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JEOPARDY!

Frayed Knot Mar 01 2019 07:46 PM

Probably enough watchers here -- and at least two former contestants -- to make this at least an occasionally visited thread. Kind of weird in that the three team captains for this 'All-Star' team tournament they've got going on this week all flubbed what seemed to me to be a not all-that-hard Final [CROSSOUT]question[/CROSSOUT] answer in tonight's (Friday) game. Maybe it was harder than I thought and just turned out to be one of those times where the correct answer popped into my head immediately so I assume it did the same for everyone. But, especially considering the level of stuff these guys -- all multiple winners and/or Tournament of Champion winners -- do know, it shocked me that they took an 0-fer-3 on this one. Category was PRESIDENTIAL ELECTION YEARS A: Prior to 2016, this was the last year in which a President was elected having never before held publicly elected office. Two guys went back to the early/mid 1800's (I forget the specific guesses) and I'm not even sure who they were thinking about as you just needed to supply the year, not the electee. Probably they were going for Andrew Jackson who had been a General prior to his administration but then the tough part is figuring out in which year he was first elected. But then if Jackson is going to occur to you it seems to me that the fact he was a General would make you think of the much more recent General in D. D. Eisenhower The one guy who didn't go back to the 19th century actually did have Ike in mind but inexplicably wrote 1956 instead of the correct answer of 1952. '56 was, of course, his re-election year at which point he HAD won a prior public election based on the fact that he was already the sitting President!! Suxx to blow a shot at splitting (three ways) a million dollar pot on that one.

Fman99 Mar 02 2019 05:13 AM Re: JEOPARDY!

Immediately knew it. I do have a BA degree in History, for what it's worth.

Edgy MD Mar 02 2019 07:14 AM Re: JEOPARDY!

My first instinct was Herbert Hoover in 1928. Big duh. I think one of the things you have to key in on in Jeopardy! is that the question probably isn't as hard as you think it is.

41Forever Mar 02 2019 08:31 AM Re: JEOPARDY!

Beofre Ike, I'm thinking Hoover. He held some government posts, but I don't think elected office.

Frayed Knot Mar 02 2019 01:57 PM Re: JEOPARDY!

I didn't think of Hoover. And now that I think about it, the two contestants who gave answers in the 1800s were probably going after Zachary Taylor, also a General, rather than Andy Jackson. But again, with Taylor or Jackson the whole General thing should have tipped them off to Ike. "I think one of the things you have to key in on in Jeopardy! is that the question probably isn't as hard as you think it is." Then again, sometimes it is real hard. Just a day or two earlier all three past-champions were stumped on Final as well, but in that case it was more understandable. But, yeah, there is always the danger of over-thinking things. I've pulled that on more than a few occasions.

Gwreck Mar 02 2019 07:20 PM Re: JEOPARDY!

The guesses were 1868 (Grant) and 1836 (presumably thinking Harrison, which was 1840).

Frayed Knot Apr 17 2019 07:15 PM Re: JEOPARDY!

This current guy not only doesn't look like he's going to lose, but he doesn't look like there's any possible way that he can lose. Of course it always looks that way when someone is on a roll and everyone loses eventually, but this one just feels and looks different. - The only answers the other contestants get in on are the ones he seemingly doesn't want any part of. When he does want in he beats everyone to the buzzer virtually every time. - When he does answer he rarely gets any wrong and getting most right means he gets the highest chance of hitting the Daily Doubles - In those DD's he bets heavy (often goes all in, at least if it's early in the game) and rarely gets those wrong either. - Being the champ means he gets to go first where he starts at the bottom choices going across ($1,000 each) so usually starts out with a multi-thou$and lead in the first minute then never trails ... which in turn allows him to hit DD's and bet heavy, and the whole thing just snowballs. So he's not only on a winning streak (10 straight I think) but has set the single day record four different times (the long-standing one then his own three more times) and is averaging some $70K per show where I'd guess the average is somewhere around 20K

Lefty Specialist Apr 18 2019 06:00 AM Re: JEOPARDY!

Timing is a huge thing here. Most questions, all three contestants know the answer. It's who rings in first the millisecond that Alex stops speaking that gets to answer. Reflexes are almost as important as encyclopedic knowledge.

seawolf17 Apr 18 2019 06:33 AM Re: JEOPARDY!

He's got an incredible combination of timing (which only gets better the more you play, as every returning champ has said) and balls (risking big dollars every chance he gets). The *only* way he's going to lose is if he gets more than one DD wrong.

Ceetar Apr 18 2019 07:11 AM Re: JEOPARDY!

