Video: Three-way tie on Jeopardy
posted at 6:40 pm on March 18, 2007 by Allahpundit
25 million to one, they say. I believe it. Only one person in 25 million would be smart enough to build a lead going into Final Jeopardy, smart enough to calculate how much he had to bet to tie his opponents if they both doubled their totals — and then stupid enough not to add a dollar to that amount. It’s almost miraculous.
They should have disqualified him for being an idiot, then fired the guy who thought this question was worthy of the final round. What a gimme.
Blowback
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Lol Allah, such acrimony in your tone! Maybe the two other players offered him some of their loot if he arranged it so that they would come back on Monday. Ha.
TheThink on March 18, 2007 at 6:49 PM
One look at him smiling that…smile of his and the “miraculous” notion seems more like “inetvitable”.
bbz123 on March 18, 2007 at 6:50 PM
Maybe it was great strategy. Keeping two people who he had beaten in order to try to get to five in a row.
dawgyear on March 18, 2007 at 7:01 PM
It’s obvious…Dick Cheney was behind it all to promote the richest to become even more rich!
trader67 on March 18, 2007 at 7:18 PM
Now THAT’S cool.
Mojave Mark on March 18, 2007 at 7:21 PM
A, you’re killin’ me man!
The Ritz on March 18, 2007 at 7:22 PM
Planned!
RightWinged on March 18, 2007 at 7:25 PM
A tie is like kissing your sister, unless you’re sticking it to Trebek.
I’ll take “Everybody Wins” for $16,000, Alex.
Nice goin’ contestants!
fogw on March 18, 2007 at 7:36 PM
Looks like he did it on purpose IMHO.
Queasy on March 18, 2007 at 7:41 PM
who else thinks this was planned to get jeopardy some press? Alex didnt even sound shocked.
lorien1973 on March 18, 2007 at 7:42 PM
I think it was planned by the guy with 13k. He might’ve wanted the other guys to come back.
Nonfactor on March 18, 2007 at 7:45 PM
I think it was brilliant. If this guy feels he can beat these two, why not let them tie, take the 16K and play inferior opponents again? Better that than take your chances of getting someone good the next round.
AndrewsDad on March 18, 2007 at 7:45 PM
I wonder how long he’ll keep this up.
- The Cat
P.S. Yes, for much press
MirCat on March 18, 2007 at 7:52 PM
I got it wrong…
I thought the answer was Threeve or maybe “Suck it Trebek”
Maybe next time.
F15Mech on March 18, 2007 at 8:01 PM
Where’s Karl Rove?
lsutiger on March 18, 2007 at 8:09 PM
Now we have, what’s next?
PinkyBigglesworth on March 18, 2007 at 8:12 PM
Another Cliff Clavin moment?
balderdash on March 18, 2007 at 8:16 PM
The math genius in qustion is Scott Weiss, an assistant professor of computer science from Maryland. You can’t make it up.
Valiant on March 18, 2007 at 8:45 PM
He did it on purpose. Look at him, he looks the kind of guy who would get off on that kinda thing.
JaHerer22 on March 18, 2007 at 8:45 PM
er, question.
Valiant on March 18, 2007 at 8:45 PM
I guessed Bonnie Parker. And I would’ve wagered $13,000. Technically, I win.
But yeah, the 4-eyes with the big nose knew he could win betting over $2400.
Coronagold on March 18, 2007 at 8:46 PM
DOH!
crosspatch on March 18, 2007 at 9:12 PM
I beg to differ.
I’ve thought for years that you should always plan to tie, since you’ve proven that you’ve beaten those two players already (a “known known”) but you have no idea whether you will beat the next two players (a “known unknown”).
Maybe you need to be a sole winner to qualify for Tournament of Champions? (That would be an ‘Unknown Unknown” – kudos to Rumsfeld for the game-theory terms.)
wordwarp on March 18, 2007 at 9:23 PM
You’d have a good point, IF you could guarantee the same circumstances a second time. Who is to say that the questions will favor you again in the following game? You really can’t.
If you were playing chess or checkers where the strategy or battlefield doesn’t really change, going for a tie might be a wise move. Here it’s not.
lorien1973 on March 18, 2007 at 9:30 PM
The key to winning at Jeopardy! is not how smart you are.
It’s how good you are with the buzzer.
Just ask Ken Jennings. He’s a smart guy, but when the other two contestants have to figure out the timing and you’ve been doing it all week– you have a built in advantage.
I always wanted to get on Jeopardy! and not bet one dollar over the next person. Why not? That way everybody wins, or at least everybody with the same dollar total.
Besides, wagering so you beat the next person by a dollar is kind of a sh!tty thing to do. “Ha ha! I beat you by a dollar, LOSER!”
