[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.

 

[MauriAnne]

I've often pondered something else about Final Jeopardy. I was taught to underline book titles, but I've never noticed a contestant doing that when writing their answer. Considering how many of the contestants are teachers, I find that odd that none of them would underline a book title.

Perhaps they're told not to underline them for ease of reading? Anyone know?

 

[MauriAnne]

Fascinating. Just googled this and found that many methods are acceptable. Before computers, underlining was preferable since making italics was generally harder to do.

I guess I'm showing my age.

 

[MauriAnne]

I think the "this game" wording was very clear, and the reason the other contestants got it wrong was that they just couldn't come up with the full name of the game.

The question was clear to me, but I couldn't come up with the full name of the game either!!

 

[MauriAnne]

There was even a piece on ABC Nightly News about Chu last night. I don't see what the big deal is personally, and I never understood why more people don't bet Final Jeopardy for a tie score.

 

[MauriAnne]

I was surprised they accepted Ag (rather than Silver) for the Final Jeopardy answer on Wednesday's show. Did that seem odd to anyone else?

 

[MauriAnne]

I've definitely seen answers repeated in the same category.

They replayed an episode from Jan 2013 tonight, and the same answer (Michael Jackson) was repeated for the top 3 questions in a category.

 

[MauriAnne]

Just watched the Teen Tournament and I was surprised at the Tie Breaker. I don't remember seeing that done before.

 

[MauriAnne]

When I saw it was a tie, I expected them to declare co-champions. That seems fairer to me than be abrupt, one-question playoff.

 

[MauriAnne]

I agree... that was a very stupid bet that easily could have cost him the game. I can understand a silly mistake like that though in the heat of the moment.

They introduce the champ as a "former lawyer". Seems like an odd description to me; I'd expect "retired lawyer" rather than "former" --- it kind of makes it sound like he was disbarred.

 

[MauriAnne]

Good luck, Regina !!!!

 

[MauriAnne]

Was that a Clavin Jr. on today's Jeopardy??!!?? The champ, who seems to be a rock-solid player, had a lock going in to FJ, and the last clue was his, the DD. He had $27,200 and 2nd was $11,400. He needed to remain above $22, 800 to keep his lock, or wager less than $4,400 on the last clue, the DD.

He bets $5,000 .

He did answer correctly, thus increasing his lock. But had he not, FJ would have been up for grabs. He also ended up being the only person to get FJ, but still...

WTF was that wager?

On the Jeopardy board, the champ admitted his mistake here

I plead completely guilty. I was trying to maximize my bet, because I was absolutely crushing the category, but yeah, I didn't want to blow the runaway either. I only realize now after watching it that I ran the category. I was doing the math in my head quickly and messed up. So, yes, ate the big Clavin on that bet. Totally realized it immediately after saying the "five thousand" and started kicking myself, but no takebacks.

 

[MauriAnne]

If that's true (can someone confirm?)

From Four Rare Jeopardy! Scenarios | J!Buzz | Jeopardy.com

1. Tie Breakers

There can only be one winner. This has long been the case in tournament play and was recently adapted into regular game play. A tie at the end of Final Jeopardy! sends the game into a tie-breaker clue.

If there are two or three players tied for first place after each contestant unveils their Final Jeopardy! response, Alex will present one more category and read the clue. The clue has no dollar value and does not increase the player's winnings. The first contestant to buzz in and respond correctly is declared the winner. Should all participating contestants fail to provide a correct response, this process is repeated until one contestant responds correctly

 

[MauriAnne]

So you didn't get to see Alex's awesome beard?

I think it makes him look older, but it *is* a good beard.

 

[MauriAnne]

I was surprised they accepted "the Mooch" for Anthony Scaramucci without asking for clarification tonight.

 

[MauriAnne]

I agree about MSRP. I think the clue was actually phrased some like "A car's sticker price, which is what the dealer wants you to pay, is also known as this term which has a 4 letter abbreviation". I think they would have been wrong to accept MSRP rather than the full phrase.

I was also surprised they accepted "snug bug rug" instead of "snug as a bug in a rug".

 

[MauriAnne]

What did you all think of Buzzy's FJ wager?

I understood that one as it was clear Team Buzzy was going to be the next round as the Wild Card even if he didn't get the answer correct.

The bets I didn't understand were the two $100 that Alex on Team Buzzy bet on the Double Jeopardy's. Perhaps they had decided to play for the wild card at that point ? The game was long from over though.

 

[MauriAnne]

Alex Jacob (@whoisalexjacob) | Twitter

Thanks for posting ! This was interesting.

 

[MauriAnne]

From James' Facebook page:

Huge congrats to Emma, who needed to play a perfect game to beat me and did just that. To anyone who thinks that I threw the game or Jeopardy is rigged: it's insulting to our new champ to imply that she didn't crush me legitimately. And if you enjoyed watching a dominant champ in action, I think you might want to stick around for the rest of Emma's run.

Maybe Emma's going to stick around.