I only watch on a two month lagging delay so I never know what's going on. But going for the $1000 clues first is an underrated strategy.

Frayed Knot Apr 18 2019 04:42 PM Re: JEOPARDY!

Lefty Specialist wrote: Timing is a huge thing here. Most questions, all three contestants know the answer. It's who rings in first the millisecond that Alex stops speaking that gets to answer. Reflexes are almost as important as encyclopedic knowledge. And yet he's definitely not one of those who puts their whole body into racing to click the buzzer. He's so calm that you can't tell when he's trying to buzz in and when not. That's why I said that when one of the others gets to answer first it seems as if it's only because he chose to sit that one out rather than because he got beaten to the punch. going for the $1000 clues first is an underrated strategy. Every strategy is a good strategy when you know most of the answers.

MFS62 Apr 18 2019 05:44 PM Re: JEOPARDY!

Frayed Knot wrote: Every strategy is a good strategy when you know most of the [CROSSOUT]answers[/CROSSOUT] questions. Fixed that for you. Yes, this guy is a machine - very controlled, methodical and smart enough to know when not to hit the buzzer. Later

Lefty Specialist Apr 18 2019 05:57 PM Re: JEOPARDY!

Frayed Knot wrote: Lefty Specialist wrote: Timing is a huge thing here. Most questions, all three contestants know the answer. It's who rings in first the millisecond that Alex stops speaking that gets to answer. Reflexes are almost as important as encyclopedic knowledge. And yet he's definitely not one of those who puts their whole body into racing to click the buzzer. He's so calm that you can't tell when he's trying to buzz in and when not. That's why I said that when one of the others gets to answer first it seems as if it's only because he chose to sit that one out rather than because he got beaten to the punch. And that's one of the things they tell you. Excess motion is wasted time. You'll often see a frustrated contestant clicking madly and too late while the person who calmly holds their hands together gets in first. Getting into a comfortable position is a big thing and returning champions have that edge- especially since the shows are filmed in clumps (a week's worth of shows in an afternoon). So the rhythm you have doesn't get broken. You change your jacket and tie and you're back out there 10 minutes later.

seawolf17 Apr 19 2019 06:30 AM Re: JEOPARDY!

Lefty Specialist wrote: And that's one of the things they tell you. Excess motion is wasted time. You'll often see a frustrated contestant clicking madly and too late while the person who calmly holds their hands together gets in first. Getting into a comfortable position is a big thing and returning champions have that edge- especially since the shows are filmed in clumps (a week's worth of shows in an afternoon). So the rhythm you have doesn't get broken. You change your jacket and tie and you're back out there 10 minutes later. Excess motion is bad, yes, but frantic clicking is okay. They didn't discourage that at all. Although returning champs *absolutely* have an edge just on timing alone, especially over the course of the day.

Frayed Knot Apr 19 2019 01:33 PM Re: JEOPARDY!

I remember reading one time that fingers have better reflexes than thumbs so you're better off holding the buzzer with the index or middle finger on the trigger even though I'm guessing that's not the natural move for most people. I have no idea where I read/heard that or even how accurate it is, but it's one theory anyway. The other thing about this current guy is that a few games ago (Wednesday I think) he is said to have clicked in on 41 answers (out of 60 total - or maybe 61 depending on whether they're counting Final). So first of all that means that he got in on more than twice as many as the other two combined, either because he knew and they didn't or that he was just quicker. And if that wasn't enough, he got every one of the 41 correct; not a single wrong answer. Impossible to know whether he got beat to the punch on the other 20 or simply chose not to buzz in those times (or some ratio of the two). As I've said before, it's tough to read his body language on those because he essentially shows none. IIRC, that was the game where the score after DJ was something like 70K to 5K to 5K which allowed him to bet close to 60K on Final (hell, he had already racked up about a half million so why not?) and set the one day record, which was the one he had set several days earlier, which was the one he had set just prior to that, which had previously stood for a number of years. Just freakin' ridiculous.

LWFS Apr 19 2019 10:13 PM Re: JEOPARDY!

Dude is a professional gambler, right? And an educated one, to boot? The big-wagering thing makes TOTAL sense, game-theory-wise.

Frayed Knot Jun 03 2019 07:41 PM Re: JEOPARDY!

