Are the contestants asked to even the odds by spreading out the sabotages? Ideally you'd want every sabotage to go to the same person, right? I've watched a bunch of episodes but very rarely does that happen.
And what's the point of bidding on a sabotage that is given to everyone but the winner? If you win chances are everyone else will be pissed at you for the rest of the game. If you lose you share a similar disadvantage with one or two other people.
There is much logic in what you say, askoz.
I would like to point out that when they have, say, three devices to sabotage each of their opponents, the devices are different and one is, at least perceived, as worse than the other two and auction bidders are likely concerned they will get the worst sabotage.
Also, if everyone gets sabotaged but you, it appears you have a huge edge in not being eliminated in that round, and you do need to play this game round by round.
I don't remember the details, but a recent show had two sabotages before the first round. The first one had three people sabotaged with different things, then the second auction saw the same bidder win--to avoid what you were saying about getting paid back--as he really didn't want to get stuck with it. So we had two people sabotaged once, one person twice, and one guy not at all.
They do sometimes give more sabotages to one person and none to others, so it seems we cannot argue that the contestants are directed to spread things out. I think it's a natural human instinct to give the last sabotage in a round to a foe who hasn't been sabotaged, thinking, "I want an edge over all of my opponents."
Now I will agree that the smart thing is to really stick it to one person to try to make sure they are eliminated. The only time you need to have the best dish is in the final round. Coming in second from worst in the first two rounds is plenty good enough to advance.
Sabotaging all three give you the best bang for your buck. But as you say, it could put big target on your back. But I don't really agree with the spreading out. If anything Alton tries to encourage them to play with their brains and not with their heart. (Strategy over revenge)
I would say my memory is not what it used to be. But I don't remember what my memory used to be.
Having watched more episodes now I have to agree with you. Alton occasionally say that, yet the contestants insist on spreading it out to make it "fair" for some reason.
shareI agree, they need to be more "cut throat"! But I just saw one that is exactly what you said. One guy got all 3 of them and then they all targeted him and he lost. I think they were doing it for revenge but it worked as a strategy.
I would say my memory is not what it used to be. But I don't remember what my memory used to be.
In the episode Molasses, Mo' Problems (s09e01) one chef got pretty much every sabotage and he still made it to the last round so it's not as surefire of a strategy as one might think.
shareI think sometimes the chefs forget that, unlike Chopped, how well you did in the previous round has no effect on the final outcome. If a chef you sabotaged came out with a crummy dish but still survived to the next round, you wasted your money.
It seems to me that the female chefs are more cognizant of this than the males. Don't spread the pain around; PILE ON ONE PERSON. You can only eliminate one chef per round, so make sure to concentrate on one target.
"You may have come on no bicycle, but that does not say that you know everything."
Female chefs also tend to be very sexist, piling sabotages onto male contestants and not on their fellow females. So I am not sure their behavior is the result of the strategy you describe.
shareThe male chefs does that too. They often don't see the women as a very big threat and tend to pile sabotages onto their fellow males. So they are all equally "sexist" if you want to use that word.
shareThe main issue is trust. None of them trust each other enough to team up like that. Probably because they know they'll have to sabotage or be sabotaged in the next round.
I think Alton's suggestions is more about shaking things up rather than being fair. This game is designed to be as unfair as possible.