[The following post contains MAJOR spoilers for the Tuesday, March 25, episode of Jeopardy!]
Daily Doubles are a game of risk vs. reward. That much was clear in the March 25 episode of Jeopardy! that saw one player lose a Daily Double but maintain his place in the competition thanks to a small wager. This player still lost the game in the end, but they still went into Final Jeopardy with the chance of winning. Had they bet more in that Daily Double, closing the gap between themselves and the leading player would’ve been much harder. Jeopardy! fans weighed the pros and cons of this bet on Reddit after the episode aired.
The competitors in this episode were Eugene Huang, a teacher from Paramus, New Jersey; Sara Balmuth, an archeologist from Shasta Lake, California; and Josh Weikert, a politics professor from Collegeville, Pennsylvania. Weikert is a two-day returning champ with a total winnings of $32,800. Balmuth was in first place at the first break, with the scores being Balmuth with $3,600, Huang with $2,800, and Weikert with $1,600. Weikert pulled into first by the time of the second break, with a score of $7,200 compared to Balmuth’s $3,600 and Huang’s $1,600.
A Daily Double victory in Double Jeopardy brought Weikert up to $8,000. When Huang found his second Daily Double of the night, he ended up losing $3,000 from his score of $13,600. At this point, Weikert had reached $20,000. Huang opted not to bet too big just in case he was wrong, which was the right move considering his incorrect answer. Heading into Final Jeopardy, the scores were Weikert with $20,000, Huang with $10,600, and Balmuth with $1,600. Huang had enough to beat Weikert if the final answers and wagers went his way.
Unfortunately for Huang, all three players answered correctly. Weikert bet a meager $1,201 to bring his final score to $21,201 (total winnings are now $54,001). Huang bet $9,401 to bring his final score to $20,001. Balmuth bet it all, doubling her score to $3,200. Huang played a long game with his Daily Double gamble to make sure a win in the final round was more within reach. Jeopardy! fans discussed this move on the Reddit discussion board for the episode.
“Going in, scores were 20,000/1,600/13,600, with the bolded player getting the DD,” one fan wrote. “It would seem to me from this position you want to take the lead entering Final, but also don’t want to risk second place. Fortunately, you can do both. If you’re right, you want a lead of at least 1,600 so that even if you cover and miss, you’re ahead of third doubling up. If you’re wrong, you want at least 3,200 so you can stay ahead of third and get the extra thousand. So in my opinion, the ideal wager is somewhere between 8,001 and 10,400. You’ve been given an absolute gift to pass someone who is on a tear; use it! (Note: yes, he misses and falls to a lock second, but he got second place anyway!) Thoughts? Is this too aggressive for your taste?”
“This is a classic ‘go big or go tiny’ situation,” another fan replied. “$10K to take the lead if correct or lock down second if you miss is fine. That’s the preferred bet. If you really hate the category and think the leader might miss FJ, the minimum is an option. Betting $3,000 doesn’t help him if he’s right but takes him under 2/3 if he’s wrong, so that’s a less-desirable amount than ‘big’ or ‘tiny.’”
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This story originally appeared on TV Insider
