Are Jeopardy players stupid?

[Outrider]

I was watching Celebrity Jeopardy the other day. It was the real thing, not the SNL skit, but what happened on the show was almost as funny as what usually transpires in the SNL version.

The players were: Seth Green, and two semi-obscure celebrities whose names I can't recall. Seth was winning by a comfortable margin entering final jeopardy. Here's what happened:

1. Obscure celebrity guy writes "I don't know" or something like that, wagers ALL of his money. Drops down to $0.
2. Obscure celebrity woman either does the same as the guy before her or simly gets it wrong. She wagers all of her money except for one dollar. She drops down to $1.
3. Seth Green writes some sort of comical answer, clearly knows he is incorrect, and still wagers all of his money. Drops down to $0.

So the woman won with a grand total of $1. It looked like Alex Trebek was trying really hard not to laugh at them. I was just stunned by their collective stupidity

Anyway, why do Jeopardy players insist on wagering large sums of money when they know that their answers are wrong? It's not just celebrities who do it, either. I constantly see regular non-celebrity players who lose everything even though they know full well that their answer is wrong.

Is there some aspect of the game I'm missing? Do you have to write down your wager before you see the question? Or do a lot of these people simply not understand the wisdom of holding onto their money when they don't know the answer?

[ShibbOleth]

Its been a long time since I have seen Jeopardy!^TM, but IIRC, they wager prior seeing the final answer(question). So they can't know whether or not the know the question (answer). Then when they are embarassed they right something flip.

[WordMan]

To my knowledge, contestants place their wagers BEFORE they see the question. By the time they realize that they don't know the answer, it's too late.....

A variant question is: Why doesn't the leader bet to "not lose" every time (i.e., bet only enough to beat the next closest player assuming that player bet everything). That way, if everybody loses, the leader still has the maximum amount remaining....

Game Theory - gotta love it.

[WordMan]

Shibb! What is it with you and I simul-posting? Too funny.

[elfkin477]

Originally posted by Outrider

Do you have to write down your wager before you see the question?

I'm under the impression that this is the case(catogory given ->wager made-> answer given-> write down your question) which is what is done with the daily doubles as well.

[CookingWithGas]

As a long-time Jeopardy viewer (who here remembers Art Fleming?) I can confirm that the wager for Final Jeopardy must be placed before the players know the question. They have to base their wager on how well they think they know the category.

Why doesn't the leader bet to "not lose" every time (i.e., bet only enough to beat the next closest player assuming that player bet everything). That way, if everybody loses, the leader still has the maximum amount remaining....

Leading players often do this--if they have at least double the money of the second player. The leader is rarely that far out in front.

[A Monkey With a Gun]

[QUOTE
Is there some aspect of the game I'm missing? Do you have to write down your wager before you see the question? [/quote]Absolutely. The Final Jeopardy Category is given and they cut to commercial. During the commercial, the contestants write down their wagers. When they come back, Alex gives the "answer", "My Little Teapot" plays as the contestants write down their "questions". They bet on the category, not the question.

Also remember Celebrity Jeopardy is played for charity. Charities are give $10,000 (I think) or the players score, whichever is greater. I'm assumining Seth didn't know jack about the category, but did know that his score was less that $10,000. There is no reason not to blow his score then.

I see others have beat me to it, but I will post this anyway.

-Beeblebrox

_________________________
"In the beginning the Universe was created. This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move."

[ShibbOleth]

Originally posted by WordMan
Shibb! What is it with you and I simul-posting? Too funny.

Hey, Wordy, I think that one of us must be an evil twin. I nominate me.

Let's see if we simulpost about this happening twice over in the Weird Things thread over in MPSIMS.

[mongrel_8]

Also, you were watching celebrity Jeopardy where the contestants aren't as smart as the regular contestants. In the regular format the leader rairly wagers all his money just enough that he can win by a dollar if he is correct. This way he minimizes the amount he loses if he is wrong. Seth Green probably never thought about doing this.

[Outrider]

Originally posted by Beeblebrox
Also remember Celebrity Jeopardy is played for charity. Charities are give $10,000 (I think) or the players score, whichever is greater. I'm assumining Seth didn't know jack about the category, but did know that his score was less that $10,000. There is no reason not to blow his score then.

Yeah, the woman who won with $1 still won $10,000 for her charity, so it wasn't a complete disgrace.

