Jeopardy watch....

[aimo]

Yep, it’s ckear Ken isn’t a greedy guy but is into it for the fun of competition. That’s why he was getting frustrated by the meek betting of many of Amy’s challengers. Plus their betting timidity was making the games boring. For people who understand basic strategy it is just painful to watch challengers not understand their only chance to beat a Jeopardy top 5 contestant was to hit one or two DD’s, bet max and hope you know the answer.

The worst was watching challengers who were already way, way behind Amy STILL not bet max when they hit a DD. Now I understand that it can be embarrassing to end up with $0 or in the red. But I say don’t play the game if you aren’t going to try to win. If you do go all in and miss you will forever know you gave it your best.

I think most of them at that point are just playing for second place.

[Skydog]

I think most of them at that point are just playing for second place.

Why play for 2nd when you can still win? The majority of DD’s are hit before the game is decided.

The librarian’s situation was a typical scenario. I don’t remember the exact numbers but say it was librarian 7k, Amy 20k. I saw contestant after contestant in such situations deciding to bet a ‘safe’ amount like 2k. But in reality that is the opposite of safe - it pretty much kills your chance to be in contention at FJ time.

The librarian recognized this and made the right play of risking it all. And his reward is an additional $30k and a lifetime of opportunities to regale people with the tale of how he knocked out an all time Jeopardy great.

What stories do the ‘safe’ bettors have? “Let me tell you about that time I played for second.”

[aimo]

Why play for 2nd when you can still win? The majority of DD’s are hit before the game is decided.

The librarian’s situation was a typical scenario. I don’t remember the exact numbers but say it was librarian 7k, Amy 20k. I saw contestant after contestant in such situations deciding to bet a ‘safe’ amount like 2k. But in reality that is the opposite of safe - it pretty much kills your chance to be in contention at FJ time.

The librarian recognized this and made the right play of risking it all. And his reward is an additional $30k and a lifetime of opportunities to regale people with the tale of how he knocked out an all time Jeopardy great.

What stories do the ‘safe’ bettors have? “Let me tell you about that time I played for second.”

B/c they had seen her decimate the competition, did not feel confident enough to bet it all, so they decided to go for second.

[Skydog]

B/c they had seen her decimate the competition, did not feel confident enough to bet it all, so they decided to go for second.

Maybe. But this kind of strategic error is common in other games - people erroneously thinking they are increasing their odds of winning when they are actually lowering them. For example weaker players in poker tournaments players often fold when they are 60-40 favorites because they are waiting for a ‘safe’ situation. They fail to account for the fact that giving away pots they are favored in actually lowers their overall win chances. I’m guessing many of these Jeopardy contestants likewise think they are being prudent and playing a sound strategy rather than thinking they are going for second. But of course I don’t know what is really going on in their big Jeopardy brains.

[Bluedog]

Maybe. But this kind of strategic error is common in other games - people erroneously thinking they are increasing their odds of winning when they are actually lowering them. For example weaker players in poker tournaments players often fold when they are 60-40 favorites because they are waiting for a ‘safe’ situation. They fail to account for the fact that giving away pots they are favored in actually lowers their overall win chances. I’m guessing many of these Jeopardy contestants likewise think they are being prudent and playing a sound strategy rather than thinking they are going for second. But of course I don’t know what is really going on in their big Jeopardy brains.

Yeah, I think it's like the scenario if you ask someone: "would you rather have a 50/50 shot of $1000 (either $0 or $1000), OR have a 100% chance of $300" most people will choose $300 even though the "expected result" from the first scenario is higher at $500. People don't want to leave "empty-handed"/embarrassed in the case of Jeopardy and are generally risk averse.

[House P]

Yeah, I think it's like the scenario if you ask someone: "would you rather have a 50/50 shot of $1000 (either $0 or $1000), OR have a 100% chance of $300" most people will choose $300 even though the "expected result" from the first scenario is higher at $500. People don't want to leave "empty-handed"/embarrassed in the case of Jeopardy and are generally risk averse.

Good point. I wonder how the math breaks down in Jeopardy.

If it is anything like the following, I suspect that more contestants would choose the "aggressive bet" (assuming they were aware of the odds).

Aggressive Daily Double Bet
30% chance of winning, becoming a Jeopardy Champion/legend, and receiving ~$20K*
70% chance of finishing 3rd and receiving $1K

Cautious Daily Double Bet
5% chance of winning, becoming a Jeopardy Champion/legend, and receiving ~$20K*
95% chance of finishing 2nd and receiving $2K


*with the chance to win more in future games.

[duke74]

Duke student on the National College Championship.

[pfrduke]

Duke student on the National College Championship.