Nethicus on March 18, 2007 at 10:25 PM
This wouldn’t have happened if Bonnie was in Houston…
infidel4life on March 18, 2007 at 10:28 PM
The odds are likely substantially lower than 25,000,000 to 1. Humor error, as we saw in this case, guarantees that. Scott Weiss, huh? That sounds like a Jewish name. Is this guy on a mission to disprove the notion that Jews are exceptionally intelligent?
tommy1 on March 18, 2007 at 10:55 PM
Sounds like something Turd Ferguson might do….
hillbillyjim on March 18, 2007 at 11:27 PM
I agree with rightwinged..it did seem planned..AP is correct…that questions merits a termination…
Only one person in 25 million would be smart enough to build a lead going into Final Jeopardy, smart enough to calculate how much he had to bet to tie his opponents if they both doubled their totals — and then stupid enough not to add a dollar to that amount. pure gold! :)
Pam on March 19, 2007 at 12:06 AM
Are Jeapardy’s ratings falling? I smell a ratings scheme here.
NPP on March 19, 2007 at 12:06 AM
I meant to quote that, not enbolden it ?!?!? sorry
Pam on March 19, 2007 at 12:07 AM
25 million to 1 of someone actually thinking up how to go down in Jeopardy history after that Mormon guy.
JinxMcHue on March 19, 2007 at 12:51 AM
On tv gameshow programs like Jeopardy, I always admire those contestants who do show a measure of good sportsmanship by betting to win in a tie. Betting to win by a dollar is not the same as winning a football game by one point.
This is not the same as Little League where everyone gets a fake trophy for playing, which I find ludicrously PC.
Years ago, I used to have a bit of fun with my coworkers when we would watch Jeopardy together during our lunchbreak. I knew that during football season, KGO would delay Monday’s show, so I watch Monday’s program at home on another of the local channel and then rewatch the same show with my friends the next day on KGO. Of course I would get every question correct and just smile as their jaws dropped in utter amazement. Yes, I did fess up after a couple of months. But I did have them wondering for awhile why I wasn’t on the show.
While in LA, I used to enjoy going to Jeopardy tapings quite often. One time, I was seated next to two ladies, one of whom could not refrain from answering aloud. Of course this disrupted the taping and Alex had to stop the show three times! to admonish the audience, first generally, then pointedly addressing the woman specifically. She finally realized that she simply could not help herself and with profuse apologies had to leave.
It so happened that after each block of taping, the show would have a drawing for a tv to give the audience members. Yep, you guessed it. Hers was the winning ticket. And I still kick myself for not having the presence of mind to ask her for her ticket as she left. And she’ll never know what her mouth cost her, besides the public embarrassment, of course.
auzerais on March 19, 2007 at 12:54 AM
Face it auzerais, you’re a living sitcom. :)
- The Cat
MirCat on March 19, 2007 at 1:28 AM
that guy was an idiot for not better a dollar more then the max, that was stupid!
Defector01 on March 19, 2007 at 1:32 AM
that guy was smart to keep it a 3-way tie…he knew exactly who his competition was going to be, and obviously felt comfortable with them!
stonemeister on March 19, 2007 at 1:50 AM
Don’t make fun of the way he looks. His hands are seriously deformed, probably birth defects.
So you do the arithmetic and forget a dollar. Doesn’t make him stupid, just maybe a little absent minded. He’s a serious geek. He proposed to his wife via a puzzle he submitted to a puzzle solving mailing list they were both on.
Or, like others said, this was intentional to keep his competition week. It certainly raises his profile, maybe not as much as Ken Jennings, but more than the avg Jeopardy champ.
My cousin was on the show. He says it’s all about the button. That and remembering to phrase the answer as a question.
My Jeopardy fantasy is to get the answer, what are the first three words in the bible, and give the question, “What is b’reisheet bara elokim?” And then argue with the judges that the original Hebrew is the correct answer.
BTW, there was a faulty question the other day. I can’t remember it but the “correct” answer was wrong.
rokemronnie on March 19, 2007 at 1:52 AM
I was going to link to SNL Jeopardy spoof on YouTube, but it’s no longer available because of copyright by NBC/Universal. Rats!
hillbillyjim on March 19, 2007 at 2:30 AM
What a nice guy – he did it on purpose.
JustTruth101 on March 19, 2007 at 9:58 AM
He did it on purpose, dude.
And why not, its not like he’s gonna beat that Jennings guys record, he may as well make it onto the books that way.
Bad Candy on March 19, 2007 at 10:14 AM
My mother watches Jeopardy every night. I join her when I can–what is weird about this program is the wide range of difficulty for the last question (ok, answer. Duh). From ridiculously easy to really obscure. Still more interesting than most of the pap that passes for entertainment.
honora on March 19, 2007 at 10:16 AM
Communist Jeopardy. Every one the same!
Wade on March 19, 2007 at 10:38 AM
Support for the “on purpose” camp:
http://edition.cnn.com/2007/SHOWBIZ/TV/03/19/tv.jeopardy.three.way.ap/
mikeyboss on March 19, 2007 at 5:13 PM
I still say that Turd Ferguson, aka. Burt Reynolds, aka. Norm MacDonald had something to do with it.
hillbillyjim on March 19, 2007 at 5:35 PM
Isn’t that guy Buster from Arrested Development?
serpentineshel on March 19, 2007 at 7:49 PM
Could it be he was just having some fun?
The critics have no humanity. Or is it sense of humor?
jimpv on March 19, 2007 at 8:00 PM
This is from a 2-time Jeopardy winner I know.
So now you have the rest of the story!!!!!!!
Dread Pirate Roberts VI on March 20, 2007 at 8:32 AM