Thanks to everyone for clarifying the rules for me, I guess the fact that the wager is below the answer led me to believe that they wrote the answer first.

-Outrider

[Fiver]

Last time I watched Celebrity Jeopardy, two of the contestants were Yasmine Bleeth and Bob Costas (I don't remember who the third was).

Of course I was rooting for my man Bob Costas, one of the most intelligent men on television (I know, faint praise; but he really is smart; "Later with Bob Costas" demonstrated this.) and was dismissive of Yasmine's chances, assuming her to be simply a pneumatic-craniumed Baywatch babe.

But...

Yasmine wiped the floor with Bob and the other guy! She won the day. The questions for Celebrity Jeopardy are a little easier than on the standard show, of course, but Yasmine even knew some things I didn't. I was mightily impressed with her and very disappointed in Bob, who didn't seem to know his ass from his elbow that day.

Since then I've allowed myself to lust after Yasmine.

[WordMan]

Originally posted by ShibbOleth
Hey, Wordy, I think that one of us must be an evil twin. I nominate me.

I NEVER get to be the evil twin - it ain't fair...

I typically don't frequent MPSIMS - too much fun here in GQ...

[Guy Propski]

The celebs are guarranteed a certain amount of money for their charity, based on how they finish (1st gets the most, etc.). However, since the first place winner gets to give all his winnings to his charity, I'd have to guess that Seth was either very confident & was trying to double his money, or didn't care and was being a jack-ass.

Contestants must place their bets based solely on the category. They don't get to see the answer until after they bet. It's pretty common to see players assuming they'll do well based on the category, only to get slammed by an obscure answer ("This famous historical person liked chocolate and had webbed feet.").

Regardless of the above, I have noticed that most of the celebs that play seem to have the intelligence of an amoeba. Even the ones on "Rock and Roll Jeopardy" (like Moon Zappa) appear to have suffered some sort of debilitating brain damage before coming on stage.

[Munch]

Originally posted by Beeblebrox
"My Little Teapot" plays as the contestants write down their "questions".

The song is actually called "The Thinking Song." There was a question a few weeks ago on Jeopardy that refered to its composer.

[A Monkey With a Gun]

Originally posted by Munch

The song is actually called "The Thinking Song." There was a question a few weeks ago on Jeopardy that refered to its composer.

I meant to write "I'm a Little Teapot". I won't disagree with you that it's actually called "The Thinking Song", but if I owned the copyright to "I'm a Little Teapot", I would have sued.

[monster]

The composer of the thinking music was Merv Griffin.

Also, the other two contestants were Brandy Chastain and Steve Something or other from Barenaked Ladies.

[Outrider]

Originally posted by monster
The composer of the thinking music was Merv Griffin.

Also, the other two contestants were Brandy Chastain and Steve Something or other from Barenaked Ladies.

Yeah, that was it. Chastain was the "winner".

[Chas.E]

Having auditioned for Jeopardy, I can tell you from personal experience that it is a lot harder than it looks from your armchair in front of the TV.

[NYR407]

So that makes threee semi-obscure celebrity contestants on Jeopardy. Seth? Brandy? and Steve?

All the "real celebrities" are going to Who wants to be a Millionaire. You are guarenteed 32 million without having to answer a quetion (the panel of other celebs help you).

[RickJay]

Originally posted by Fiver
Of course I was rooting for my man Bob Costas, one of the most intelligent men on television (I know, faint praise; but he really is smart; "Later with Bob Costas" demonstrated this.) and was dismissive of Yasmine's chances, assuming her to be simply a pneumatic-craniumed Baywatch babe.

But...

Yasmine wiped the floor with Bob and the other guy!

IIRC, Yasmine Bleeth is a championship calibre poker player, and is also pretty decent at a bridge game. She's bilingual. She's a very bright lady, despite the bimbo roles. Makes you wonder why she can't get a job in a decent movie - she can't be any worse an actress than Estella Warren.

MY favourite Celebrity Jeopardy! moment was the night Gen. Norman Schwartzkopf was pitted against two actors I don't remember. God only knows what they were thinking when they let him on the show, but this is an educated, well-read man against two nitwits. Lord, it was ugly; it was as if Lennox Lewis was boxing Emmanuel Lewis.

