# Jeopardistas: What do you think of Arthur Chu? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [February 3, 2014, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardistas-what-do-you-think-of-arthur-chu/680441 "2014-02-03T19:07:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Shooby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f475e1/32.png) [@Shooby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shooby)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 1:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardistas-what-do-you-think-of-arthur-chu/680441/141 "2014-03-11T01:47:05Z")
> [@Gangster\_Octopus](#): > > The Jeopardy! message board at Television Without Pity had a big hate on for him. And apparently he was a big frequenter of that board. I imagine it would be weird to come in to the Dope one day and find out that there was a massive thread pitting the real life me. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardistas-what-do-you-think-of-arthur-chu/680441/142 "2014-03-11T03:54:20Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > You can’t collude ahead of time in the Prisoner’s Dilemma, but you might be able to collude afterwards. Sure. But then you’re no longer in the bog standard Prisoner’s Dilemma. The whole point of the exercise is that the two players know the rules but have no connection to each other, have never interacted with each other, and have no reason to believe they will ever interact with each other in the future. Also, once the decisions are made, the results are immutable. It’s not very realistic as a real life situation, but demonstrates why two people will work against their mutual best interest because the individual best interest trumps it. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardistas-what-do-you-think-of-arthur-chu/680441/143 "2014-03-11T13:02:02Z")
> [@Hoopy\_Frood](#): > > Sure. But then you’re no longer in the bog standard Prisoner’s Dilemma. The whole point of the exercise is that the two players know the rules but have no connection to each other, have never interacted with each other, and have no reason to believe they will ever interact with each other in the future. Also, once the decisions are made, the results are immutable. > > It’s not very realistic as a real life situation, but demonstrates why two people will work against their mutual best interest because the individual best interest trumps it. Prisoner’s Dilemma examples abound in real life. A classic example is smoking in public places. Most people, even smokers, like bans on smoking in restaurants and stuff. But if no bans exist, they’ll smoke, since a smoker is made slightly better off while smoking and can’t control if other people do. A law or regulation against smoking is a form of “collusion” that allows people to collectively prevent a prisoner’s dilemma situation. ---
**Author:** ![Pixel\_Dent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bc8723/32.png) [@Pixel\_Dent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pixel_Dent)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 4:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardistas-what-do-you-think-of-arthur-chu/680441/144 "2014-03-11T16:06:06Z")
> [@sachertorte](#): > > That’s exactly what happened on the aforementioned Golden Balls. I heard about it before, but it popped up again last week on RadioLab: > [The Golden Rule](http://www.radiolab.org/story/golden-rule/) > > [spoiler]One contestant (#1) insists that he will steal and will not budge on negotiating to a split. He flat out states he is stealing and that if the other player (#2) chooses split, he (#1) will split the money after the show. Arguing ensues. Contestant #1 does not waiver. > > [spoiler]Contestant #2 chooses split. Contestant #1 lies. > > Contestant #1 chooses split too! > > [/spoiler] > [/spoiler] When interviewed afterwards by RadioLab, contestent #2 admitted he was completely intent on stealing and only changed his mind to split when #1 was intransigent about stealing himself. ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2014, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardistas-what-do-you-think-of-arthur-chu/680441/145 "2014-03-11T17:00:58Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Prisoner’s Dilemma examples abound in real life. A classic example is smoking in public places. Most people, even smokers, like bans on smoking in restaurants and stuff. But if no bans exist, they’ll smoke, since a smoker is made slightly better off while smoking and can’t control if other people do. A law or regulation against smoking is a form of “collusion” that allows people to collectively prevent a prisoner’s dilemma situation. What you’re describing is a co-ordination problem, not really a prisoner’s dilemma ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardistas-what-do-you-think-of-arthur-chu/680441/146 "2014-03-12T04:49:33Z")
11 in a row now, though the last two nights he actually has looked beatable and has been bailed out by poor opponents. Arthur gets flustered if he makes errors or things don’t go his way and a good player could put him into a real tailspin. The last two nights he’s faced no good players. ---
**Author:** ![bldysabba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ecccb3/32.png) [@bldysabba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bldysabba)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardistas-what-do-you-think-of-arthur-chu/680441/147 "2014-03-12T08:01:07Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > 11 in a row now, though the last two nights he actually has looked beatable and has been bailed out by poor opponents. Arthur gets flustered if he makes errors or things don’t go his way and a good player could put him into a real tailspin. The last two nights he’s faced no good players. The first night(the only one I saw) he was well in the lead throughout inspite of losing two daily doubles. I have never seen so many questions get passed. Maybe the questions were just more esoteric than usual? ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardistas-what-do-you-think-of-arthur-chu/680441/148 "2014-03-12T10:37:39Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I always wondered why most people move down a column from least to most money – the questions don’t particularly seem to get more difficult in a manner corresponding to their value. It seemed to me to make more sense to work from the bottom up. They do sometimes increase in difficulty. But also, that pattern lets you get used to the category with relatively less painful losses if you lose, but built up a rhythm if you win. Of course, it also lets your opponents build up a rhythm on the category. It’s “lets see how this works for $100. Ah, I can figure this out, let’s see if I can make money. Damn, beat on the buzzer.” > [@etv78](#): > > In Jeopardy books, Trebek gently criticizes betting under face-value on Daily Doubles. I have to ask, why? I mean, sure, from the producer’s standpoint, they set a dollar value on those categories and it’s more interesting to their viewers if the stakes are high so there’s turnover in who’s winning and losing, but is that just Trebek sticking up for the producer’s desires, or is there a valid point behind it? Meh, I don’t know this category, $5 it is. What do you mean I should wager $2000 just because someone chose to put it in that dollar value box? > [@Jas09](#): > > I actually get more upset at people that don’t consider their opponents scores when wagering at the end of Double Jeopardy. They tend to dramatically undervalue the benefit of wagering enough to ensure a runaway (which to me is second only to ensuring you are ahead going in to final). Did you mean “overvalue the benefit of wagering enough for a runaway”? > [@Sean\_Factotum](#): > > I’m just wondering, did this guy hire himself a publicist? Because I can’t remember anyone having this much non-Jeopardy! air time after less than five wins. No, he just used an unusual strategy and managed to be annoying to viewers. Cue internet buzz, cue TV stations trying to be topical and interesting. > [@RickJay](#): > > I don’t see how this idea is any less valuable for any player with any confidence at all in a category. Picking out the Daily Doubles is only advantageous if you believe your opponents to be better than you, and therefore more likely to use them to dominate you. At this point it seems clear Arthur can’t seriously think he is worse than the average opponent. If you lose control of the board, and your opponent gets the Daily Double, they can catch up/get ahead. > [@ZenBeam](#): > > ETA: if you have a specific question, ask it. I’m not going to play a guessing game. Except maybe Jeopardy? ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 1:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardistas-what-do-you-think-of-arthur-chu/680441/149 "2014-03-12T13:10:45Z")
> [@bldysabba](#): > > I’m sure felicity with the clicker cannot be separated from his success, but I would hesitate about ‘mostly’. It seems to me that his success is ‘mostly’ due to his knowing more and about more diverse topics than the other contestants. I often see him being beat out on things that you would expect everyone to know, and come in with the correct answers on more obscure things. I’m probably putting words in his mouth with “mostly,” but he indicated that there were plenty of questions where he knew the answer, too, but that Arthur just beat him on the buzzer, and that others had the same experience. ---
**Author:** ![furt](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/439d5e/32.png) [@furt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furt)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 1:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardistas-what-do-you-think-of-arthur-chu/680441/150 "2014-03-12T13:22:28Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > My girlfriend and I are still angry at him. How could he make an error like that with $20,000 on the line? Simple explanation: He assumed Arthur would bet over $400 and go for the win and not the tie, since that is what most people do. The episodes where Arthur bet for the tie had been taped a different day and he hadn’t seen them. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardistas-what-do-you-think-of-arthur-chu/680441/151 "2014-03-12T13:48:35Z")
> [@Irishman](#): > > I have to ask, why? I mean, sure, from the producer’s standpoint, they set a dollar value on those categories and it’s more interesting to their viewers if the stakes are high so there’s turnover in who’s winning and losing, but is that just Trebek sticking up for the producer’s desires, or is there a valid point behind it? Meh, I don’t know this category, $5 it is. If you legitimately suck at a category then sure, don’t bet much. However, 1. Since you must have picked the clue to get a Daily Double, one hopes you didn’t beeline for the one category you suck most at. Why would you do that? If you picked State Capitals for $1600 I hope you didn’t go for it when questions better suited to your talents are available. 2. Given that most contestants really should know more than half the answers on any board, and given that you also get to pick your categories, MOST of the time a contestant who hits a Daily Double has an excellent chance at a huge, huge payoff. According to most sources, 65-70% of all Daily Doubles are answered correctly. The positive expectation is very high if you bet high. You could of course be in a situation where the only clues left are in categories you suck at, in which case it may be logical to bet five bucks. You might also be in a situation where a bet beyond a certain number would not confer an advantage (e.g. you are leading by more than twice the runnerup’s score and there are few clues left, so it’s safer to not take a chance.) That’s not usually the case, though. ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardistas-what-do-you-think-of-arthur-chu/680441/152 "2014-03-12T14:33:48Z")
> [@furt](#): > > The episodes where Arthur bet for the tie had been taped a different day and he hadn’t seen them. Contestants NEVER see the games that are taped before they get onstage. Never. They are kept under strict supervision in the Green Room backstage until they are called up to play their first game. I’m sure **astorian** can give you the specifics since s/he has been there - I just know this from reading all of the books that contestants have written after their runs. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardistas-what-do-you-think-of-arthur-chu/680441/153 "2014-03-12T15:03:12Z")