So Mr. 32-straight wins/$2.5+ million lost tonight. The chick who beat him managed to at least play him even in the fast buzzer part of the game. She also caught both DAILY DOUBLEs during Double Jeopardy* and, inspired by his ongoing strategy perhaps, bet aggressively (and answered correctly) in those DD's and, as a result, was ahead going into FINAL. That he didn't have the lead going into FINAL (first time I believe) meant that he couldn't just right-answer himself into the win so he bet small/strategically in the hope that he'd win if both leaders got it wrong. All three, as it turned out, got it correct so her big bet trumped his small one - as it would have even if he went all-in. * He go the DD during SINGLE JEOPARDY but got it almost immediately and so could only bet $1K rather than his usual 'All In' which typically vaulted him to an early, and usually uncatchable, lead.

LWFS Jun 04 2019 01:39 AM Re: JEOPARDY!

Frayed Knot wrote: So Mr. 32-straight wins/$2.5+ million lost tonight. The chick who beat him managed to at least play him even in the fast buzzer part of the game. She also caught both DAILY DOUBLEs during Double Jeopardy* and, inspired by his ongoing strategy perhaps, bet aggressively (and answered correctly) in those DD's and, as a result, was ahead going into FINAL. That he didn't have the lead going into FINAL (first time I believe) meant that he couldn't just right-answer himself into the win so he bet small/strategically in the hope that he'd win if both leaders got it wrong. All three, as it turned out, got it correct so her big bet trumped his small one - as it would have even if he went all-in. * He go the DD during SINGLE JEOPARDY but got it almost immediately and so could only bet $1K rather than his usual 'All In' which typically vaulted him to an early, and usually uncatchable, lead. The only thing that bugged me about this game? SHE COULD HAVE ENDED IT WITH THAT SECOND DAILY DOUBLE BY EVEN BETTING 50 PERCENT OF WHAT SHE HAD. Dammit, guys-- play to win, not to not-lose.

seawolf17 Jun 04 2019 07:25 AM Re: JEOPARDY!

=LWFS post_id=11932 time=1559633972 user_id=84]The only thing that bugged me about this game? SHE COULD HAVE ENDED IT WITH THAT SECOND DAILY DOUBLE BY EVEN BETTING 50 PERCENT OF WHAT SHE HAD. Dammit, guys-- play to win, not to not-lose.

Yeah, but that late in the game, on a $2,000 clue, you have to play it safe.



Great game all around.

dgwphotography Jun 04 2019 07:51 AM Re: JEOPARDY!

I'm just glad he finally lost. Unlike Ken Jennings, I could never root for Holzhauer, he just wasn't likeable. https://twitter.com/KenJennings/status/1135703484697681921/photo/1

Willets Point Jun 04 2019 09:35 AM Re: JEOPARDY!

All the librarians I follow on Twitter are celebrating that the new champion is a librarian from the University of Chicago. Because these shows are filmed so far in advance, Emma Boettcher actually had no idea who James Holzhauer was until he was introduced as a 32-time champion.

HahnSolo Jun 04 2019 09:58 AM Re: JEOPARDY!

What I found remarkable is that the three players yesterday combined to miss only 1 question! I'm sure someone is keeping historical stats on such things, but that is almost unbelievable. A sneaky reason James lost is the guy in the middle was so good. Dude went into Final Jeopardy with $11,000--and that was without hitting any of the three daily doubles.

seawolf17 Jun 04 2019 01:49 PM Re: JEOPARDY!

Willets Point wrote: Because these shows are filmed so far in advance, Emma Boettcher actually had no idea who James Holzhauer was until he was introduced as a 32-time champion. True. She said as much. Airdates hadn't caught up to tape dates yet, and since it was a Monday show, it was the first one on tape day. She said she thought they were kidding at first when they introduced him to the group.

Ceetar Jun 04 2019 02:03 PM Re: JEOPARDY!

Willets Point wrote: Because these shows are filmed so far in advance, Emma Boettcher actually had no idea who James Holzhauer was until he was introduced as a 32-time champion. True. She said as much. Airdates hadn't caught up to tape dates yet, and since it was a Monday show, it was the first one on tape day. She said she thought they were kidding at first when they introduced him to the group. How smug do you think she was (or do you think she told?) to her friends/family? "Emma Emma, did you play against this James guy? Can you believe it?" EVERYONE must have been asking her opinion on if she thought he could reach Ken's record.

Frayed Knot Jun 04 2019 02:43 PM Re: JEOPARDY!

