[waynomo]

I was watching Jeopardy the other night and noticed that Alex Trebek before asking a contestant to pick a question he looked down and to his left. Then I noticed this a second time. I figured he was looking for an indication of which contestant should ask the next question, but wasn't aware of an indicator.

After watching a bit more I noticed that on the bottom right (our left) of each players podium there is a little white light that lights to indicate the player who last correctly answered a question and the player who should choose the next one.

Normally it is the person who answered the last question real easy, but when returning from the first break after the player interviews and if no one answers the question correctly it's nice to have an aid.

Has this been obvious to others for a long time?

 

[mattack]

I don't think I knew exactly where it was, but I knew there was some sort of indictor.

Though I FF through virtually everything BUT the actual game part. I skim through the commercials since once in a while they have an 'extra' segment (usually it's right at the beginning of the commercial break, but not always), and sometimes at the beginning of a segment he corrects a previous 'question', changing scores.

The vast majority of the conversations with players? FF through, except if (1) she's hot, (2) sometimes for celebrities, (3) eventually with Ken Jennings just to figure out HOW he'd find something new to say.

 

[TonyD79]

I believe I saw this years ago and forgot about it. Trebeck may have even mentioned it once.

 

[trainman]

The light actually used to be a bit more visible with some previous designs of the contestant podiums.

Something you don't get to see on TV, but that's very visible from the studio audience, is the light tube that goes all the way around the game board. It's turned on along with the buzzer circuitry when Alex finishes reading each clue, and then goes off when a contestant buzzes in -- many times, the contestants are fast enough that it just barely flickers.

 

[Waldorf]

Really good showdown today -

Spoiler

From the reactions, it seemed like all three contestants knew almost all of the answers, all three went into the final with a narrow margin, and all three got the final question correct.

 

[waynomo]

Really good showdown today -

Spoiler

From the reactions, it seemed like all three contestants knew almost all of the answers, all three went into the final with a narrow margin, and all three got the final question correct.

Wow. That is not the show I just watched.

Spoiler

Two of the contestants pretty much ran over the third who barely got to answer any questions. The two went into Final Jeopardy almost tied with around $20,000. Third had $6200. The third place contestant new the answer and wagered $1200. The other two wagered almost all and missed the answer. The third place contestant won.

What was surprising was how well the other two played and how knowledgeable they seemed. The question didn't even seem to be that tough. And then they lost to someone who could barely answer a question. (I am sure they knew answers. They just weren't quick enough on the button.)

I also don't recall many wrong answers. I recall one were all three missed. And there were a couple where no one tried to answer.

 

[waynomo]

The light actually used to be a bit more visible with some previous designs of the contestant podiums.

Something you don't get to see on TV, but that's very visible from the studio audience, is the light tube that goes all the way around the game board. It's turned on along with the buzzer circuitry when Alex finishes reading each clue, and then goes off when a contestant buzzes in -- many times, the contestants are fast enough that it just barely flickers.

Now that you mention that I seem to recall that now.

I wish they would broadcast the light tube or some simulation on the screen. It would nice to see how each is reacting.

 

[astrohip]

Two of the contestants pretty much ran over the third who barely got to answer any questions. The two went into Final Jeopardy almost tied with around $20,000. Third had $6200. The third place contestant new the answer and wagered $1200. The other two wagered almost all and missed the answer. The third place contestant won.

Let's talk FJ betting strategy, AKA second place person is an idiot. Let's call them One, Two, Three.

One & Two are close in money, both $20,000+. You know One is going to bet all/most of his money. One has to make sure he wins if he gets FJ correct. Therefore Two only needs to bet enough to pass One if One misses and Two is correct. So if One has $21,000 and Two has $20,000, Two should bet $1,001. This betting strategy has the additional benefit that if you BOTH miss, Two will only drop a little while One loses his rear-end.

This is a universally accepted strategy, and has been proven to be effective over the years. There are four outcomes for FJ and One/Two--(a) both right, (b) both wrong, (c) One right, (d) Two right. It is a given that a & c will lead to Two losing. But if Two follows this betting strategy, he can win under b & d. Whereas if he doesn't he will only win under d.

So whaddaya know--"b" happened and Two lost with a stupid all-in bet. And Three ended up winning!

