Final Jeopardy! wagering analysis:
Tuesday, April 5, 2016
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Will I be feeling cold about tonight’s wagers?
It wasn’t until I had started calculating that I realized we have a special situation on our hands.
|
Udit Banerjea (1x) |
Jeff Crosby |
Toni Johnson |
| 16,200 | 12,000 | 7,800 |
Tonight’s Final Jeopardy! category is:
| FOOD & DRINK |
Do you see the problem with these numbers?
First-order calculations
Jeff can wager at most 3,600 to stay above Udit… and must wager at least 3,600 to cover Toni.
| Udit |
Jeff |
Toni | |||
| 16,200 | 12,000 | 7,800 | |||
| FIRST-ORDER | SECOND-ORDER | COVER ZERO | |||
| min | max | min | max | min | max |
| 7,800 | 3,600 | 3,600 | 600* | ||
| 600 | |||||
Wager-to-tie calculations
These are evenly spaced scores; 4,200 separates first from second and second from third. So Jeff could wager everything if he thinks Udit will go for 7,800.
| Udit |
Jeff |
Toni | |||
| 16,200 | 12,000 | 7,800 | |||
| min | max | min | max | min | max |
| 7,800 | 7,801 | 3,600 | 3,601 | 7,800 | |
| 598 | 12,000 | ||||
What actually happened
| Udit | Jeff | Toni | |||
| 16,200 | 12,000 | 7,800 | |||
| 8,000 | 3,600 | 7,700 | |||
| 8,200 | 8,400 | 100 | |||
| min | max | min | max | ||
| 7,800 | 7,801 | 3,600 | 3,601 | 7,800 ! | |
| 598 | 12,000 ! | ||||
Udit would have entered a tiebreaker had he wagered 7,800… and I almost considered grading him a red.
The Final Jeopardy! clue
| FOOD & DRINK |
| THIS CEREAL BRAND THAT’S BEEN WITH US SINCE THE 1920S TEAMED UP WITH A BREWER IN 2015 TO CREATE A HEFEWEIZEN |
[spoiler]What is Wheaties?[/spoiler]
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Your jacket looks like a box of Wheaties.
Keith, that’s two days in a row that I got the same [wrong] answer as you! Feeling a little proud of myself…