Early in Double Jeopardy he'd hit $20,000 and the other contestants looked as if they'd been run over by a train. Schwartzkopf, who is not a sadist, stopped trying at that point out of sheer mercy.

[slortar]

<hijack>
My all-time favorite "celebrity" quiz show was with three Playmates against...BEN STEIN. Dear God, I have never seen such a savage beating...
</hijack>

[bughunter]

Originally posted by Chas.E
Having auditioned for Jeopardy, I can tell you from personal experience that it is a lot harder than it looks from your armchair in front of the TV.

I must concur here. Jeopardy seems to be the only game show left where they honestly try to select the smartest players, instead of the most congenial or charismatic ones. It's the only one I watch and enjoy. (OK - Weakest Link is also interesting, just because of the rapid fire questions.) Heck, if I get to the point where I can answer Final Jeopardy three out of five times (not counting teen or celeb weeks), I may go try out.

My friend Tim is a game show fanatic and auditioned for many of them before finally getting on Hollywood Squares. First he tried out for Wheel of Fortune and they flat out told him he was too smart -- go try out for Jeopardy. So he tried out for that show (I think he said it included an exam) and failed miserably. He played a practice round against a university professor and a librarian. (Tim is an auto mechanic - not exactly a career exposing one to lots of culture and academic trivia.) After a few other tries he got on Squares and - heh - lost.

But he came away with some lovely parting gifts.

[ElvisL1ves]

Originally posted by Munch

The song is actually called "The Thinking Song." There was a question a few weeks ago on Jeopardy that refered to its composer. [/b]

That's a subtitle. Merv originally called it "Theme for Tony" (his son), and chose it so he wouldn't have to pay royalties for it.

All the rest of you are right, except for the person who said celebrities are guaranteed "32 million" for their charities on Millionaire. Maybe that's lire in the Italian version. On the US show, there are no guarantees for the charities.

There's no way to adequately describe the pressure and nerves that contestants feel when the money is real. That does mess up some contestants when they bet. On Jeopardy, the tape doesn't even stop unless absolutely necessary - you have only the commercial break time to do your calculating, and that's on paper. Some contestants are stuck without a calculator, too, apparently, making it hard to subtract their scores from twice their nearest competitor's and add 1.

[Tretiak]

Originally posted by ElvisL1ves
All the rest of you are right, except for the person who said celebrities are guaranteed "32 million" for their charities on Millionaire. Maybe that's lire in the Italian version. On the US show, there are no guarantees for the charities.
[/b]

Actually, on Celebrity Millionaire they are guaranteed $32,000.

[cichlidiot]

I don't think regular Jeopardy! shows are all that easy, depends on the categories. I do call Celebrity Jeopardy!, "Jeopardy For Chimps" and usually have a less difficult time answering those questions. (must make me a chimp too) The episode in the OP was pretty bad though, even with the wagering straightened out. The final question was in the Children's Literature category, and the question was something like:

What is the first line of the poem from the 1800's about a little girl named Mary Sawyer?

I was screaming "Mary had a little lamb!" at the television, but it didn't seem to do much good. Funny I guess, but I did feel some disgust that no one answered correctly.

[ElvisL1ves]

Originally posted by Tretiak

Actually, on Celebrity Millionaire they are guaranteed $32,000. [/b]

Only if they reach the Hot Seat, which is not guaranteed except for Ray Romano.

[whiterabbit]

Hey -- my mom was on Jeopardy! You saying she's stupid? Huh?

That being said, generally the celebrities do suck. That is because they do not have to go through the Testing from Hell that regular contestants do. Also, they may well be used to being on camera, but not in a game show format. It's very different from being an actor.

For us ordinary mortals to get on, first you have to take a written test, fifty questions, and you have to get something like 45 of them right to go on. Then they take the small percentage that pass that and run them through a mock game. And then they send you home and say they'll call you if you get picked. All of this is accompanied by incredibly high levels of stress.

She ended up tying for second, against an apparently unbeatable woman on her fifth day. One of the prizes was a case of Werther's Original. I never want to eat that stuff again, and this was back in 1994.

[23skidoo]

I saw the Celebrity Jeopardy with Seth Green and the guy from the Bare Naked Ladies. What killed me about the show was the betting strategy of the Bare Naked Ladies guy. Going into Final Jeopardy, Seth Green and Celebrity #3 were tied with around 5,200 each. BNL guy only has around 1,300.