I have a serious issue with the format they adopted for the college championship. They decided to change the format from the traditional tournament setup - 15 contestants, 5 winners plus next 4 highest scores advance to make 3 semis, with winners of each advancing to the finals - to a much larger tournament of 36 contestants. So that makes 12 quarterfinal matches, with winners of each advancing to 4 semifinals. But then they only take the three semifinal winners with the highest scores into the finals. So someone will win two rounds of the tournament and then get eliminated from the tournament without losing. That seems completely ridiculous. Why not expand to 27, rather than 36, so you can get 9 semi finalists and 3 finalists? Or, if going to 36, introduce an intermediate round where, say, the 12 winners + 6 go on, then 6 winners + 3 go on, then 3 winners to the finals. I feel for whoever that 4th collegian is who will be eliminated for doing nothing but winning.

[brevity]

I have a serious issue with the format they adopted for the college championship. They decided to change the format from the traditional tournament setup - 15 contestants, 5 winners plus next 4 highest scores advance to make 3 semis, with winners of each advancing to the finals - to a much larger tournament of 36 contestants. So that makes 12 quarterfinal matches, with winners of each advancing to 4 semifinals. But then they only take the three semifinal winners with the highest scores into the finals. So someone will win two rounds of the tournament and then get eliminated from the tournament without losing. That seems completely ridiculous. Why not expand to 27, rather than 36, so you can get 9 semi finalists and 3 finalists? Or, if going to 36, introduce an intermediate round where, say, the 12 winners + 6 go on, then 6 winners + 3 go on, then 3 winners to the finals. I feel for whoever that 4th collegian is who will be eliminated for doing nothing but winning.

There's an even easier solution: 4 podiums for 4 finalists. Does no one remember Super Jeopardy!?

superjeopardy.jpg

[duke79]

Duke student on the National College Championship.

Unfortunately, the "Duke" contestant finished last among the three contestants with negative $2,000. She did not even make the Final Jeopardy round.

[Skydog]

Unfortunately, the "Duke" contestant finished last among the three contestants with negative $2,000. She did not even make the Final Jeopardy round.

What is a “Duke” student?

[Neals384]

What is a “Duke” student?

Who is Duke Junior Anna Muthalaly, one of the contestants from last nights college game? (Reply in standard J format.)

[duke79]

Who is Duke Junior Anna Muthalaly, one of the contestants from last nights college game? (Reply in standard J format.)

LOL, exactly!

[Skydog]

Who is Duke Junior Anna Muthalaly, one of the contestants from last nights college game? (Reply in standard J format.)

“What is Muthalaly?” is also acceptable.
sincerely,
Matt Amodio

[Skydog]

LOL, exactly!

I was what asking what made her a “Duke” student rather than a Duke student. I thought it might be her negative score, but that would make her a Duke “student.”

[duke79]

I was what asking what made her a “Duke” student rather than a Duke student. I thought it might be her negative score, but that would make her a Duke “student.”

Yea, you may be right. The quotes around "Duke" may have been unnecessary. I found her strategy to be interesting - she, more or less, would click on to every answer that the host read off and then she would have a look of semi-panic on her face when she realized that she did not know the correct question for the answer. She got quite a few wrong and thus her negative final score.

[brevity]

Who is Duke Junior Anna Muthalaly, one of the contestants from last nights college game? (Reply in standard J format.)

I found her strategy to be interesting - she, more or less, would click on to every answer that the host read off and then she would have a look of semi-panic on her face when she realized that she did not know the correct question for the answer. She got quite a few wrong and thus her negative final score.

It was not Duke's finest hour. I mean, Carnegie Mellon is a Division III basketball team!

The Jeopardy! Fan has the brief recap and game stats here. She answered 12 right and 9 wrong. After dedicating her interview time to her QB coach (quiz bowl, not quarterback), I wonder if she'd forgotten everything he taught her. You could tell she wasn't paying attention to the category when she gave her responses (a 7-letter word for a 10-letter category, an answer for On the "Ma"p that didn't start with "Ma"). And when she was struggling to get out of the red, she was picking low-dollar clues for some reason. The Jeopardy! archive will offer a complete recap here, but it's currently blank.

[CrazyNotCrazie]

I have watched a fair amount of the college tournament. Mayim Bialik is really getting on my nerves. Her reaction to wrong answers is particularly annoying - she is almost nasty about it. And it seems like if someone is close with their wrong answer, she makes that clear which is helpful to others.

Ken is hosting regular Jeopardy this week and the contrast is very noticeable. There was a woman from Durham on tonight.

[rsvman]

I don't mind Mayim, but Ken is clearly better.

[weezie]

I think it's the way Mayim seems to relish saying "No!" when a contestant give the wrong question. Ok, easy there Blossom.