# Jeopardy: is Daily Double hunting "dishonorable"? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [July 15, 2005, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-is-daily-double-hunting-dishonorable/312613 "2005-07-15T03:54:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-is-daily-double-hunting-dishonorable/312613/41 "2005-07-15T17:54:24Z")
I don’t remember ever seeing a Daily Double in the top row. I always figured that was deliberate, but I’ll be curious to see if there’s a definitive answer. Also, in Double Jeopardy, I’ve never seen both Daily Doubles in the same column. So if you are hunting for them and find one in a particular category, you know not to select that one again. The strategy I’d be tempted to try is to select my weakest categories first. Usually, all the answers on the board are uncovered, and if the Daily Double turns out to be on a subject I know a lot about, I’d like to have enough of a bankroll to make a big wager. (This assumes I can get control of the board back, and that the scores are such that a big wager won’t be a bad play.) ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-is-daily-double-hunting-dishonorable/312613/42 "2005-07-15T17:59:58Z")
> [@Uncommon Sense](#): > > That contradicts what **h.sapiens** just said above. That the first round has the DD’s placed at random and the second round has them placed in the lower two rows. > We’ll see what **vibrotronica** finds out. Still, in the first round, I don’t think you ever see them in the first row. And, technically, they’re not random because they’re never in the same column. I’d ask vibrotronica to check if they’re ever in the same row in the second round, too. ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-is-daily-double-hunting-dishonorable/312613/43 "2005-07-15T18:09:23Z")
> [@Uncommon Sense](#): > > That contradicts what **h.sapiens** just said above. That the first round has the DD’s placed at random and the second round has them placed in the lower two rows. > We’ll see what **vibrotronica** finds out. My money is on **h. sapiens** on this one. I’ll take the word of a five-time champ and participant in the Ultimate Tournament of Champions over any viewer. I remember reading Forrest (and Mark Lowenthal) talk about this method of going through the catagories as opposed to just starting at the top and running through them in ascending dollar order. The big advantage using the jump around method, according to his experience, is that it completely disrupts the other contestants, reducing them to mere onlookers. You’ve got a mental advantage of being in charge, which slows down the other two. Not dishonorable. I personally don’t like the guy. He’s boring to watch, and I cringe whenever he’s got a chance to bet big, 'cause I know he won’t. (Although he made a $2000 bet last night, I think, in one of the DDs.) But I have a lot of respect for him. ---
**Author:** ![DanBlather](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/f4b2a3/32.png) [@DanBlather](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DanBlather)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-is-daily-double-hunting-dishonorable/312613/44 "2005-07-15T18:11:19Z")
> [@vibrotronica](#): > > **fubbleskag** , to tell you the truth, I don’t know if there is statistical justification for a systematic search or not. But if the DDs are placed randomly, why would either strategy be better or worse? > > I did used to win most of my Battleship games, though. Battleship is different because the ships occupy more than one space. You can use that fact to help you come up with a pattern of searching. IF DJs are randomly placed then there is no system that would help. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-is-daily-double-hunting-dishonorable/312613/45 "2005-07-15T18:17:45Z")
Being random doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not weighted. If there was an equal probability for all 30 squares, it’s a 3.33~% chance per square, but they could very easily have it set to 0.1% chance for each square in the top row, 1.5% for the second row, and have the probability curve up sharply in the bottom rows. That’ll pretty much guarantee the DJ not showing up except on the bottom. ---
**Author:** ![Trunk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/87869e/32.png) [@Trunk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trunk)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-is-daily-double-hunting-dishonorable/312613/46 "2005-07-15T19:04:39Z")
> [@Sean Factotum](#): > > My money is on **h. sapiens** on this one. I’ll take the word of a five-time champ and participant in the Ultimate Tournament of Champions over any viewer. Except seeing as how he said, “it’s totally random in the first round” and “random, but restricted to the bottom 2 rows in the second round”, no one has really disagreed with him. And, that’s the crux, apparently, of the new guy’s strategy. . .trying to grab the daily double from the bottom two rows without running the category down to them, as is typical – though not required. Seriously, does anyone recall EVER seeing a daily double in the first row of the board in ANY round. Big prize to the next person who sees it. > [@BayleDomon](#): > > Being random doesn’t necessarily mean it’s not weighted. Correct, but I think that’s what we’re all meaning by “random” in this discussion. ---
**Author:** ![Bosstone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/22d042/32.png) [@Bosstone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosstone)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-is-daily-double-hunting-dishonorable/312613/47 "2005-07-15T19:16:02Z")
> [@Trunk](#): > > Correct, but I think that’s what we’re all meaning by “random” in this discussion. True enough, but if all the coordinators told **h.sapiens** was that it was random, without specifying whether or not it was truly uniform distribution random, the definition used by Jeopardy and the definition in this discussion may not match. ---
