The Final Jeopardy question (10/24/2011), in the category U.S. Cities, was:

“Of the Top 10 cities in population within city limits, this one of 1.4 million is the only state capital“

Let’s see who showed up on Monday to take on Friday’s champion Balaji Narain: Laura Bulkin from the Land of Enchantment and Francisco Maldonado-Ramirez from the Garden State.

Francisco was skating trouble-free through Novels by Chapter Titles when he got to this round’s Daily Double and bet his whole $2,000: “Mr. Badger”. He lost but he probably didn’t feel bad when Balaji and Laura both lost $1,000 on the last clue in that category.

A very up and down round ended with Laura finishing first at $3,400. Balaji was next with $2,000 and Francisco was last with $1,400.

Laura began kicking some serious butt in Double Jeopardy and had an awesome lead with $12,200. Francisco was working on catching up to her with $7,400. Balaji was straggling along when he hit the first Daily Double. He bet $2,600 of his $4,400 on a Video Daily Double read by Chris Matthews, who wanted him to name the “Democrat from Massachusetts” that he was the top aide to when he was Speaker of the House. The clue included the word “tip” and a photo. He got it right and his score rose to $7,000.

Balaji then forgot to phrase his reply to “In 1948 White House aide Lauchlin Currie told this committee he wasn’t a Soviet spy; today we know he was.” This was a boon for Francisco, who also got the last Daily Double in “Olympic Gold Medalists by Sport.” He wasn’t feeling quite so brave this round and only bet $1,000. Naturally, he got this one right: 1896: “Ellery Clark, 20′ 10”; 2000: Ivan Pedroso, 28′ 3/4″.” That’s how it goes.

Laura finished in the lead with an impressive $15,400. Francisco was second with $10,400 and Balaji was in third place with $10,200.

Only ONE player got Final Jeopardy! right.

WHAT IS PHOENIX?

According to wikipedia, the Top 10 U.S. Cities by population in 2010 were:

1. New York, NY …………8,175,133
2. Los Angeles, CA ……..3,792,621
3. Chicago, IL …………… 2,695,598
4. Houston, TX ………… 2,099,451
5. Philadelphia, PA ……. 1,526,006
6. Phoenix, AZ …………. 1,445,632
7. San Antonio, TX …… 1,327,407
8. San Diego, CA ……… 1,307,402
9. Dallas, TX ……………. 1,197,816
10. San Jose, CA ………… 945,942

Balaji got it right. He bet everything but a buck, so he ended up with $20,399.

Francisco bet it all on Atlanta and wound up with zero.

Laura thought it was Boston. Her $5,401 bet landed her in second place.

So Balaji won the match and now has a 2-day total of $55,799.