back (what ended up being past the hotel I had booked) and grabbed breakfast. I found my way into the studio parking lot about 7a.m., (passing the ghostbusters car on the way in) and parked my car.

I went downstairs thinking I would be the first one there. Turns out I was one of the last! A contestant coordinator came out to meet us and bring us into the studio. Once we were all there, we began what seemed to be the longest morning of my life. Between rules, new categories, legal and makeup, we were all sizing up our competition.

Everybody that I met that day was a pleasure. We exchanged stories, dreams, hopes and wishes and anxiously awaited our fates. Around about 9am, we were led out to the stage. The feeling was surreal. Seeing the Wheel (and how small it seems vs. on TV,) the letter board, the lights, the cameras was all amazing. We took turns practicing spinning the Wheel, and playing mini mock rounds of the game. We went back to the contestant room, and waited again. We had a nice spread of snacks, sandwiches, waters, sodas etc. Then the makeup came.

We were called in the rows we were sitting in. The first few people made their way through and we still had no idea of when we were filming. We knew the first show started filming at noon. Beyond that, time would tell.

After hanging out for a little while, things went fast and furious. The contestant coordinators came in with papers stacked in threes, and told us they had the shows lined up. Myself, Rona, and Lizzie were the 5th group called. The contestant coordinators then called one name from each group (ours was Rona) to draw numbers as to the order of our filmings. Lizzie and I both told Rona to pick a 2 or 3, and we certainly didn't want to film first. Each of the contestants from the six shows to be filmed that day picked a golf ball with a number on it, tightly concealed within their hands. The contestant coordinators asked them to reveal the order of filming, and Rona held a 1.

Here we were, an hour before showtime. And the suspense got worse! Each set of 3 contestants was called to come up and determine their positions (red, yellow, blue.) I opened my palm to discover a die with the number two, and knew I was yellow. All of the contestants went out for a rehearsal. We all had a chance to buzz in for toss ups, call letters, spin the wheel, wait out commercial breaks etc. The audience began piling in, and we were quickly taken backstage for touch ups.

At noon, there we were on stage, with Pat and Vanna walking towards us. It was on. First toss up. 4 letter word, 5 letter word with an exclamation point. I guess Holy Moley! I was wrong. Rona went on to take Ahoy Matey! for the first toss up. Introductions went quick and we were on to the second toss up. First puzzle. Prize puzzle. Third Toss up. Final Puzzle. I found myself at the head of the leader board heading into the bonus round.