Assume I get every question right (Which isn’t that far fetched) and I always buzz in first, and I always go for true daily doubles, what’s the most I could possible expect to win on the new Jeopardy TV show?
*This isn’t a trick question… I really don’t know.
** And assume I never get questions on grammar…
My maximum values may be off, it’s been a while since I watched.
Jeopardy! round
6 categories, max. value $500, one Daily Double
(500+400+300+200+100)*6=9000
Hit Daily Double last, on a $100 question (never happens, but is the only way to get the max. possible), you’ll have $8900 to wager; win, $17,800.
Double Jeopardy! round
6 categories, max. value $1000, two Daily Doubles, $17,800 coming in.
(1000+800+600+400+200)*6=18,000
Hit first Daily Double next-to-last, on one of two remaining $200 questions (see above), you’ll have $17,800 + $17,600 or $35,400 to wager; win, $70,800. Second Daily Double is the last $200 question; win, $141,600.
Final Jeopardy! round
Wager it all, win: take home $283,200.
Round 1, six categories, with a total of $1500 (100+200+300+400+500)
Assume you pick the daily double last
Assume the daily double is in the $100 category
So you have a total of 6 x $1500 = ($9000-100) x 2 = $17,800 at the end of the 1st round
Second round everything doubles plus now 2 Daily Doubles
Again assume you manage to pick the Daily Doubles last.
Going into the 1st Daily Double you have
6 x$3000 = (($18,000 -400)+ 17,800) x 2 = $70,800
Next Daily Double = $70,800 x 2 = $141,600
Final Jeopardy bet it all 141600 x 2 = $283,200
I think the assumption that you can have a Daily Double in the first row is wrong.
Supposedly they are increasing the dollar amounts. If I did my math right, you can see why. That’s a whole lot of questions to get right to less than a 1/3 of “Millionare’s” money.
All that work, and ** KneadtoKnow ** beats me to it. I think my buzzer wasn’t working!
Excellent
So what is the most that has been won?
I came up with $352,800.
Jeopardy doubled the money values. So I totalled the first round at $35,600 and the second round at $140,800. That comes out to $176,400.
Double that (you risk taker, you) in Final Jeopardy, and that comes out to $352,800.
Frank Spangenberg, in season 6: $102,597
According to them that should know.
Nope. You guys watched it lately? The other night I watched it and they aren’t doing it that way anymore. They started at $400, not $200… Umm I forgot the new numbers, nuts, anyway up to $1600 not $1000. Did I watch a special show?
Unless you meant “in one day,” Phobos. That would be Jerome Vered, $34,000. Same source, different page.
I thought that you could actually risk more money than you had on Daily Doubles. Or is that only if you’re in the negative?
Jrootabega - That’s only if your total cash is less than the highest value on the board. In that case, you can bet up to the highest value on the board, ie $1000 in the first round and $2000 in the second.
** orr **,
Sorry, I haven’t watched the show for a long time. (It’s on opposite the Simpsons here). Did they double all the amounts, so the first round starts at $200 and the second at $400? If that is the case, the most you should be able to get is:
Round 1 $17,800 x 1 Daily Double = $35,600
Round 2
First Daily Double
((36,000-800) + 35,600) x 2 = 141,600
Second Daily Double = 283,200
Final $566,400
In your calculations, did you add in the carryover from the 1st round for the 2nd round daily double?
Hmmmm. I like the effort, and I appreciate the response, but no consensus?
- One thing that occured to me-- When you hit a daily double, you don’t automatically win that amount. That is, I hit a daily double on a $400.00 question, I don’t get that $400.00 to add to my bank. I only get to double the amount I had at that time.
I took that into account in my otherwise flawed response, CnoteChris. As to consensus, I can neither confirm nor deny the results given by those who say the amounts have already changed. I used the amounts given on the Jeopardy! web site, which matched what I remembered.
Well, my number has to be right, because I used an Excel spreadsheet. Everyone knows the use of spreadsheets eliminates all errors. 
** Kneadtoknow ** and I got the same answer using the original board values. I just switched those out when ** orr ** pointed out that I was behind the times and the values had gone up. So I think $566,400 is correct. Dissenting opinions welcome.
No criticism was intended on my part, KneadToKnow… if, in fact, any was taken-- I honestly don’t know if it was.
To be honest with you, I’ve never been able to figure you math people out. Whenever I think I’ve cracked a good joke to a math guy, or even given them a kind jab, instead of them taking it in stride, it turns out they’ve taken out their sliderule and are ready to whack me on the head with it instead.
My only point was that it didn’t seem clear that a set number had been found yet, from my perspective.
Has one been? Because my figures come out to well over a million bucks.
They did in fact double all the money values.
So round 1 goes: $200, $400, $600, $800, $1000. Just like the old Double Jeopardy. Likewise, the new Double Jeopardy goes: $400, $800, $1200, $1600, $2000.
I probably did screw up the math somewhere in my original post. I multiplied each value times 6. Then I multiplied $200 by 5. Added them all up and doubled it. Same goes for the second round, except I multiplied the lowest category by 4 (two daily doubles in this round). Then added and multiplied by 2 twice. Then again for Final Jeopardy. Did I screw up somewhere?
Oh well, I did it all with pen and paper, so the odds of me botching the total are high. Always trust in Excel.
No offense taken at all, CnoteChris, I assure you.
Let’s try this again with the new values, then, shall we?
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*As reimagined by KneadToKnow *
Jeopardy! round
6 categories, max. value $1000, one Daily Double
(1000+800+600+400+200)*6=18,000
Hit Daily Double last, on a $200 question (never happens, but is the only way to get the max. possible), you’ll have $17,800 to wager; win, $35,600.
Double Jeopardy! round
6 categories, max. value $2000, two Daily Doubles, $35,600 coming in.
(2000+1600+1200+800+400)=36,000
Hit first Daily Double next-to-last, on one of two remaining $400 questions (see above), you’ll have $35,600 + $35,200 or $70,800 to wager; win, $141,600. Second Daily Double is the last $400 question; win, $283,200.
Final Jeopardy! round
Wager it all, win: take home $566,400.
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Exactly double the original answer. Makes sense to me.