You can start to get a Princess Bride battle of wits with this, but anyway. With 16,000 vs 11,200:
Her normal wager is 6,401.
Therefore, Fred can only win if she guesses wrong and finishes with 9,599. He should bet at most 1,600, to guarantee a finish of at least 9,600. Then the most he can finish with is 12,800.
But then she should bet less than 3,200, to guarantee a finish above 12,800. Thus she will finish with at most 19,199.
Therefore, he should bet 8,000 to finish with 19,200.
Simple. 
Wait…she answered FDR?!! FDR?! The only president who served more than two terms? AUGH! Idiots like this get on the damn show and I can’t even get a callback! Grrrrr…
Re: the question itself:Wow. Thay all got that wrong? I knew Nixon immediately. It took me about three seconds to recall that Lincoln was first elected in 1860 and killed in 1865, so Bingo. I wouldn’t have come up with McKinley (I knew he was assassinated but had no idea how long he served), but the other two should have been a piece of cake.It’s not often I get to feel smarter than Jeopardy contestants.
IIRC, she wrote something as soon as the question came up, then stood looking pensive, then wrote again just before the time ended. So she knew one of the correct answers immediately, then completely blanked and wrote something that she knew was wrong, but decided it was better to write something rather than leave it at a single answer that couldn’t possibly be correct.
And she wasn’t an idiot. She breezed through some tough categories.
I got those two then was wondering about whether FDR fit the clue when I decided to just click the damn spoiler. That was tricky, Dick!
well after the initial shock of the blunder has passed, i could see how Nixon would throw people off. someone might think… hm… the watergate blunder… might have cost him the election? and then not known that ford was the Veep.
but still, the assassinations are the safe bets (safer than FDR). between lincoln, garfield, mckinley, kennedy, and harrison who died 30 days in… i would have expected those to be guesses.
bah. still an easy question to blow though.
Ha, I got Nixon and McKinley but forgot Lincoln
Stupid betting, but this thread reminded me of the stupidest question I’ve ever asked.
In 8th grade my history class spent the entire period on the anniversary of JFK’s assassination talking about him. It was 75 minutes of hagiography and eventually I raised my hand and asked:
If Kennedy was such a great president why wasn’t he re-elected?
The teacher was so flabbergasted by the question that I think I realized just how stupid that question was faster than he did.
I think it was several weeks before I spoke in that class again.
I got Lincoln and McKinley, but the only reason I got McKinley is because I reading a book about Teddy Roosevelt right now. I would have gotten Nixon, but once I had two I didn’t really think about it much more.
I don’t know. It was a stupid bet, yes, but she got through the game and was doing well. By the time they revealed the Final Jeopardy category, her mind was probably all over the place - I can’t believe I’m in the lead, oh hey this category seems easy, oh dear Lord what numbers should I right down? - and she might have acted without thinking it through. She obviously should have thought of betting strategy before going on the show, as it seems most of us armchair players have, but maybe she felt really confident, who knows. I’ve heard from former players that the dumbest half hour of your life is the one that you’re on Jeopardy.
[boast]I got it in about five seconds.[/boast] I ran though the assassinated ones, and was sure about Lincoln being correct, positive that Kennedy was incorrect, and unsure about Garfield and McKinley. Then, of course, Nixon sprang to mind - so I went with him as a the second sure thing. If they demanded all three, I’d have a coin flip’s chance of missing it.
I think I might break the law in Idaho to have an excuse to bump into our unstrategic former champion.
I blanked on Lincoln!
I couldn’t believe none of them got that answer correct! Come on! Lincoln was elected in 1860, assassinated in 1865, therefore he must have been in his 2nd term. Nixon elected in '68, again in '72 and resigned in '74, those were so obvious! I guessed the third was McKinley because I know he was assassinated in 1901 and figured he spent more than 1 year in office, therefore he’d be on his second term.
What was funny (to me) was, I don’t know if anyone else does this, but whenever I see the category name I try to predict what the answer will be beforehand, and my guess *before *seeing the clue was “the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo,” which is where McKinley was assassinated!
I’ll confess that I didn’t actually know the answer off the top of my head. On the other hand, though, if you’re going to be on Jeopardy, the years for each presidency, as well as one or two significant events during each, is darn well something that you should study up on and memorize.
I’m not even American, and I knew all 3.
Now, I wasn’t sure on McKinley - I knew he’d been assassinated, but I had no idea when, and wasn’t sure if he was in his second term - but I was 100% positive on both Lincoln and Nixon. So I could have gotten the question right, if I’d been on the show. And if they’d wanted all three, I was confident enough with McKinley to go with it.
This is my pick for the stupidest wagering on Jeopardy.
How to win with $1
I like how Trebek comments that he was in the “right part of the world”. India and South Africa are like right next to each other, I guess?
Alex started tonight’s episode with a recap of last night - “In the land of the blind, the one eyed man is King”.
Tonight’s ending was a little different though.
The champion, Fred, had exactly twice as much as the second place contestant - third was below 0 and out of Final Jeopardy. He had the sense to bet $0, insuring no worse than a tie. Which worked out - they both got it wrong.
Some of this can be made more complicated by how many points the third player has.
Heh. I blanked on Lincoln!
FEAR ME!