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There are some plausible reasons to delay, at least a little, especially if you think (as is likely with a challenger) you may need a little time to acclimate to the game's buzz-in rhythm and get the gist of categories. Also, the daily-doubles are worth more later: when you've got more to wager, and know more about relative standings.

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In addition to the reasons you've stated, an additional one is that there are fewer questions for your opponents to use to reach over half of your total. Hitting the two daily doubles with most of the board left in play in round two means you'll still likely need to outplay your opponents on the buzzer that round.

Also if you manage to find the daily double in the jeopardy round too early, you can only wager up to $1000.

I haven't run the numbers, but I think I would prefer that vs my opponents finding the daily double later in the game.

> Also, the daily-doubles are worth more later: when you've got more to wager, and know more about relative standings.

You can always wager the max value for the round for any daily double, even if you have no money. Plus answering the highest value questions early boosts your standings faster, so searching for them right off is generally win/win.

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