SackAttack
12-12-2006, 09:40 PM
I'm sitting here watching Jeopardy! and all I can think is, "I hate the way the Daily Double works right now." Folks can bid less than the original value, presumably either to maintain a humongous lead or avoid making a critical mistake on a category they don't know much about, and I don't know as I think that's really all that fun to watch in terms of 'strategy.'
Certainly it bugs me when somebody says "I'll take Anal Bum Cover for $1200, Alex," and then bids half that when they hit the DD.
So, those immortal words: "Let's make this interesting."
1) If you're worried about the category, you can choose to pass...but in so doing you eliminate that Daily Double from the board, and open the question up, at its original value, to the other two contestants. The difference between this and a "normal" question is simply that you cannot answer a question on which you have chosen to "pass" during the DD bid period.
2) If you wager less than the original value of the question, and you get the question *wrong,* you lose double that original value. Under these circumstances, you can only win the amount of your bid. For example, a $1600 question with an $800 bid, you can win $800, but you can *lose* $3200. If your bid is the original value or higher, traditional rules are in play: bid $1600+, win or lose the amount of the bid depending on the answer to your question.
3) If your bid is below the original question value and you get the question wrong, not only do you lose double the original value of the question, but the contestant closest to your score gets a free, no-penalty, crack at the answer. If they get it right, they earn the question's original value. If they get it wrong, no harm, no foul.
Basically, retain the benefits of getting it right, give those of low confidence an "out-but," and seriously up the strategic consequences of being so much a pussy that you won't even bid the normal value of the question.
Certainly it bugs me when somebody says "I'll take Anal Bum Cover for $1200, Alex," and then bids half that when they hit the DD.
So, those immortal words: "Let's make this interesting."
1) If you're worried about the category, you can choose to pass...but in so doing you eliminate that Daily Double from the board, and open the question up, at its original value, to the other two contestants. The difference between this and a "normal" question is simply that you cannot answer a question on which you have chosen to "pass" during the DD bid period.
2) If you wager less than the original value of the question, and you get the question *wrong,* you lose double that original value. Under these circumstances, you can only win the amount of your bid. For example, a $1600 question with an $800 bid, you can win $800, but you can *lose* $3200. If your bid is the original value or higher, traditional rules are in play: bid $1600+, win or lose the amount of the bid depending on the answer to your question.
3) If your bid is below the original question value and you get the question wrong, not only do you lose double the original value of the question, but the contestant closest to your score gets a free, no-penalty, crack at the answer. If they get it right, they earn the question's original value. If they get it wrong, no harm, no foul.
Basically, retain the benefits of getting it right, give those of low confidence an "out-but," and seriously up the strategic consequences of being so much a pussy that you won't even bid the normal value of the question.