# One of the stupiest bets ever on Jeopardy tonight **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 3, 2011, 12:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-stupiest-bets-ever-on-jeopardy-tonight/569961 "2011-02-03T00:39:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-stupiest-bets-ever-on-jeopardy-tonight/569961/41 "2011-02-04T05:30:38Z")
> [@mcgato](#): > > This is my pick for the stupidest wagering on Jeopardy. > [How to win with $1](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1PMdU0tKdU) 😕 How the \*hell \*did they not know that!? What other political leaders are famous for writing books while in prison? The wagering wasn’t stupid though. If they had all gotten the answer correct, the man in the lead still would have won. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 6:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-stupiest-bets-ever-on-jeopardy-tonight/569961/42 "2011-02-04T06:15:48Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > 😕 How the \*hell \*did they not know that!? What other political leaders are famous for writing books while in prison? They were obviously thinking of King’s “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” Forgetting, I suppose, that jail isn’t prison, the _Letter_ isn’t a book, and King wasn’t incarcerated long enough to write a book. (And he wasn’t exactly a political leader, either, though that depends on your definition of “political”) ---
**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:** [February 4, 2011, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-stupiest-bets-ever-on-jeopardy-tonight/569961/43 "2011-02-04T06:39:08Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > 😕 How the \*hell \*did they not know that!? What other political leaders are famous for writing books while in prison? Heh, well, I kinda guessed Hitler. One of the titles, “The Struggle is My Life” was sufficiently close to the translated titled of _Mein Kampf_. I never even thought of Mandela. Semi-related, on the Feb 4 episode of _Wheel of Fortune_: The final puzzle was JAZZ BAND, which made me wonder what would happen on the nonzero chance the contestant picked J and Z but not A ---
**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:** [February 4, 2011, 8:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-stupiest-bets-ever-on-jeopardy-tonight/569961/44 "2011-02-04T08:31:19Z")
On that one dollar win, I want to see the intro to the next show: “And our returning champion, whose one-day winnings total one dollar”. ---
**Author:** ![pancakes3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ba9def/32.png) [@pancakes3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pancakes3)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-stupiest-bets-ever-on-jeopardy-tonight/569961/45 "2011-02-04T13:02:00Z")
isn’t 2nd place guaranteed $2k, and 1st place $1k? if that guy comes in last the next game, he would come out with less money than if he had just bet it all and had a triple $0 tie (which happened for the first time ever back in 2008ish?) because he would have had to pay an extra night’s worth of lodging/taxis/etc. anybody care to figure out the nash equilibrium of betting for jeopardy?!? daunting task. ---
**Author:** ![storyteller0910](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecae2f/32.png) [@storyteller0910](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/storyteller0910)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-stupiest-bets-ever-on-jeopardy-tonight/569961/46 "2011-02-04T13:39:50Z")
In the event of a three-way tie (at any dollar amount, but particularly at zero), how is that resolved? Does everyone come back? Does no one? ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 1:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-stupiest-bets-ever-on-jeopardy-tonight/569961/47 "2011-02-04T13:43:49Z")
> [@storyteller0910](#): > > In the event of a three-way tie (at any dollar amount, but particularly at zero), how is that resolved? Does everyone come back? Does no one? Non-zero: They all come back. Zero: They all go home. ---
**Author:** ![shiftless](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9c0ed/32.png) [@shiftless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shiftless)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-stupiest-bets-ever-on-jeopardy-tonight/569961/48 "2011-02-04T15:05:52Z")
Isn’t the first task of every Jeopardy contestant to memorize the trivia for each president and VP? I was more surprised that they would ask such a softball question, and that everyone got it wrong, than I was by the betting strategy. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-stupiest-bets-ever-on-jeopardy-tonight/569961/49 "2011-02-04T15:10:00Z")
It actually took me 7 seconds or so to get that Final Jeopardy, but that’s because I did it out loud. Nixon and Lincoln were immediate, then I tossed FDR for being past 2, then pondered whether the third was Garfield or McKinley. Settled on McKinley and got all three before my wife had figured out one. Yay me. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 3:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-stupiest-bets-ever-on-jeopardy-tonight/569961/50 "2011-02-04T15:18:52Z")
> [@Justin\_Bailey](#): > > Non-zero: They all come back. IIRC, this has happened only once, and it was in the last few years, yes? Ahh, yes, a quick perusal indicates it was in spring of 2007. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-stupiest-bets-ever-on-jeopardy-tonight/569961/51 "2011-02-04T15:54:56Z")
I got Nixon and Lincoln in about 3 seconds. Had no idea about McKinley, but then again I’m Canadian. ---