I'm continually amazed how little Jeopardy contestants know about betting strategy. It can make the difference between winning & losing.

 

[Kablemodem]

Ever notice the contestants have to give the answer in the form of a question or they don't get credit?

 

[trainman]

Some markets get both a new episode and a one-year-old rerun -- Waldorf may have been "fooled" by the rerun, which would explain why he was talking about a different episode than waynomo. (As far as I know, the new episode always airs later in the day than the rerun.)

 

[Waldorf]

Some markets get both a new episode and a one-year-old rerun -- Waldorf may have been "fooled" by the rerun, which would explain why he was talking about a different episode than waynomo. (As far as I know, the new episode always airs later in the day than the rerun.)

Ah, this could be it. I searched for the final jeopardy answer and found this:

http://fikklefame.com/final-jeopardy-6-5-12/

However, it took me longer than I care to admit to process the "2012" date on the post.

 

[MauriAnne]

Let's talk FJ betting strategy, AKA second place person is an idiot. Let's call them One, Two, Three.

One & Two are close in money, both $20,000+. You know One is going to bet all/most of his money. One has to make sure he wins if he gets FJ correct. Therefore Two only needs to bet enough to pass One if One misses and Two is correct. So if One has $21,000 and Two has $20,000, Two should bet $1,001. This betting strategy has the additional benefit that if you BOTH miss, Two will only drop a little while One loses his rear-end.

This is a universally accepted strategy, and has been proven to be effective over the years. There are four outcomes for FJ and One/Two--(a) both right, (b) both wrong, (c) One right, (d) Two right. It is a given that a & c will lead to Two losing. But if Two follows this betting strategy, he can win under b & d. Whereas if he doesn't he will only win under d.

So whaddaya know--"b" happened and Two lost with a stupid all-in bet. And Three ended up winning!

I'm continually amazed how little Jeopardy contestants know about betting strategy. It can make the difference between winning & losing.

What continually surprises me is that more contestants don't bet to tie. In your example, why not bet $1000 instead of $1001? If they tie, they both come back.

 

[astrohip]

What continually surprises me is that more contestants don't bet to tie. In your example, why not bet $1000 instead of $1001? If they tie, they both come back.

There was a game sometime within the last few years where two people had the same amount going into FJ, and they both bet -0-. Smart tactic, especially when you consider they supposedly couldn't discuss betting strategy before FJ.

Guaranteed to play the next day!:up:

 

[mattack]

What continually surprises me is that more contestants don't bet to tie. In your example, why not bet $1000 instead of $1001? If they tie, they both come back.

Tieing is obviously better than losing.. but if you tie, you know you're coming back against someone who's really smart. If you get a new player, you might be smarter than they are.

 

[lambertman]

Tieing is obviously better than losing.. but if you tie, you know you're coming back against someone who's really smart. If you get a new player, you might be smarter than they are.

Or, you might not

 

[markz]

Wow. That is not the show I just watched.

Spoiler

Two of the contestants pretty much ran over the third who barely got to answer any questions. The two went into Final Jeopardy almost tied with around $20,000. Third had $6200. The third place contestant new the answer and wagered $1200. The other two wagered almost all and missed the answer. The third place contestant won.

What was surprising was how well the other two played and how knowledgeable they seemed. The question didn't even seem to be that tough. And then they lost to someone who could barely answer a question. (I am sure they knew answers. They just weren't quick enough on the button.)

I also don't recall many wrong answers. I recall one were all three missed. And there were a couple where no one tried to answer.

I rarely watch Jeopardy, but happened to see this. I think something on the DVR ended and when it went to live TV, I caught this FJ.

 

[scooterboy]

Ever notice the contestants have to give the answer in the form of a question or they don't get credit?

You're joking, right?

 

[astrohip]

You're joking, right?

$200 for putting that in the form of a question.

 

[trainman]

Ever notice the contestants have to give the answer in the form of a question or they don't get credit?

Not only do they not get credit, they in fact have the value of the clue deducted from their score.

So there's a lot of potential jeopardy for the contestants.

 

[Waldorf]

Not only do they not get credit, they in fact have the value of the clue deducted from their score.

So there's a lot of potential jeopardy for the contestants.

In the second half of the show, it seems like the clue values grow somewhat. The highest natural clue value in the first half is $1,000 while in the second segment, it's.. much larger.

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