# Has that ever happened on Jeopardy! before? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 17, 2011, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-that-ever-happened-on-jeopardy-before/575010 "2011-03-17T11:40:49Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![unwashed\_brain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a9adbd/32.png) [@unwashed\_brain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unwashed_brain)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 2:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-that-ever-happened-on-jeopardy-before/575010/21 "2011-03-18T14:52:24Z")
What was the Final Jeopardy question? Don’t tell me the answer, as I’m mentally betting it all and want to see if I win. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-that-ever-happened-on-jeopardy-before/575010/22 "2011-03-18T16:35:31Z")
From J! Archive: Category: Vocabulary. > [@](#): > > Pronounced one way, this 7-letter word can mean unjustified: pronounced another, it’s someone sickly. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-that-ever-happened-on-jeopardy-before/575010/23 "2011-03-18T16:54:01Z")
What is ‘invalid’, Alex ---
**Author:** ![BubbaDog](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bubbadog/32/333_2.png) [@BubbaDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BubbaDog)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-that-ever-happened-on-jeopardy-before/575010/24 "2011-03-18T17:24:30Z")
> [@Tengu](#): > > I’d have gone $29,199. Get it wrong (which I didn’t) still a dollar and a chance to come back. Get it right, huge payoff. > > I was SO pissed at him for not doing that. I could understand his reluctance. Sometimes the categories that appear the easiest in final jeopardy are the ones that are the killers. So put yourself in his place. $29,200 in my pocket, its my money…or risk partially or all of it on a question that is known to sometimes be a killer. Again, everybody else went home. It’s MY money. No way I would wager all of it. I’d wager just enough to feel a little pain or pleasure from the outcome. $1200 - if I lose it that knocks the navigation package off of that car I wanted to buy. If I win it then the I’m adding the sun roof. ---
**Author:** ![Kamino\_Neko](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kamino_neko/32/34_2.png) [@Kamino\_Neko](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kamino_Neko)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-that-ever-happened-on-jeopardy-before/575010/25 "2011-03-18T17:45:13Z")
> [@BubbaDog](#): > > I could understand his reluctance. Sometimes the categories that appear the easiest in final jeopardy are the ones that are the killers. So put yourself in his place. I did put myself in his place. That’s why I headdesked when he bet almost nothing. ‘Can’t lose’ makes ‘betting almost nothing’ an absolutely stupid move. And I’m really a highly risk-adverse type. OK, maybe he didn’t need to bet almost all of it, but 5 grand is the absolute minimum I could…respect isn’t the word, but not disrespect. A loss == don’t get 29 grand, but get to come back for more. A win == get almost 60 grand. There was literally nothing to lose. If you’re so attached to your virtual money (and until he finishes his run, that’s all it is - virtual money) that you’re not going to risk losing some to get some (he doesn’t seem to be, though - 1/3 of his score was from Daily Doubles), you shouldn’t be on a game show that involves wagering. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 6:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-that-ever-happened-on-jeopardy-before/575010/26 "2011-03-18T18:25:27Z")
Being the OCD person that I am, I would wagered $800 (and got it wrong). Or if I was a defending champ, I would have wagered something that would have brought my total winnings ending in ‘000’. As found as Ken Jennings was in wanting to win in $5000 increments, I cannot believe he never wagered (IIRC) to get his total winnings to a $5000 increment. When he a had a runaway win ---
**Author:** ![unwashed\_brain](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a9adbd/32.png) [@unwashed\_brain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unwashed_brain)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 6:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-that-ever-happened-on-jeopardy-before/575010/27 "2011-03-18T18:35:47Z")
I didn’t get it. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![sachertorte](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sachertorte/32/3727_2.png) [@sachertorte](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sachertorte)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2011, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-that-ever-happened-on-jeopardy-before/575010/28 "2011-03-18T18:48:20Z")
I didn’t get it either, but word recall isn’t my thing. If I were to wimp out on Jeopardy, I’d bet zero and then get the answer wrong whether I knew the answer or not. ---
**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:** [March 18, 2011, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-that-ever-happened-on-jeopardy-before/575010/29 "2011-03-18T19:44:38Z")
In a situation like this, you should either wager as much as you can (if you think your likelihood of getting it right is greater than 50%) or as little as you can (if you think your likelihood is less than 50%). Things change if you’re wagering money you actually _need_, but game show winnings will almost never fall into that category. ---
**Author:** ![Autolycus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/22d042/32.png) [@Autolycus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Autolycus)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2011, 5:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-that-ever-happened-on-jeopardy-before/575010/30 "2011-03-19T05:57:41Z")
I consider myself quite good at all things words, but I would not have got it. Suck it, Trebek. While I understand the arguments regarding the wagering of virtual money, I know how often I don’t get Final Jeopardy even when I consider it a sure thing, so I would have played it safe and just wagered enough to make me a little extra happy if I got it or slightly dismayed if I lost, something akin to about 5000$ I’d say. I will say that wagering absolutely nothing reeks with the air of cowardice and lame-dom. ---
**Author:** ![Jack\_Batty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jack_batty/32/3201_2.png) [@Jack\_Batty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jack_Batty)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2011, 10:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-that-ever-happened-on-jeopardy-before/575010/31 "2011-03-19T10:11:57Z")
I would have got it, as demonstrated above … but I would have needed about 10 minutes to come up with it. ---
**Author:** ![Marc\_Xenos](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@Marc\_Xenos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marc_Xenos)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2011, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-that-ever-happened-on-jeopardy-before/575010/32 "2011-03-19T15:21:08Z")
Jeopardy and pre-Trebek days… Am I THAT old? I do remember Wheel of Fortune when it was Chuck Woolery and some woman named Susie. In the early afternoons! I have a knack for remembering nearly every face I’ve ever seen. The problem is that I have NO clue where from. And you learn REAL fast never to use the phrase, “Haven’t we met somewhere before?” So one day, I happened to be in NYC doing a small job at the Museum of Broadcasting. In the Director’s office, I saw a young lady who looked familiar, but I just couldn’t place her. So I did ask her, “You look familiar. Are you on a TV show?” To which she gave a disdainful look and ignored me. It wasn’t until a couple months later when I happened to see Wheel of Fortune that I realized it was Vanna White. ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 19, 2011, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-that-ever-happened-on-jeopardy-before/575010/33 "2011-03-19T15:42:13Z")
If he was alone and knew the answer, couldn’t he just say it before the music started? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/has-that-ever-happened-on-jeopardy-before/575010.md?page=1)