Jeopardy! fans have been getting tired of bad gameplay lately. However, after this past week’s shows, they have another reason to complain. An answer given by defending champion Amar Kakirde was wrong, and Ken Jennings called it wrong. However, production reversed the decision during the commercial break.
Here is what fans had to say about the changing of the result to what was considered a “wrong answer.”
Fans Angry That Amar Kakirde Got Call Reversed
Amar Kakirde has been the most recent Jeopardy! champion, but one of his answers has caused controversy among the fans. This is because even Ken Jennings told him he was wrong. However, the production team reversed the decision and gave it to Amar anyway.
Amar Kakirde chose the category “Date of Birth” for $400. The clue said, “Jan. 3, 2009, with the mining of the Genesis block.” The answer was “What is Bitcoin?” No one said that. Has guessed “Minecraft,” which was clearly wrong. Amar then buzzed in and said “Blockchain,” which was also wrong.
However, when the show returned from commercial, the producers said “Blockchain” was close enough to “Bitcoin.” They added $800 to his score. That pushed him into the lead. That gave Amar the correct answer, and fans were not happy.
Both Bitcoin and Blockchain were invented in 2009. However, fans said that Blockchain — in theory — was around for 20 years before that.
“Bitcoin and blockchain are not the same! The clue as it was written unambiguously refers to Bitcoin: the genesis block of the Bitcoin blockchain was mined on Jan. 3, 2009″
“David Chaum, who has done tons of work on digital currency, proposed a blockchain protocol in his PhD dissertation in 1982.”
“I think if Ken asked him to be more specific instead of outright ruling it incorrect he would’ve gotten the right answer”
This Is Similar To Another Recent Jeopardy! Problem
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This controversy is similar to one that took place in a previous Jeopardy! game. While this one saw someone say the wrong answer and get credited for the right answer, there was another case of someone completely botching a name and still getting it right.
This was Jeopardy! Masters when Yogesh Raut answered a question about Salt-N-Pepa. However, Yogesh said the answer was “Salt and Pepper,” which is not the correct pronunciation of the band name. This caused fans to remember the Alex Trebek days.
A contestant years ago said the answer to a question was “Gangsters Paradise” when the answer was “Gangsta’s Paradise.” In that case, the show reversed the decision and took the answer away from him. It seems, nowadays, the show is giving more leniency to answers.
What are your thoughts on the Bitcoin controversy on Jeopardy!?