**Author:** ![Uncommon\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f9ae1b/32.png) [@Uncommon\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Uncommon_Sense)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-is-daily-double-hunting-dishonorable/312613/48 "2005-07-15T20:12:44Z")
> [@BayleDomon](#): > > True enough, but if all the coordinators told **h.sapiens** was that it was random, without specifying whether or not it was truly uniform distribution random, the definition used by Jeopardy and the definition in this discussion may not match. True, and ‘random’ may mean (to Jeopardy!) all rows except the first. Less in the second and then whatever happens in the third and fourth. Not really random, but it also means they aren’t placed purposely in certain row/columns. Or, Random within the parameters of the program. ---
**Author:** ![HPL](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/3da27b/32.png) [@HPL](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HPL)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-is-daily-double-hunting-dishonorable/312613/49 "2005-07-15T21:12:56Z")
I’ve never really watched Jeopardy much but I know how the game is played and from what I’ve read here, I really have no problem with how he’s playing. He’s not breaking the rules, he’s not placing kick-me signs on the other players hats and he’s(apparently) not making innuedo about Trebek’s Mother. He’s just playing a really sucessful game, but he’s not doing anything the other players aren’t allowed to do. More power to him to win ---
**Author:** ![Draelin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ce73a5/32.png) [@Draelin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Draelin)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 9:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-is-daily-double-hunting-dishonorable/312613/50 "2005-07-15T21:15:56Z")
I have my tryout for the show on Monday … and if I make it to the mock game, you _bet_ I’ll be Daily-Double-Hunting. Only in the categories I’m confident I can answer, though. It’s not how you play the game, it’s whether or not your a smarmy bastard that counts. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![rfgdxm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c0e974/32.png) [@rfgdxm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rfgdxm)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-is-daily-double-hunting-dishonorable/312613/51 "2005-07-15T21:45:25Z")
> [@TJdude825](#): > > This sounds like the infamous [Michael Larsen](http://gscentral.net/larsen.htm) case. He noticed something about the way the game works, and figured out how to use that to his advantage. The producers may get mad, and what they do is their choice. But it’s not cheating unless and until there’s a rule against it. Nope. The rules of Jeopardy say if the choice is yours, you may choose any answer. How is it dishonable to choose any answer for any reason, or no reason at all? If I am a Jeopardy contestant and choose answers based on phases of the moon, is that cheating? ---
**Author:** ![Not\_A\_Tame\_Lion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/e36b37/32.png) [@Not\_A\_Tame\_Lion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Not_A_Tame_Lion)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-is-daily-double-hunting-dishonorable/312613/52 "2005-07-15T22:32:41Z")
Given that he hunts for the DDs, but then bets low on them, his strategy is not to give himself the chance to make a big bet, but simply to deprive the other contestants of the chance to win a big bet. This is smart–he knows that the DDs are the biggest wildcards in the game regarding the total amount of money available. Take the DDs out of the equation and the game becomes a matter of who gets the biggest chunk of the available $54,000; get a big enough chunk of that total available going into the final round, and you can win no matter what the other two do. That’s the guts of the game right there. As for this being “dishonorable”…hell, if I get the call I’ll stomp on the other contestants’ feet if it gives me a better chance of winning. Better that than walking away as a sad sack with nothing but a pocket full of chump change. ---
**Author:** ![Hippy\_Hollow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hippy_hollow/32/4841_2.png) [@Hippy\_Hollow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hippy_Hollow)\ **Post date:** [July 15, 2005, 11:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-is-daily-double-hunting-dishonorable/312613/53 "2005-07-15T23:46:55Z")
Don’t watch the show much but I was a one-day champion two years ago. The contestant coordinators suggest that you go through categories sequentially (for the exact reasons **BobLibDem** suggests) but it’s your choice. The strategies that are being suggested are interesting, but once you are in full competition mode I would suggest that you’re just trying to buzz in and answer correctly. One thing I did try to do was take as much time as possible answering the DD questions because it takes time from your competition. The whole buzzer thing can be pretty disheartening if you don’t get the hang of it - in my contestant group, the first contestant went up against a four-day champ who destroyed the other two like a hot knife through butter. She said after the fifth question she more or less gave up… Never noticed where the DDs appeared but I do think they tend to show up on the bottom half of Double Jeopardy!.. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardy-is-daily-double-hunting-dishonorable/312613.md?page=2)