# A Question About Jeopardy! **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [December 6, 2003, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-jeopardy/217320 "2003-12-06T04:48:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Earl\_of\_Sandwhich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/91b2a8/32.png) [@Earl\_of\_Sandwhich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_of_Sandwhich)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-jeopardy/217320/1 "2003-12-06T04:48:21Z")
Can a contestant who gets the Daily Double choose not to make a wager? ---
**Author:** ![TeaElle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8491ac/32.png) [@TeaElle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaElle)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-jeopardy/217320/2 "2003-12-06T04:52:31Z")
No. They must wager at least one dollar. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-jeopardy/217320/3 "2003-12-06T06:01:07Z")
They have to bet, but the minimum wager is $5, not $1. At least, that was the rule back in 1991, when I was a contestant. (Since you ask, I won the first game–$7,200, back before they doubled the values–and came in second on the second.) ---
**Author:** ![terd\_ferguson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8edcca/32.png) [@terd\_ferguson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terd_ferguson)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 6:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-jeopardy/217320/4 "2003-12-06T06:29:47Z")
What was your final jeopardy answer? ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [December 6, 2003, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-jeopardy/217320/5 "2003-12-06T06:50:17Z")
Jeez, it’s been almost 13 years! It’ll take me a couple of days to dredge that up out of my so-called memory! (I wouldn’t have a chance of doing well on the show now! I’d ring in and say, What is… ahhh… ummmm…it was just on the tip of my tongue…) Actually, now that I think about it, I can remember the one I missed on the second show. It was, “She used a Simon and Garfunkel song in her campaign to become Prime Minister of Ireland.” (That may not be it exactly, but pretty close. The clue may have mentioned a year.) But the Final on the first show… sorry, maybe it’ll come to me later. ---
**Author:** ![Meeko](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e495f1/32.png) [@Meeko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Meeko)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2003, 6:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-jeopardy/217320/6 "2003-12-08T06:43:51Z")
slight hijack: If two contestants (or god forbid all three) tie in amount at the end of final jeopardy, a tie breaker is played, one answer and question (It is Jeopardy remember) both write down there question, and wager… I saw this happen once, and I think the amount tied at 599. The Screen for the name changed to “Tie Breaker” ---
**Author:** ![PigArcher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@PigArcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigArcher)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2003, 6:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-jeopardy/217320/7 "2003-12-08T18:10:41Z")
Really? I’ve seen ties where both players came back the next day. Perhaps the rule you’re talking about is for tournaments. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2003, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-jeopardy/217320/8 "2003-12-08T18:28:25Z")
**Max\_Castle** is correct, if two (or three!) contestants are tied after the Final Jeopardy round, the tied contestants come back as co-champions for the next show. Tie-breaking rounds occur only during tournaments. (Why doesn’t the _Jeopardy!_ website publish all the rules to the game?) ---
**Author:** ![Neurotik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/91b2a8/32.png) [@Neurotik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Neurotik)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2003, 6:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-jeopardy/217320/9 "2003-12-08T18:41:16Z")
Do contestants get the categories ahead of time? Or maybe just a study guide with broad spheres of knowledge? ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Moto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/9de0a6/32.png) [@Mr.Moto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Moto)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2003, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-jeopardy/217320/10 "2003-12-08T18:43:09Z")
Because there are some rules they don’t really want you to know about. Like the rule that says that contestants have to pay their own airfare and accomodations to Los Angeles to compete. That way, if you come in third while competing, it’s a sure bet you’ll actually lose money, because the consolation prize won’t be worth what you paid to get to LA. When I competed in 2000, though, I came in second. The consolation prize was a week at the Wyndham El Conquistador Resort in Puerto Rico that was worth making the trip to LA to win. Mrs. Moto and I went there for our honeymoon. ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2003, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-jeopardy/217320/11 "2003-12-08T19:13:44Z")
No, the contestants do not get the categories ahead of time. As you may have heard, five shows (one week) are taped at a time. Which new contestants will join the current champion on any particular show is determined only minutes before taping, by a random draw among the group of contestants waiting backstage. Also, no person on the _Jeopardy!_ staff who has access to the categories and clues (including Alex Trebeck) is allowed any contact with the contestants before the taping. The one exception to this “blind-category” rule is celebrity _Jeopardy!_, when the writers deliberately insert categories that cater to the celebrities’ strengths. For instance, when football player Reggie White, a lay minister, was on, there was a Bible category (he did poorly in it, BTW!). When Ashton Kutcher, a chemical engineering major in college, played, there was a chemistry category. ---
**Author:** ![bup](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6bbea6/32.png) [@bup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bup)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2003, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-jeopardy/217320/12 "2003-12-08T20:37:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by commasense \* > \*\*Actually, now that I think about it, I can remember the one I missed on the second show. It was, “She used a Simon and Garfunkel song in her campaign to become Prime Minister of Ireland.” (That may not be it exactly, but pretty close. The clue may have mentioned a year.) \*\* Who is “Robinson?” ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2003, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-jeopardy/217320/13 "2003-12-08T20:52:25Z")
We have a winner! (The song was “Mrs. Robinson,” of course.) And I still can’t remember my first Final Jeopardy question. Where the heck is that tape? I had it here somewhere… ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2003, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-jeopardy/217320/14 "2003-12-08T21:03:47Z")
> [@](#): > > The one exception to this “blind-category” rule is celebrity Jeopardy!, when the writers deliberately insert categories that cater to the celebrities’ strengths. I remember one show where Stormin’ Norman Schwartzkopf was competing against a Boobwatch girl (and some other similar fluff actress). He won by a landslide, but one of the few questions the Baywatch girl beat him to was one about Patton. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2003, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-jeopardy/217320/15 "2003-12-08T22:18:05Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Walloon \* > \*\* …Ashton Kutcher, a chemical engineering major in college…_\* :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Splanky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b2d939/32.png) [@Splanky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Splanky)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2003, 10:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-jeopardy/217320/16 "2003-12-08T22:34:55Z")
Correction: He was a _bio_chemical engineering major… 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2003, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-jeopardy/217320/17 "2003-12-08T22:37:56Z")
Just because someone plays dumb guys in the movies doesn’t mean he actually are one! ---
**Author:** ![PigArcher](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@PigArcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PigArcher)\ **Post date:** [December 8, 2003, 11:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-jeopardy/217320/18 "2003-12-08T23:31:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by bup \* > \*\*Who is “Robinson?” \*\* She used a song about an alchoholic who as an affair with a much younger man in her campaign? What was her platform? ---
**Author:** ![Walloon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/fbc32d/32.png) [@Walloon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Walloon)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-jeopardy/217320/19 "2003-12-09T00:29:29Z")
That is the plot of the movie _The Graduate_, not the story of the song _[Mrs. Robinson](http://www.codehot.co.uk/lyrics/qrst/simongarfunkel/mrsrobinson.htm)_. ---
**Author:** ![Dignan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f07891/32.png) [@Dignan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dignan)\ **Post date:** [December 9, 2003, 12:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-jeopardy/217320/20 "2003-12-09T00:48:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Max\_Castle \* > \*\*She used a song about an alchoholic who as an affair with a much younger man in her campaign? What was her platform? \*\* Getting the 18-25 male vote! Yowza! [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/a-question-about-jeopardy/217320.md?page=2)