The Power of Jeopardy’s Daily Double
A single question can change the game in an instant—but does it decide who wins?
Like most devoted Jeopardy! fans, I’ve pictured myself onstage competing for Alex Trebek’s respect against the country’s fiercest trivia nerds. But there are a few reasons why I haven’t quit my job and started taking practice tests full-time: 1) the long audition process, 2) the months of preparation, 3) my fear of disappointing Alex with my “fun fact” during the small talk after the first commercial break, and 4) the Daily Double.
The Daily Double is a randomly chosen clue on the board that has no assigned value. Instead, the player can wager any part of their score before the clue is read. If they are right, they add the wager to their score. If not, they lose that amount. A “true Daily Double” is when a contestant wagers all of their points. A single question can double a player’s score or reduce it to zero, thereby changing the momentum of the game.
My gut tells me that scattering Daily Double landmines throughout the board may prevent the most worthy player from prevailing. Or does it?
If I were to compete on Jeopardy!, I’d like to believe that the most knowledgeable contestant…
