Jeopardy Weekend Edition (Syndication) 4/21/12

[espnews26]

Repeat from 10/28/10

Some odd FINAL Jeopardy Wagering.
Scores were 7,000. 14,200. 14,300.

7,000 wagered 3,000 and was up to 10,000.
14,200 wagered $181 and was up to 14,381.
14,300 wagered 12,300 and went down to 2,000.

Seriously, only 181? That wager doesn't make sense AT ALL.

For those following along the answer was:
This 4-letter term for a religious group that holds distinctive beliefs comes from the Latin for "follow

I guessed CULT but was incorrect. It was a nice try though.

[Lingofan97]

Seriously, only 181? That wager doesn't make sense AT ALL.

A lot of wagers don't make any sense. You can cycle through a weeks worth of Jeopardy! episodes and you could find a wager like that

[Melyssa56]

I bowled a 181 game the other night, my lowest score of the three games. The Phillies' batting average as a team is probably that as well. Maybe I should play that number in the lottery, but why waste money on that.

[Lingofan97]

The Phillies' batting average as a team is probably that as well.

Agreed (Yankees!!!)

[BrooklynGameShowGuy]

Actually that was a decent strategy... $101 would even be better.
It's a hedge bet on the question being difficult; A triple stumper.
In this case it was a WISE bet (and the second place player prior to Final J! won...and would have even if wrong- in this case...)

Assuming the leader must bet to obtain atleast double the second place player's score, in the case of both players getting the Q correct... the leader would win anyway...
this strategy allows the second place player to pull JUST ahead if correct... and hope leader is wrong...
but
if both are wrong the second place player is set up for a win by losing much much less.
It's a strategy often employed.

[Lingofan97]

Actually that was a decent strategy... $101 would even be better.

I've seen that before.