Jeopardy! question...

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' date=\'Feb 27 2004, 01:20 PM\'] I also remember the very first time a contestant wagered $xx01 or $xx99 on Final Jeopardy and Alex seemed puzzled.  He even asked the contestant why he risked such an odd amount and he explained why.  It became commonplace after that. [/quote]
 Far too commonplace all these years later are the Final Jeopardy bets where a player wagers everything but one dollar.  There are one or maybe two examples in the last twenty years when that kind of bet was useful, and even in those examples there was a better strategic bet.  Still, it continues to be a common thing for players to do.

Not as far as I know, but there have been some odd Daily Double wagers over the years. One contestant wanted to risk $1183 - and asked Alex "is that possible?" Alex replied "sure, just let our keyboard operator punch it in".

Another contestant once risked $1111 on the Daily Double.

The eventual winner of the most recent Teen Tournament wagered her "lucky number" of $2006 on a Daily Double last week.

[GSWitch]

There's no rule that odd betting can happen on Daily Doubles.  I even witnessed someone betting $5 (which is the minimum).

Card Sharks ruled against odd betting (IE:  $199 that it's lower than a Queen).  So did The Challengers when Dick Clark told a contestant that wagers have to be in multiples of $5.  And Dealer's Choice did the same thing when Jack Clark told a contestant that the computer takes multiples of $5 only, except in the final game.

[Jay Temple]

I seem to remember an isolated occasion where someone wagered $1,234.56 (made-up number), and they treated it as a wager of $1,234.

[Craig Karlberg]

[quote name=\'Jay Temple\' date=\'Feb 27 2004, 10:59 PM\'] I seem to remember an isolated occasion where someone wagered $1,234.56 (made-up number), and they treated it as a wager of $1,234. [/quote]
Couldn't they "round it up" to $1,235?

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'Craig Karlberg\' date=\'Feb 28 2004, 04:56 AM\'] [quote name=\'Jay Temple\' date=\'Feb 27 2004, 10:59 PM\'] I seem to remember an isolated occasion where someone wagered $1,234.56 (made-up number), and they treated it as a wager of $1,234. [/quote]
Couldn't they "round it up" to $1,235? [/quote]
 They could; obviously, they choose not to.

[Dbacksfan12]

[quote name=\'GSWitch\' date=\'Feb 27 2004, 01:24 PM\'] Card Sharks ruled against odd betting (IE:  $199 that it's lower than a Queen).  So did The Challengers when Dick Clark told a contestant that wagers have to be in multiples of $5.  And Dealer's Choice did the same thing when Jack Clark told a contestant that the computer takes multiples of $5 only, except in the final game. [/quote]
 Could contestants bid in mulitples of 25?  I know they did when they had an amount; say $2050 on the Big Bet, and they only bet half; but was it allowed any other time?

[Steve McClellan]

I remember Jim telling Bill Cullen not to risk $75 of his $100 on his second decision. I don't know if this was because it was illegal or just a bad idea, not leaving him with enough for the minimum bet if he missed.

[zachhoran]

[quote name=\'Dsmith\' date=\'Feb 28 2004, 07:27 PM\'] [quote name=\'GSWitch\' date=\'Feb 27 2004, 01:24 PM\'] Card Sharks ruled against odd betting (IE:  $199 that it's lower than a Queen).  So did The Challengers when Dick Clark told a contestant that wagers have to be in multiples of $5.  And Dealer's Choice did the same thing when Jack Clark told a contestant that the computer takes multiples of $5 only, except in the final game. [/quote]
Could contestants bid in mulitples of 25?  I know they did when they had an amount; say $2050 on the Big Bet, and they only bet half; but was it allowed any other time? [/quote]
 ISTR that it was reported on Usenet that wagering in multiples of 25 wasn't allowed. This could lead someone to have a number ending in 25 or 75 for the Big Bet, and dividing such a number by two wouldn't result in a whole number.

[carlopanno]

When I was at Jeopardy! the staffers would record the wagers and do the math to determine what would happen if the contestant won or lost. (I don't know if they "helped" the contestants with their wagers: As a research staffer I kept my distance from contestants.)

I'd like to think they would notice if the contestant wagered more than they had. At any rate, in five years I never saw a Final Jeopardy! wager that was higher than the contestant's winnings.

--C