**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:** [February 4, 2011, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-stupiest-bets-ever-on-jeopardy-tonight/569961/52 "2011-02-04T19:54:56Z")
A three-way zero tie occured once that I know of, during the 1991 Seniors Tournament. All three were bounced. ---
**Author:** ![Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/47e85d/32.png) [@Captain\_Lance\_Murdoch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Captain_Lance_Murdoch)\ **Post date:** [February 4, 2011, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-stupiest-bets-ever-on-jeopardy-tonight/569961/53 "2011-02-04T20:12:18Z")
A bad bet to be sure. I will say that however, they don’t give you a calculator and they don’t give you much time to come up with your final wager. Add to that the stress of being on TV and having loads of cash on the line and it’s surprising there aren’t more bad bets. ---
**Author:** ![brocks](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7feea3/32.png) [@brocks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brocks)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-stupiest-bets-ever-on-jeopardy-tonight/569961/54 "2011-02-05T01:06:24Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > And no, the question was _not_ hard. All you have to do is go through the presidents. That’s not so easy to do in 30 seconds, under a lot of pressure. I think it’s safe to say that Lincoln was the easiest of the three to get. Under the 30-second limit, I got the other two. Never even thought of Lincoln. And that was sitting on my couch, with no real pressure. Pressure makes a huge difference. ---
**Author:** ![Covered\_In\_Bees](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ab992/32.png) [@Covered\_In\_Bees](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Covered_In_Bees)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-stupiest-bets-ever-on-jeopardy-tonight/569961/55 "2011-02-05T06:26:16Z")
I was under the impression Final Jeopardy! gave you as much time as you wanted, within reason, to come up with a wager? ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-stupiest-bets-ever-on-jeopardy-tonight/569961/56 "2011-02-05T12:35:34Z")
Slightly offtopic, but can anyone solve/ remember the answer to this puzzle. I remember hearing it, and there was a good answer. Three players; A, B and C are playing Final Jeopardy!. After the answer is revealed they all know the correct question but all choose to give a wrong one. In all 3 cases it was a sensible thing to do. Why? I remember that one of them bet 0, so could have given a family members name as a joke and not lost anything. The other 2 though, I can’t remember the reasoning ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 1:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-stupiest-bets-ever-on-jeopardy-tonight/569961/57 "2011-02-05T13:30:38Z")
> [@Bryan\_Ekers](#): > > A three-way zero tie occured once that I know of, during the 1991 Seniors Tournament. All three were bounced There was a three-way tie in 2007. IIRC Alex said something before the betting that hinted at the possibility. > [@pancakes3](#): > > anybody care to figure out the nash equilibrium of betting for jeopardy?!? daunting task. I’m not sure there are any Nash equilibria here, because of the uncertainty introduced by the FJ question. ---
**Author:** ![KittenKat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kittenkat/32/306_2.png) [@KittenKat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KittenKat)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 1:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-stupiest-bets-ever-on-jeopardy-tonight/569961/58 "2011-02-05T13:36:02Z")
> [@Covered\_In\_Bees](#): > > I was under the impression Final Jeopardy! gave you as much time as you wanted, within reason, to come up with a wager? Yes, that’s correct, or at least it was when I did the show back in December 2009, and I doubt it’s changed. And while you don’t have a calculator, you do have a scratch pad, so it’s not like you have to do any calculations in your head. ---
**Author:** ![fjs1fs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/9e8a1a/32.png) [@fjs1fs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fjs1fs)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 1:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-stupiest-bets-ever-on-jeopardy-tonight/569961/59 "2011-02-05T13:47:48Z")
Re: the question, I think it was certainly gettable, and am surprised that all 3 missed it. However, that’s a less major point than the ridiculous wager the “leader” made. How can you know so much about so many different subjects, and then not be smart enough to figure out how much you should wager on final jeopardy? That always boggels my mind. ---
**Author:** ![middleman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9a140/32.png) [@middleman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/middleman)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2011, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-stupiest-bets-ever-on-jeopardy-tonight/569961/60 "2011-02-05T15:19:25Z")
> [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](#): > > 😕 How the \*hell \*did they not know that!? What other political leaders are famous for writing books while in prison? I am trying to remember how famous Mandela was back in 1993. Today, he was the first name to spring to mind, but in '93 he wasn’t as iconic, maybe? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-stupiest-bets-ever-on-jeopardy-tonight/569961.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/one-of-the-stupiest-bets-ever-on-jeopardy-tonight/569961.md?page=4)