Friday, April 01, 2005

Jeopardy Winnings By Grant

Okay, I always wondered what the most you could possibly win on Jeopardy is. So I decided to do the math. Here it is:

Max Jeopardy winnings:

((5000+4000+3000+2000+800)*2+(10000+8000+6000+4000+1200)*4)*2
=(14800*2+29200*4)*2
=(29600+116800)*2
=146400*2
=292800

Therefore, the most you could win on Jeopardy if you answered all questions, got the Daily Double in Jeopardy on a $200 as the last question, bet it all and got it right, then got the two Daily Doubles from Double Jeopardy on $400s as the last two questions, bet it all both times and got them right, then bet it all on final Jeopardy and got it right, is $292,800.

That's a good half-hour's pay. And a long sentance!

Oh, and I also did it up in an algebraic formula if you want to see that too.

5 comments:

Brock said...

The maximum you can win is actually $566400.00. I remember seeing a link that showed why it is this and not your amount, but off hand I forget how it works out to be that much. Here's a quote from Wikipedia.

"The theoretical maximum win for a single day of Jeopardy! is $566,400, but this requires choosing all of the Daily Doubles last and that they're all placed behind the lowest valued clues, which the odds are 3,288,600 to 1 against (assuming they are randomly placed [which they're not]), wagering everything for each Daily Double, and again wagering everything in Final Jeopardy!. Depending on placement and order of the Daily Doubles, a so-called "perfect game" (every question correct, always maximum wager when called to do so) can range from $208,000 to $566,400, with a mean of $374,400."

Brock said...

Ah, I remember.

You didn't add the winnings from the first round of jeopardy to your calculations during the second round.

You have to make sure you add the winnings to the total earned during Double Jeopardy BEFORE you hit the two Daily Doubles in that round.

I knew it was something simple, yet that would bugger everything up.

Brock said...

Here you go. You should amend your equation to be this:

(((((200+400+600+800+1000)*6)-200)*2)+((400+800+1200+1600+2000)*6)-800))*4)*2

=(((((3000*6)-200)*2)+((6000*6)-800))*4)*2

=((((18000-200)*2)+(36000-800))*4)*2)

=(((17800*2)+35200)*4)*2

=((35600+35200)*4)*2

=(70800*4)*2

=283200*2

=566400

Ta-Da!

And I failed first year calculus how many times?!

Brock said...

Of course, it probably works out to the amount you had once you figure in the tax you pay on it :)

Suzie said...

Ahhh, yes yes. I totally forgot about adding the amount from single Jeopardy to the Double Jeopardy daily doubles. Thank you Brock!