Comments on: Album tells the story of the first Jeopardy! 3-way tie (set in ancient Greece) http://boingboing.net/2009/12/02/album-tells-the-stor.html Brain candy for Happy Mutants Sat, 25 May 2013 10:42:00 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.4.1 By: Anonymous http://boingboing.net/2009/12/02/album-tells-the-stor.html#comment-654170 Anonymous Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-654170 Cool, but what is the image about? Cool, but what is the image about?

]]> By: AirPillo http://boingboing.net/2009/12/02/album-tells-the-stor.html#comment-654173 AirPillo Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-654173 Jeopard! The Trivia Leopard! Kids will love it! Families will cherish it! Get your Jeopard the trivia Leopard today! (supplies limited, limit 1 per customer, no CODs, batteries not included) Jeopard! The Trivia Leopard!

Kids will love it! Families will cherish it!

Get your Jeopard the trivia Leopard today! (supplies limited, limit 1 per customer, no CODs, batteries not included)

]]> By: Anonymous http://boingboing.net/2009/12/02/album-tells-the-stor.html#comment-654174 Anonymous Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-654174 so glad to see the learning music monthly project getting lots of bb love, they are great! so glad to see the learning music monthly project getting lots of bb love, they are great!

]]> By: skeletoncityrepeater http://boingboing.net/2009/12/02/album-tells-the-stor.html#comment-654184 skeletoncityrepeater Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-654184 I remember shouting out loud when I saw that happen. A truly beautiful moment, in all seriousness. We should celebrate March 16 instead of Christmas. I remember shouting out loud when I saw that happen. A truly beautiful moment, in all seriousness. We should celebrate March 16 instead of Christmas.

]]> By: MadMolecule http://boingboing.net/2009/12/02/album-tells-the-stor.html#comment-654703 MadMolecule Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-654703 It was very cool; I never miss <i>Jeopardy!</i>, and I shouted out loud when that happened. While the guy apparently did it in a spirit of sportsmanship, though, it was also the smart play for him: Going into Final Jeopardy, he had $16,000 and the other two had $8,000 each. (Or something; they had X and he had 2X, anyway.) He could have bet a dollar to go for the win, but if one or both of the others had doubled their money to $16,000, and he had missed the final question, he would have lost. By betting zero he could be assured of getting his $16,000, because he would at least tie the others, plus he was assured of coming back to play another day. (Players who tie for first all get their dollar amounts, and all come back the following day.) It was also smart because, if he'd beaten the other two, he'd have faced two unknown challengers the next day; this way he could have the same players come back the following day, and he knew he could beat those two, having done it once already. (There's a lot of insight into the show in Bob Harris's excellent and entertaining book <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Prisoner-Trebekistan-Jeopardy-Bob-Harris/dp/0307339564">Prisoner of Trebekistan: A Decade in Jeopardy!</a>. I am not paid to say that.) It was very cool; I never miss Jeopardy!, and I shouted out loud when that happened. While the guy apparently did it in a spirit of sportsmanship, though, it was also the smart play for him:

Going into Final Jeopardy, he had $16,000 and the other two had $8,000 each. (Or something; they had X and he had 2X, anyway.) He could have bet a dollar to go for the win, but if one or both of the others had doubled their money to $16,000, and he had missed the final question, he would have lost. By betting zero he could be assured of getting his $16,000, because he would at least tie the others, plus he was assured of coming back to play another day. (Players who tie for first all get their dollar amounts, and all come back the following day.)

It was also smart because, if he’d beaten the other two, he’d have faced two unknown challengers the next day; this way he could have the same players come back the following day, and he knew he could beat those two, having done it once already.

(There’s a lot of insight into the show in Bob Harris’s excellent and entertaining book Prisoner of Trebekistan: A Decade in Jeopardy!. I am not paid to say that.)

]]> By: mdh http://boingboing.net/2009/12/02/album-tells-the-stor.html#comment-654706 mdh Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-654706 I agree though. Bob Harris is an entertainingly bright guy. I agree though. Bob Harris is an entertainingly bright guy.

]]> By: rikchik http://boingboing.net/2009/12/02/album-tells-the-stor.html#comment-654773 rikchik Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-654773 "It was also smart because, if he'd beaten the other two, he'd have faced two unknown challengers the next day; this way he could have the same players come back the following day, and he knew he could beat those two, having done it once already." Apparently not - he lost the next day, in Final Jeopardy. See http://www.j-archive.com/showplayer.php?player_id=3578 for game details. “It was also smart because, if he’d beaten the other two, he’d have faced two unknown challengers the next day; this way he could have the same players come back the following day, and he knew he could beat those two, having done it once already.”

Apparently not – he lost the next day, in Final Jeopardy. See http://www.j-archive.com/showplayer.php?player_id=3578 for game details.

]]> By: MadMolecule http://boingboing.net/2009/12/02/album-tells-the-stor.html#comment-654805 MadMolecule Wed, 30 Nov -0001 00:00:00 +0000 #comment-654805 Well sure, anything can happen on any one show; Nancy Zerg, the lady who beat Ken Jennings, was a one-hit wonder and lost the following day. Still, if he were to play the probability, that's the way to bet. ...And now I just looked at the <a href="http://www.j-archive.com/showgame.php?game_id=1776">actual scores for the three-way tie episode</a>, and I was wrong anyway; it was $13,400 to $8,000 to $8,000. So I guess everything I wrote above should be taken as an exercise in theoretical <i>Jeopardy!</i> strategy. Well sure, anything can happen on any one show; Nancy Zerg, the lady who beat Ken Jennings, was a one-hit wonder and lost the following day. Still, if he were to play the probability, that’s the way to bet.

…And now I just looked at the actual scores for the three-way tie episode, and I was wrong anyway; it was $13,400 to $8,000 to $8,000. So I guess everything I wrote above should be taken as an exercise in theoretical Jeopardy! strategy.

]]>