Trebek then advised him, as he often does to players who are way behind and have sad looks on their faces: "But you're not out of it yet; remember that your opponents will both be competing for first place and may end up cancelling each other out."

Even if BNL guy doubled his money, there was no way of him catching up, except as Trebek noted, if his opponents cancel each other out. BNL still bets every thing.

Funny thing was that his opponenents did end up cancelling each other out. Unfortunately, he bet everything and walked away a loser. Had he bet nothing, he would have won.

I think the moral of the story is "Listen to Alex Trebek's advice if he is talking about you."

[mobo85]

Originally posted by cichlidiot
I don't think regular Jeopardy! shows are all that easy, depends on the categories. I do call Celebrity Jeopardy!, "Jeopardy For Chimps" and usually have a less difficult time answering those questions. (must make me a chimp too) The episode in the OP was pretty bad though, even with the wagering straightened out. The final question was in the Children's Literature category, and the question was something like:

What is the first line of the poem from the 1800's about a little girl named Mary Sawyer?

I was screaming "Mary had a little lamb!" at the television, but it didn't seem to do much good. Funny I guess, but I did feel some disgust that no one answered correctly.

I saw that. But that wasn't the Seth-Brandi-Steve episode. That was part of the College Tournament, which makes it even stupider.

One person put down "What is 'There once was a man from Nantucket?,'" which led Alex to comment something like, "You must have a different definition of children's literature that I do." Stupid college students...maybe if they actually did something beside smoking and having sex and (insert another braindead college student stereotype here), they could be as smart as Steven Hawking.

[monster]

[quote]Originally posted by mobo85

I saw that. But that wasn't the Seth-Brandi-Steve episode. That was part of the College Tournament, which makes it even stupider.

One person put down "What is 'There once was a man from Nantucket?,'" which led Alex to comment something like, "You must have a different definition of children's literature that I do." Stupid college students...maybe if they actually did something beside smoking and having sex and (insert another braindead college student stereotype here), they could be as smart as Steven Hawking.

No, I just saw this episode last Friday, and it was the final question for the Seth-Brandi-Steve show. Steve was the one who used the Nantucket answer.

[Atreyu]

My favorite Celebrity Jeopardy! moment came when Kirsten Dunst (sp?) was on the show. The answer was something like, "Of Mars, Jupiter, or Saturn, the planet that is nearest to the Earth."

Dunst rang in and responded, "What is Pluto?"

My jaw actually dropped. Here the writers had already helpfully narrowed it down to three, and she picks a planet that's not even on the list!.

I don't watch Celebrity Jeopardy! anymore. I just check back a week later when the real thing comes back.

[Morbo]

Sometimes you get pretty smart celebrities. I remember one with Teri Garr and Ed Asner, and they were both neck-and neck, answering pretty impressive questions and leaving the third guy in the dust (don't remember who it was). I think Asner won b/c he knew the current Premier of Israel, which was Rabin at the time.

Since that was a few years ago, maybe the general IQ of celebs has gone down since then?

[Chas.E]

Originally posted by whiterabbit
For us ordinary mortals to get on, first you have to take a written test, fifty questions, and you have to get something like 45 of them right to go on. Then they take the small percentage that pass that and run them through a mock game. And then they send you home and say they'll call you if you get picked. All of this is accompanied by incredibly high levels of stress.

Yeah, the test was insanely tough. It has all the obscurest categories that you hope aren't going to appear in the TV game. For me it was The Bible. If you want to get on Jeopardy, you better know your bible inside and out because it WILL be on the test. And if you stall while thinking about one or two questions, you will not complete the test.

Anyway, I have to laugh when thinking about Jeopardy. When I lived in LA, I met a woman named Trixie (not her real name, but the name she used in real life!) who was from my home town and a graduate from the Iowa Writer's Workshop. When I casually mentioned I had auditioned for Jeopardy, she told me about a screenplay she'd written as her MFA thesis. It told of a small town Iowa boy who was known as the local Jeopardy whiz, he was the most celebrated person in his town. People would assemble at his home every day to watch him shout out the answers and he was always correct. So the town took up a collection to send him for an audition, and he gets on the show. The whole town sees him appear on the show.. and he totally chokes, blowing every question. He is humiliated in front of his whole town, and slinks back to his home and becomes the local pariah.