The only thing that bugged me about this game? SHE COULD HAVE ENDED IT WITH THAT SECOND DAILY DOUBLE BY EVEN BETTING 50 PERCENT OF WHAT SHE HAD. Dammit, guys-- play to win, not to not-lose. Yeah, but that late in the game, on a $2,000 clue, you have to play it safe. Which is how he (32 champ guy) was playing it also: aggressive early on with DD bets when there's still plenty of time to catch up if you blow it (and he did get early DDs wrong several times) but then less so later on when he didn't want to risk blowing a big lead or even reducing one down to non-runaway status. I remember peeps bitching about Ken Jennings' "smugness" at the time, as well as the idea that he'd still pour it on late even after the game was well in hand, as if his purpose was to not just win but to humiliate. I had no problem with Jennings and (YMMV of course) this guy, while seeming a bit awkward at times, didn't seem particularly unlikeable to me either. On the other hand I always FF thru the contestant interview parts so maybe I missed something. Now some of the past champs on that 'All-Star' set of shows they ran recently on the other hand ...

Fman99 Jun 04 2019 07:52 PM Re: JEOPARDY!

I found this James guy to be way more irritating than Ken Jennings. I'm glad he lost.

seawolf17 Jun 05 2019 06:51 AM Re: JEOPARDY!

Willets Point wrote: Because these shows are filmed so far in advance, Emma Boettcher actually had no idea who James Holzhauer was until he was introduced as a 32-time champion. True. She said as much. Airdates hadn't caught up to tape dates yet, and since it was a Monday show, it was the first one on tape day. She said she thought they were kidding at first when they introduced him to the group. How smug do you think she was (or do you think she told?) to her friends/family? "Emma Emma, did you play against this James guy? Can you believe it?" EVERYONE must have been asking her opinion on if she thought he could reach Ken's record. RIGHT? I can't even imagine holding that in these past few weeks.

Frayed Knot Jun 05 2019 07:13 AM Re: JEOPARDY!

Apparently some Jeopardy staff insider prematurely leaked video of JH losing and of course once it was out it become impossible to control. Whoever the head honcho is over there says "he thinks" he knows who it is -- so as the narc (played by former NYC detective Bo Deitl) said to Henry Hill in GOODFELLOWS when his partner confirmed the presence of cocaine in the paraphernalia they seized; "Bye-bye Dickhead" Also the show airs in a morning time slot in a few markets so, things being what they are today, a bunch of folks (me included, although accidentally) knew the result before seeing it.

Edgy MD Jun 05 2019 04:32 PM Re: JEOPARDY!

=Fman99 post_id=12024 time=1559699547 user_id=86] I found this James guy to be way more irritating than Ken Jennings. I'm glad he lost.

Yeah, I got a bad vibe right off.

Willets Point Jun 05 2019 09:25 PM Re: JEOPARDY!

Willets Point wrote: Because these shows are filmed so far in advance, Emma Boettcher actually had no idea who James Holzhauer was until he was introduced as a 32-time champion. True. She said as much. Airdates hadn't caught up to tape dates yet, and since it was a Monday show, it was the first one on tape day. She said she thought they were kidding at first when they introduced him to the group. How smug do you think she was (or do you think she told?) to her friends/family? "Emma Emma, did you play against this James guy? Can you believe it?" EVERYONE must have been asking her opinion on if she thought he could reach Ken's record. For all we know she could still be taping shows and on her way to breaking Ken's record.

Ceetar Jun 06 2019 08:18 AM Re: JEOPARDY!

Edgy MD wrote: I found this James guy to be way more irritating than Ken Jennings. I'm glad he lost. Yeah, I got a bad vibe right off. The effectively wild guys interviewed him after the whole "Work in a front office?" thing. It was fairly interesting. He didn't come off particularly irritating, though maybe not particularly interesting either, but it was interesting insight. [url]https://blogs.fangraphs.com/effectively-wild-episode-1371-what-is-sabermetrics/

Frayed Knot Jan 08 2020 07:28 AM Re: JEOPARDY!

In this 'Best Ever' contest which started last night, there definitely seemed to be a larger percentage of clues that I had no chance of answering as compared to a regular show. So just as the 'Celebrity' shows uses questions/answers that are decidedly easier than the standard show, in this one the material appeared to be considerably harder overall.

Johnny Lunchbucket Jan 08 2020 07:32 AM Re: JEOPARDY!

They creamed the first round, every answer questioned correctly. Then Brad screwed up 4 DDs. Looks like Ken's game to win

seawolf17 Jan 08 2020 10:20 AM Re: JEOPARDY!

I was on Team Brad coming in because I was pretty sure he was in Ken's head, but last night was rough and I think Ken has to be the favorite. You can't win without DDs, especially in this tournament. And yes, I agree that the clues were definitely harder last night, but specifically on the bottom half of the board. The Elvis one that Ken missed, for example, was stupid easy.

Ceetar Jan 09 2020 09:26 AM Re: JEOPARDY!

