It almost happened again on Jeopardy

[daviddesper]

The lady from Canada has now won eight games as of Thursday night and shows no signs of slowing down. But as sharp as she is, she made a blunder one day this week that could have cost her the game and I was surprised to see her do it.

It was one of those situations where a challenger had exactly half as much as she did going into Final Jeopardy. I think it was $24,400 to $12,200 but don't quote me.

Anyway, as we have discussed on here before, when that happens, the one trailing should bet it all and the one ahead should bet nothing, so as to create the possibility of a tie. So the challenger made his logical bet but missed the question.

When we got to the champion, I honestly don't remember if she got the question right, but the point is that she had wagered $1. So she still won but I hope by now that someone has pointed out to her that if he had gotten it right and she got it wrong, she would have LOST by that $1 margin.

[9A]

Yep, daviddesper.


"Nova Scotia’s Mattea Roach has done it again!

"The 23-year-old is now a seven-day Jeopardy! champion with a total of $168,401.

"She maintained her lead in the Final Jeopardy! round with a correct response to a question in history.

"Roach bet just $1 dollar to secure $20,401 on the American TV game show on Wednesday night.

"Host Ken Jennings praised her for a strong game heading into the final round."





https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dRgvpbZRUVo&t=10s


[But did you notice that each of the female contestants had a nose ring? Mattea
had two. I don't get it. 9A]

[Jerry Oz]

Wow. Betting everything made as much sense as betting a buck in that situation.

[9A]

No comment -- yet. No spoiler here. [Gulp!]

[daviddesper]

9A is no doubt referring to the fact that tonight, in her 17th [[I believe it was) game, she was faced with exactly the same situation as described above...i.e. having exactly double the amount of her nearest challenger. Once again, the challenger bet everything and she bet a dollar. This time they both got the question right so she won by a dollar.

But the question remains..........is it smart to do that because if the challenger had been right and she was wrong, then she would LOSE by a dollar, whereas if she bet nothing at all, they would end up tied.

Having said that, nowadays they would have a tie-breaking question instead of having them both come back if they tied, which was the practice for years. So giving her the benefit of the doubt, it is possible that she knows exactly what she is doing and thinks that she has a better chance to win at Final Jeopardy when she knows the category, as opposed to taking her chances on a tie-breaking question in an unknown category.

[9A]

Thanks, David. You said it just right, IMO. Frankly, Ralph and I were pulling
for an upset. We have grown a little weary of Mattea and her confident theatrics.
It was cute for awhile, but not so much anymore.

A tie is risky with "sudden death" and who[m]ever is quicker on the trigger.

[I researched the history of nose piercings and nose rings. It has gone back
thousands of years, frequently in India -- usually as an adornment. A ring through
the septum is often regarded in these days as an act of defiance. Yuk.]

[johnjeb]

Thanks, David. You said it just right, IMO. Frankly, Ralph and I were pulling for an upset. We have grown a little weary of Mattea and her confident theatrics. It was cute for awhile, but not so much anymore.

My partner and I were starting to feel the same but give her a break because she's only 23. What won me over was when she commented that she would risk a larger bet because she's had a great run and she would take a chance. I thought that was sweet.

[Jerry Oz]

Champ - $18,000
Challenger #1 - $13,300
Challenger #2 - $2,000

Logically, challenger #1 should have bet only $4,601. If they all got the answer correct, she couldn't win, so she should have bet on the hope that the champ got it wrong. She bet $12,100. The champ bet $4,600. All of them got the answer wrong and the champ won with $13,400 and the challengers ended up with $1,200 and $1,000 respectively. Had challenger #1 thought a little harder, she could have won.

Personally, I thought it was ballsy for the champ to bet as little as he did. By wagering less than $8,601, he was essentially betting that the challenger would get the answer wrong. And he was right.

[daviddesper]

Tonight's episode [[24th) had yet another of those cases where the champ had exactly twice the total of a challenger heading into Final Jeopardy. But at least this time, they each made the logical wager........challenger wagered everything and the champ wagered nothing. Neither got the question right so champ maintained his streak. Ironically the third place person was the only one who got the question right.

[Jerry Oz]

I saw that. Second night in a row for for the champ to get the final answer wrong. I was watching closely to see if he would wager anything and he didn't.