going into final jeopardy the girl in second place had $11000 and the guy in first place had $22000
the smartest wager for him was to bet $0 (which is what he did, good job)
and she should have bet all of it because that was the only way she had a chance
but instead she bet $2601
they both got the final right so she ended up in second place and he won with $22000
what the heck was she thinking
if she had bet it all she would have tied for first and they both could have kept the money and moved on to the next day
it bottles my mind how many people go on this game and don’t know any strategy at all. should have done some basic research like Arthur
Maybe she was thinking, better second place than third? That was my strategy on Jeopardy, back in 1989. Do they still give out lovely parting gifts? I still have the shop vac I won that day.
Maybe she figured she had a 23.65% chance of answering correctly, and so bet as to maximize the dollar score at the end of the game, rather than betting to maximize the chances of being in first place.
I’ve always seen “Double or Nothing” as a bad strategy, but, of course, it depends on what, exactly, you’re trying to maximize.
(I’m the sort who would “bank” all the time on Weakest Link.)
But you don’t get to keep the money you have on the board. The second place winner gets a flat two thousand dollars and the third place winner gets a flat one thousand dollars. So you’re generally better off swinging for the fences and trying to finish in first place - where you keep all your money and get a chance to come back and win more money - rather than playing it safe for just an extra thousand dollars.
PSXer is right. I am baffled by the number of otherwise bright people who have no idea how to bet. If they’ve overcome their nerves enough to be in a position to possibly win, there’s no reason for them to be betting without a clue.
In this situation, she assured herself an extra $1000 by throwing away a good chance at $22,000 (plus more, if she managed to won again the next day).
Bad Final Jeopardy! bets are fairly common, but bad Daily Double bets…you can’t go two games without seeing at least one of those. I make sure I’m not holding the remote when watching, because I’d be sure to throw it. Why do SO MANY players bet $2000 on doubles, no matter what? And the number of players who get a double late in the game, can take the lead, bet enough to hurt them if they miss it, yet don’t bet enough to take the lead… Aaaargh!
Yeah, bad FJ wagers make me so angry! I was yelling at the screen last night watching her bet. You’ve been playing well the whole game and then you throw it all away because you can’t count! Her bet *guaranteed *that no matter what anyone else did, if they all got it wrong or all got it right, or any combination, that she would not win, when if she bet it all, she would have had a 50% chance of winning. Idiot.
Heh, from a post on the Jeopardy message board: “Her wager was as bad as the Brazilian soccer team.”
Well, in my case I had no chance of coming in first that day. The first place guy was trouncing both of us. I ended up “tied” for second place, other guy and I had both bet so as to leave $100 on the table, and all three of us got the answer wrong. I ended up with the third-place prize (shop vac and camcorder) rather than the second place prize (trip to some resort in Arizona that I didn’t want to go to anyway) because I had the least money on the board before Final Jeopardy. I got other nifty prizes too, like a case of olive oil, a case of instant rice, I forget what else - but no Turtle Wax or Lee Press On Nails! I miss the old days of game shows sometimes.
I also didn’t win Ben Stein’s Money, but I got a telescope as my consolation prize.
Yes, if you have no chance at first place, you should try to secure second. But my point was many players don’t estimate the odds correctly. In the scenario described in the OP where the prizes were $22,000, $2000, and $1000, you’d be mathematically justified in trying for the first prize even if you were 95% certain you didn’t know the correct answer.
The one that really annoys me is when a player gets a Daily Double as the last clue before the Final Jeopardy round, and is in a position to win the game outright with a large enough bet, and won’t make the bet despite it being a category they’ve just aced. Sure, if it’s something you’re completely unfamiliar with, don’t do it, but if you just got four of the other questions in the category right…
No, it was the smart bet in his case. He knew he was guaranteed at least a tie as long as he kept the money he had - $22000 in this case. He’d have been risking that by betting.
He was playing against somebody who had $11000 to bet. If she bet it all and won, she’d have $22000 and tie him.
Now suppose he bet a single dollar. If he won, he’d have $22,001 and would win. But what would be the point? He keeps his money and comes back the next day regardless of whether he wins or ties. All he’d be doing is knocking her out of the game. Which would not only be petty but counterproductive - he’s just mostly beaten her in that day’s game so he’d rather play her again than compete against a stranger who might be better than him.
And that’s if he gets the right answer. If he gets the wrong answer and she gets the right one, he has $21,999 and she has $22,000. He loses the game by a single dollar. He doesn’t even get to keep his money - he’s now the second place winner and just gets the standard $2000 prize. And he doesn’t get to play again the next day.
As for betting everything, that’s not quite as bad. He could win $44,000 which would represent an extra $22,000 to him. But he’s risking $21,000 (all his winnings minus the $1000 consolation prize) and his opportunity to come back the next day (which is worth a minimum of $1000). So he should still hold steady and bet nothing.
I recently heard an interview with Alex Trebek in which he said that in his opinion every contestant should always wager as much as possible. It’s not like anybody would actually lose their own money if they lost on Jeopardy, he said, so why not maximize the amount you take home if you do win.
Well, when I did it I was in first place going into Final Jeopardy but I had a little mini-breakdown when it came time to bet. Seriously, they had to call time on me. Which is funny because I’d practiced and practiced and practiced betting strategies and was really hoping that I’d be in the position I was in, but somehow I just… lost the ability to double a number, I guess. Sorry I offended you so much.
It’s a good thing, though, because I didn’t know the answer and fucking up the betting got me two grand instead of one.
It’s pretend money until the game is over so I generally go all-in. Except in the case in the OP. Then I’d be all-in unless I was the guy with the 22k. Then I’d let other people play stupid.
A couple of weeks ago I saw two games in three days in which the contestant with the most money going into Final got the answer right and lost because of his/her wager. There’s no excuse for that.
Ideally all the players could collude before the game. At Final Jeopardy, each of the two leading players bets exactly enough so that they will tie the third place contestant if they are wrong. The third place contestant bets nothing. All that is left to do is for the two leading players to intentionally miss the final question. All players tie, and all three keep the third place total and repeat forever. No rules broken and a steady income for a half hour’s work.
I miss the old days of game shows sometimes.