I remembered to record the second one and watch it and it was fun. It'd be nice in 2020 if my DVR was smart enough to say "jeopardy? you probably wanted this recorded too" but anyway.

Ceetar Jan 14 2020 11:24 AM Re: JEOPARDY!

James (And maybe Ken?) has been teasing Brad about being second class the last few days and I feel like maybe they wouldn't do that if they really did completely destroy him. I'd put money on him winning tonight.

Frayed Knot Jan 14 2020 07:19 PM Re: JEOPARDY!

For a guy who seemingly won every one of these extra-curricular tournaments that JEOPARDY has held over the years, it's as if Brad opted not to even show up to this GOAT tourney.

LWFS Jan 15 2020 12:24 AM Re: JEOPARDY!

The Twitter trash talk has been absolutely hilarious. The tournament was better. Turns out, when you wed James' game-theory bit to Ken Jennings, you get Super Ken Jennings.

MFS62 Jan 15 2020 07:00 AM Re: JEOPARDY!

I saw the report of an interview a few days ago in which Alex said Brad might be a good choice to replace him as emcee of the show. Later

Ceetar Jan 16 2020 08:29 AM Re: JEOPARDY!

Alex has joked about Ken replacing him too, I think it's his idea of humor. But he's right, replacing him, which is eminent, is going to be a really tough job. I think either of those guys could pull it off, but if ABC goes for like 'random b-list commedian' or something, it could all fall apart. also take a look at this. [TWEET]https://twitter.com/kaylinquest/status/1217829804512305153[/TWEET]

LWFS Jan 16 2020 08:50 AM Re: JEOPARDY!

Oooh. OOOOOOOOH.

seawolf17 Jan 16 2020 08:55 AM Re: JEOPARDY!

I visit the J-Archive weekly, because I'm always referencing something. It's incredible. (Even though it reminds me of how completely destroyed I got.)

Edgy MD Jan 16 2020 09:40 AM Re: JEOPARDY!

My prediction of the producers' shortlist: Charlie Rose Byron Allen Anne Robinson Kal Penn Dee Dee Myers William Baldwin Father Jim Martin Niall Ferguson Nancy Giles Fareed Zakaria Barry Bostwick Christopher Buckley Marie Yovanovich Robin Thicke Al Gore Garry Kasparov Thomas Dolby Bartolo Colón Charles Osgood Me

Frayed Knot Jan 16 2020 01:38 PM Re: JEOPARDY!

Y'know who would be good at it (IMO)? ... our old buddy Burkhardt! Doubt he'd take it because it would probably be a pay cut from doing NFL games (although he could probably do both) but he'd be the type I'd check into if I were Merv Griffin Enterprises. He's a decent looking guy who's high energy, good in front of the camera, and young enough to run with it for a while. And you don't really want someone who's more famous for being something else. Alex Trebek is famous for doing JEOPARDY! not someone who brought his fame (and maybe baggage) along with him. Of the three in the recent GOAT tourney, I agree that Brad would be the best of the bunch. Ken is a bit dorky (and older) while James doesn't have the personality or on-air comfort level. But my first move would be to go outside for a replacement and to steer AWAY from trying to land the biggest name.

dgwphotography Jan 16 2020 02:27 PM Re: JEOPARDY!

As much as I love KB, I don't think he has the gravitas for it. But then again, my first reaction to Trebek getting the job was, "The guy from High Rollers with the pornstar mustache?" So what do I know?

Frayed Knot Jan 16 2020 06:45 PM Re: JEOPARDY!

But then again, my first reaction to Trebek getting the job was, "The guy from High Rollers with the pornstar mustache?" So what do I know? Exactly!! Gravitas schmavitas, it's a fucking game show. I mean unless Burkhardt turns out to be a total idiot during screen tests and starts pronouncing Socrates like he's a stoner on an excellent adventure (and he gives no indication of that to me), then I'm betting he'll be OK. btw, every once in a while you watch a game where you are POSITIVE that you would have cleaned up in had you been a contestant that night. That assumption may not be correct, but you certainly feel that way. Well tonight was one of those nights, which, coming off four days of feeling like a grade school kid accidentally assigned to an advanced physics class during much of the GOAT tourney, was a welcome change.

Edgy MD Jan 16 2020 08:43 PM Re: JEOPARDY!

But then again, my first reaction to Trebek getting the job was, "The guy from High Rollers with the pornstar mustache?" So what do I know? The High Rollers version of Trebek had a porn everything. You just know that Ron Burgundy said to himself, "That guy is a dude."