Puzzle: On ‘Jeopardy!’ What’s the Max Anyone Could Win?

Uh, I kind of forget to finish a puzzler I posed a while back: What’s the most a contestant could find during a normal game of Jeopardy!?

Here are the parameters: During each of the first two rounds there are six categories. In the first round, each category has these amounts up for grabs: $200, $400, $600, $800 and $1,000, and one hidden “Daily Double” allows a player to double all the money he or she has won so far in the round. During the second round, Double Jeopardy, the awards are worth twice as much: $400, $800, $1,000, $1,600 and $2,000, and there are two Daily Doubles. In the final round, Final Jeopardy, players can bet all of their accumulated cash and double their earnings, if they questions the answer correctly. 

Got it? So what’s the maximum someone could win? It’s a lot more than the record $75,000 that the legendary Ken Jennings won in July 2004, according to Wikipedia’s Jeopardy! entry.  

Scroll down a few items to see the answer, or click this link: “Answer to ‘Jeopardy!’ Puzzle”

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