Bild: RTL / Stefan Gregorowius
A contestant on the German version of “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” programmed a simulator to advise his strategy during the game indicate and host Günther Jauch vowed to prove him wrong.
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- “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” contestant Christian Weiss programmed a simulator.
- The device recommends his joker strategy to the 41-year-old mathematics professor.
- Host Günther Jauch responded: “I will do everything I can to prove you wrong.”
Christian Weiss didn’t emphasize his doctoral and professorial titles, but he did highlight his invention. The mathematics professor, who is employed at Ruhr West University of Applied Sciences in Mülheim, created a simulator.
“It’s supposed to develop joker strategies to get as far as possible in our show,” explained “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” host Günther Jauch.
Weiss confirmed this, stating, “I looked at: In what order should I play the jokers, should I take three or four jokers…” He revealed, “On average, my simulation got me a little over 16,000 [euros].”
The simulator also calculated “a one percent chance of winning the million.” The self-built program estimated “a ten percent probability that I would only win 500 euros.”
Jauch commented, “That sounds fascinating, but it never works.” He then defiantly declared, “So I’m going to do everything I can to prove you wrong.”
Professor Weiss Doesn’t Always Trust the Simulator
The professor used his first joker at the 4,000-euro mark: “What do ‘Wünsch dir was’ by Die Toten Hosen, Pink Floyd’s ‘Another Brick in the Wall,’ and ‘Never Forget’ by Take That have in common?” Guitar solo, children’s choir, no chorus, classical intro? The audience joker revealed that 88 percent correctly believed the answer was “children’s choir.”
Worth 16,000 euros: “What color are the ripe fruits of the coffee bush usually?” Red, brown, black, green? The 50:50 joker reduced the answer options to A and C. Christian Weiss correctly chose A. He had already reached the average winning amount his simulator had predicted.
It was time for the “free pass” question, as the professor had secured 16,000 euros thanks to using three jokers. And that, despite not following the order his program had recommended: “I don’t follow the results of my own simulation,” he confessed. Günther Jauch and the audience laughed.
How the Other Contestants Fared
The 32,000-euro question was: “Among which neighboring countries in the ranking of the largest countries in the world is one more than twice as large as the other?” Canada and USA, Australia and India, China and Brazil, Saudi Arabia and Mexico?
Professor Dr. Weiss agonizingly considered each option before choosing A. The correct answer was B.
“We won’t be able to sell your model on the market now,” Jauch quipped. The professor was more optimistic: “It still needs to be improved.”
Moema Scocci Oberammergau dropped from 2,000 to 500 euros as a backup contestant. Verena Gargiulo from Mössingen in Baden-Württemberg also fell from 4,000 to 500 euros.
Luke Rothfuchs from Cologne won 16,000 euros. Without a mathematics simulator, Sören Henschel won the highest amount of the evening: 64,000 euros.