Trixie complained that she had shopped the script around town, and despite the excellent reputation of the Iowa Writer's Workshop in the Hollywood screenwriting community, her script had been rejected at every studio in town. A few months later she moved back to Iowa, having failed at her dream of becoming a screenwriter. She never realized that she had accidentally written her autobiography, using Jeopardy as a metaphor.

[CurtC]

bughunter wrote:

First he tried out for Wheel of Fortune and they flat out told him he was too smart -- go try out for Jeopardy.

My in-laws were watching Wheel one evening when I happened to be around. The puzzle spelled "To be or not to be." The lady who finally got it was then given the opportunity to name the Shakespeare play that it was from. She missed it. My only thought was that this certainly wasn't Jeopardy that I was watching.

(Tim is an auto mechanic - not exactly a career exposing one to lots of culture and academic trivia.)

I've read a book about the Jeopardy show (I've always wanted to be a contestant), and they note that a disproportionate number of five-time champs, including the all-time highest money winner, are policemen.

[manhattan]

Does there remain a General Question here?

[Spyderman]

ok,

if you answered every question correct (except the daily doubles and the final question, because then you could win/loose the amount bet) and left no questions unanswered, how much money would you walk away with?

[bughunter]

That's easy:

Six categories times $1500 per category in the Jeopardy round equals $9000. Twice that for Double Jeopardy is $18,000. Together that's $27,000.

Now assuming you bet everything in Final Jeopardy, you could concievably walk away with $54,000, or more if you got greedy in the Daily Doubles.

What's the maximum anyone has ever scored in one game?

[Atreyu]

Originally posted by bughunter
What's the maximum anyone has ever scored in one game?

From the official Jeopardy! website.

The highest amount a player has ever won in one game.
Correct! In 1992, Jerome Vered won $34,000 in one game.

The phrasing is odd because I quoted it from their trivia game.

And for the all-time money winner...

Q: Who is the all-time winner?
A: Frank Spangenberg, an officer with the New York Transit Police Department, holds "JEOPARDY!'s" all-time regular winnings record. Officer Spangenberg's winnings to date total $144,397 and he has played in "SUPER JEOPARDY!" and won "JEOPARDY!'s" 10th Anniversary championship.

That should buy him a lot of tacos.

[23skidoo]

Originally posted by bughunter
That's easy:

Six categories times $1500 per category in the Jeopardy round equals $9000. Twice that for Double Jeopardy is $18,000. Together that's $27,000.

Now assuming you bet everything in Final Jeopardy, you could concievably walk away with $54,000, or more if you got greedy in the Daily Doubles.

What's the maximum anyone has ever scored in one game?

Alot more from the Daily Doubles. Assuming you got both Daily Doubles as the last two $100 questions in Round One, you could have earned a possible $8,800 before the last two questions. Two "true daily doubles" turns that into $35,200. You can rack up another $17,600 in Round Two, assuming that you leave the Daily Doubles for the last two $200 questions in Round Two. Add that to what you got from round 1 gives you $52,800. Two more "true daily doubles" gives you $211,200. Bet it all in Final Jeopardy and walk away with $422,400.

[bughunter]

Assuming you got both Daily Doubles as the last two $100 questions in Round One

Umm, there's only one Daily Double in round 1. And they're answers (or clues), not questions.

But using your assumptions (daily doubles found last, under top row clues), the one would give you a possible $17,800 at the end of round 1, and then you can earn $17,600 more before uncovering the daily doubles in round 2. These will allow you to quadruple the total, and you get $141,600.

Then you can double it again in Final Jeopardy, and stroll off with a cool 283,200.

[bughunter]

Originally posted by Atreyu

That should buy him a lot of tacos.

Actually, I remember Officer Spangenberg and I would guess he'd be spending his money on perogies or knockwurst instead of tacos.

[Robot Arm]

Originally posted by bughunter
...But using your assumptions (daily doubles found last, under top row clues,...

I think it's a policy of the show not to have a Daily Double as the easiest question (top row) in a category. I have seen it as the second question, though.

[Mahaloth]

Yeah, celebrities feel morally obligated to wager it all unless they already have over $10,000(then, they wager the difference). Some are morons and don't do this, though.