A Jeopardy! Brain Twister

Rain Man · #1 01-26-2002, 06:28 PM

OK, GCers, I want to throw a scenario out to you that will make you think. I saw this on the 12/5/01 ep of Jeopardy and would like some input.

Going into Final Jeopardy, the scores for the three players were:

Player 1 - $13,400
Player 2 - $12,400
Player 3 - $ 6,200

The question is this: All else being equal.....

A. Which player is in the best position to wager, regardless of
whether his/her response is right or wrong? Why?

B. What should the player you selected wager?

I ask this b/c I have noticed all too many times otherwise smart Jeopardy! contestants make stupid wagers. I will give 500 cyber dollars to the most convincing argument, or who most closely matches my assesment of the above (Yes, I did assess the situation).

The actual outcome of the scenario will be given in a future post.

Good luck! *Jeopardy! think music plays*

RM

CrucialCrimson · #2 01-27-2002, 05:22 PM

The question is silly - the wisdom of the wager is not just about the amount of money one has on the board, it is about the topic, and how well you perform under stress. To compare random guesses about the situation to the real outcome is even sillier because unlike your "scenario" things were not equal and in real life - they never are!!

DeltaBetaBaby · #3 01-27-2002, 05:27 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Rain Man
OK, GCers, I want to throw a scenario out to you that will make you think. I saw this on the 12/5/01 ep of Jeopardy and would like some input.

Going into Final Jeopardy, the scores for the three players were:

Player 1 - $13,400
Player 2 - $12,400
Player 3 - $ 6,200

The question is this: All else being equal.....

A. Which player is in the best position to wager, regardless of
whether his/her response is right or wrong? Why?

B. What should the player you selected wager?

I ask this b/c I have noticed all too many times otherwise smart Jeopardy! contestants make stupid wagers. I will give 500 cyber dollars to the most convincing argument, or who most closely matches my assesment of the above (Yes, I did assess the situation).

The actual outcome of the scenario will be given in a future post.

Good luck! *Jeopardy! think music plays*

RM

Presumably, player 2 is in the best position, and he should wager nothing.

Rain Man · #4 01-27-2002, 07:59 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by DeltaBetaBaby

Presumably, player 2 is in the best position, and he should wager nothing.

CORRECT, DBB!!

But do you know WHY Player 2 is in the best position?

Rain Man · #5 01-27-2002, 08:03 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by CrucialCrimson
The question is silly - the wisdom of the wager is not just about the amount of money one has on the board, it is about the topic, and how well you perform under stress. To compare random guesses about the situation to the real outcome is even sillier because unlike your "scenario" things were not equal and in real life - they never are!!

Good point, CC; however it is immaterial for the purposes of the question and discussion at hand.

DeltaBetaBaby · #6 01-28-2002, 01:15 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by Rain Man

CORRECT, DBB!!

But do you know WHY Player 2 is in the best position?

In order to win, player 1 would have to miss the question and wager more than 1000 dollars. Player 2 is in the best position because it makes NO DIFFERENCE WHATSOEVER if he knows the answer to the question or not. The outcome is dependent on the other two.

I am a Jeopardy! junkie, and I am also bothered by bad wagers.

Rain Man · #7 01-28-2002, 08:38 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by DeltaBetaBaby

In order to win, player 1 would have to miss the question and wager more than 1000 dollars. Player 2 is in the best position because it makes NO DIFFERENCE WHATSOEVER if he knows the answer to the question or not. The outcome is dependent on the other two.

I am a Jeopardy! junkie, and I am also bothered by bad wagers.

BINGO!!!

You win 1000 cyber dollars for that insightful response!!

Here was the actual outcome.

Player 1 response: WRONG! Wager: $13,400 which left him with nothing.

Player 2 response: WRONG! Wager: $12,400 which left him with nothing.

Player 3 response: WRONG! Wager: $4,200 which left her with $2,000 and made her the champion.

So as you can see, CrucialCrimson, it isn't always about how much you know on the Chyron (30 monitor board), but sometimes it's about how to make yourself the champ! That's why Jeopardy has the Tournament of Champions and I guarantee you at least one T of C champ got there by wagering strategy alone.

Thanx for playing, DBB!

Rain Man

JJSP01 · #8 01-29-2002, 05:07 PM

I didn't get any of that! LOL!!!

MS.REVLON · #9 01-31-2002, 07:05 PM

There is a site that let's you play Jeopardy online with others. They have various games (ex. College, sports, soap operas). Here is the site. Whoever is down to get a little game going let me know so we can set up some times. http://www2.station.sony.com/en/

Ms Revlon08
24-AS-88
General Member -Present
AKA369@MSN.COM