Card Sharks question

[Twentington]

In the Money Cards, did anyone ever make a wager that wasn't a multiple of 10? I would imagine there might have been a couple $x75 wagers from contestants who had $x50 going up to the Big Bet, but were there ever any "oddball" amounts like $101?

[WilliamPorygon]

IIRC, by rule wagers had to be in multiples of $50, the only exception being if you were only betting half your bank that ended in -50 on the big bet.

[TLEberle]

IIRC, by rule wagers had to be in multiples of $50, the only exception being if you were only betting half your bank that ended in -50 on the big bet.

In the host tournament one of the players tries that, only to be smacked down by Jim.

Math with things ending only in -00 or -50 is easy to do in your head, or at least to have a guess at. I completely understand why they'd have such a rule, as opposed to allowing bets such as $683.

[Jay Temple]

IIRC, by rule wagers had to be in multiples of $50, the only exception being if you were only betting half your bank that ended in -50 on the big bet.

Interesting. I'd never heard the rule mentioned, so I guess I never saw an ep where someone tried. (Nowadays, they'd edit it out.)

The only rationale I could see for a rule is if they're running the tally themselves. (In contrast, a J! contestant told Alex he was making a weird wager to mess with the scorekeeper. Alex said they'd enter it into the computer like any other number.)

[clemon79]

The only rationale I could see for a rule is if they're running the tally themselves.

No, the rationale is obvious: it guarantees the total when the Big Bet rolls around is a nice round mathable-and-divisible-by-2 number, no more, no less. This also keeps Jim / Bob from having to do funky math (or relay a funky number if someone else is doing the math) when they are telling the player what the minimum Big Bet is.

It's simple, it keeps everything in nice round good-TV numbers for the folks at home, and the only people it affects negatively are the pedantic jackoffs who don't deserve the courtesy anyhow.

(And drawing a parallel between a light, fun gambling game like Card Sharks and The Ultimate Hardass Quiz that is Jeopardy! is one of the bigger apples-and-oranges comparisons I have ever seen.)

[TimK2003]

Had there been any contestant that had $50 going into the Big Bet and bet only half -- winding up with either $25 or $75?  Seems like everyone I saw just bet the whole wad for a chance at a 3-digit payoff.

[clemon79]

Had there been any contestant that had $50 going into the Big Bet and bet only half -- winding up with either $25 or $75?

I'm not sure they could...I suspect the $50 minimum bet from the rest of the game would supercede that.

[parliboy]

It's simple, it keeps (And drawing a parallel between a light, fun gambling game like Card Sharks and The Ultimate Hardass Quiz that is Jeopardy! Is one of the bigger apples-and-oranges comparisons I have ever seen.)

Onky Connect perks its ears and takes offense at your description of Jeopardy!

[Jeremy Nelson]

Had there been any contestant that had $50 going into the Big Bet and bet only half -- winding up with either $25 or $75?

I'm not sure they could...I suspect the $50 minimum bet from the rest of the game would supercede that.

Most contestants, when guessing the card right before the Big Bet, either bet the whole thing or saved more than $50, so I couldn't imagine it even coming down to that.

[Matt Ottinger]

It's simple, it keeps (And drawing a parallel between a light, fun gambling game like Card Sharks and The Ultimate Hardass Quiz that is Jeopardy! Is one of the bigger apples-and-oranges comparisons I have ever seen.)

Onky Connect perks its ears and takes offense at your description of Jeopardy!

Only Connect needs to get over its badass self, then.  It's a marvelous, challenging puzzle game, but comparing it to Jeopardy is apples and...let's go with kumquats.

[Ian Wallis]

In the host tournament one of the players tries that, only to be smacked down by Jim.

I remember an episode in that tournament where Bill Cullen tries to bet something like $x25 before the Big Bet, Jim said something like "...you can't do that" and Bill replied "OK, I understand why".

That could be the same episode you're referring to.

[SRIV94]

Danged if I can find it, but I seem to recall a thread here where apparently Eubanks told a contestant that a lower-level row (bottom or middle) bet had to be in increments of 50.

[Jay Temple]

The only rationale I could see for a rule is if they're running the tally themselves.

No, the rationale is obvious: it guarantees the total when the Big Bet rolls around is a nice round mathable-and-divisible-by-2 number, no more, no less. This also keeps Jim / Bob from having to do funky math (or relay a funky number if someone else is doing the math) when they are telling the player what the minimum Big Bet is.

It's simple, it keeps everything in nice round good-TV numbers for the folks at home, and the only people it affects negatively are the pedantic jackoffs who don't deserve the courtesy anyhow.

To me, your first point is a non-issue. Even on the big bet at the end, you could simply say that if you have an odd amount, the 50% requirement is rounded up. ($201 means the minimum bet is $101.) However, your second point is an excellent one. At best, weird wagers don't make the show more enjoyable.

[clemon79]

To me, your first point is a non-issue.

Yet you agree with the second one? Um, that's all one point. Watching your host fumble with math or weird numbers is bad TV. That you're actually suggesting a rounding rule as an alternative to the incredibly-far-simpler way they chose to do it simply amazes me. And I'm hard to amaze anymore.

[Twentington]

Watching your host fumble with math or weird numbers is bad TV.

Which is probably why it's not an issue on Jeopardy! when someone makes an oddball wager, since Trebek has shown to be extremely proficient at doing math in his head. ("You have $13,800 right now and you're the only one with money. You know, if you made this a True Daily Double, you could have $27,600." All without missing a beat.)