kitchen table math, the sequel: Jeopardy

Tuesday, July 9, 2013

Jeopardy

I hope some of you are watching Jeopardy.

Ben, the contestant who has won at least 5 days in a row, I think, looks very familiar.

Here he is.

This is funny:
With great intentions, he bought two “very thick books filled with lists of facts, and promised myself I’d read through them every night,” he says. “That lasted exactly one night. I can’t memorize facts very well. I spent a lot of time adding and subtracting large numbers with pen and paper, because I didn’t want to mess up the final wager, especially being a math major.”

3 comments:

Catherine Johnson said...

He won again last night ---- but he's using his arithmetic all wrong!

He's working out EXACTLY how much to wager in the final bet so as to come out only 1 or 2 dollars ahead of the highest dollar amount the runner-up could have -- which last night was nuts.

He beat the runner up by $2 when he could have beaten her by .... gosh, $150K?

Catherine Johnson said...

Oh wait.

That's got to be wrong.

You probably can't wager your winnings from previous days.

His winnings last night were ... I dunno. Maybe $9K?

He could have bet the whole $9K; instead he bet just enough to win by $2.

He's doing that every night.

(Unless I've got my own arithmetic wrong, which is a possibility.)

Anonymous said...

If he's far enough ahead, he can bet such that even if the others get the final answer right and he's wrong, he'll still end up with more money and win.