> [@Sean\_Factotum](#): > > Contestants NEVER see the games that are taped before they get onstage. Never. They are kept under strict supervision in the Green Room backstage until they are called up to play their first game. I’m sure **astorian** can give you the specifics since s/he has been there - I just know this from reading all of the books that contestants have written after their runs. Well, actually, I wasn’t kept in the Green Room. I got to watch 4 of the matches from the studio audience. My day of shooting was a Wednesday in early December 2012. That was the last day of shooting before they shut down for the Christmas holidays. There were eleven new contestants plus a woman who was the returning champion. As most people know, they tape a week’s worth of shows in one day- three episodes in the morning and two in the afternoon. As luck would have it, my episode was to air on a Friday, so mine was the last episode taped that day. As I recall, we started shooting my episode around 3:30 PM, and we were all finished around 4:10 or 4:15. They didn’t tell any of us when we’d be shooting until shortly before we were to start. Those of us who weren’t playing sat together in a special section of the studio audience, apart from the regular spectators. In the morning, the studio audience was packed with 6th graders from a local school, but in the afternoon, there was only a tiny audience (Johnny Gilbert really had to egg those few people on to clap loudly and enthusiastically). Those of us waiting to play HAD to sit in the studio audience. But once a contestant lost, he/she was allowed to go back to the hotel. During the fourth episode, early in the afternoon, Jody Carlson and I were the only contestants still sitting in the audience. Midway through that 4th episode, we got called for some additional makeup work, and got prepped to play ourselves. Obviously, during my taping, there were no more contestants left watching in the audeince. ---
**Author:** ![TreacherousCretin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/treacherouscretin/32/476_2.png) [@TreacherousCretin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TreacherousCretin)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardistas-what-do-you-think-of-arthur-chu/680441/154 "2014-03-12T16:36:06Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > 11 in a row now, though the last two nights he actually has looked beatable and has been bailed out by poor opponents. Arthur gets flustered if he makes errors or things don’t go his way and a good player could put him into a real tailspin. The last two nights he’s faced no good players. Agreed. Even Arthur needs a little luck sometimes, and he got a _lot_ of it last night in the challengers. ---
**Author:** ![Sean\_Factotum](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/50afbb/32.png) [@Sean\_Factotum](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sean_Factotum)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardistas-what-do-you-think-of-arthur-chu/680441/155 "2014-03-12T17:23:49Z")
> [@astorian](#): > > Well, actually, I wasn’t kept in the Green Room. I got to watch 4 of the matches from the studio audience. I’ve never heqrd of them doing it that way. In Bob Harris’s book, he talks about his first appearance on the show. And he was in a similar situation - in the last contestant pair to tape on a filming day before a long break. He talks about haunting the Green Room, not knowing what was going on out on stage. Interesting. I wonder why they changed it? ---
**Author:** ![etv78](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d78d45/32.png) [@etv78](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/etv78)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 6:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardistas-what-do-you-think-of-arthur-chu/680441/156 "2014-03-12T18:32:26Z")
It was my understanding that the only circumstances future contestants would be sequestered away from gameplay is during tourney quarterfinals. So they don’t know how much no-winners scored. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 12, 2014, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardistas-what-do-you-think-of-arthur-chu/680441/157 "2014-03-12T23:57:19Z")
Tonight’s result: [SPOILER]Arthur is done. He didn’t play well and finished with nothing. He really was never on his game this week, but had played against bad opponents. Tonight’s opponents were very tough, though, and took advantage of his errors.[/SPOILER] ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardistas-what-do-you-think-of-arthur-chu/680441/158 "2014-03-13T01:17:51Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Tonight’s result: > > [SPOILER]Arthur is done. He didn’t play well and finished with nothing. > > He really was never on his game this week, but had played against bad opponents. Tonight’s opponents were very tough, though, and took advantage of his errors.[/SPOILER] I couldn’t believe that two out of three players got the question wrong. I guess people couldn’t think quickly enough. It was obvious to me, but then I’m a geek about royalty trivia, especially British royalty. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardistas-what-do-you-think-of-arthur-chu/680441/159 "2014-03-13T01:25:02Z")
It fooled me too, in part because of the wording. When it was revealed I was like “Jesus, how did I get THAT wrong?” ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2014, 12:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardistas-what-do-you-think-of-arthur-chu/680441/160 "2014-03-13T12:22:44Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > 1. Since you must have picked the clue to get a Daily Double, one hopes you didn’t beeline for the one category you suck most at. Why would you do that? If you picked State Capitals for $1600 I hope you didn’t go for it when questions better suited to your talents are available. Meh, he’s Daily Double hunting to take them off the board. “Sure, I’m not likely to know the answer, but if I bust this now, nobody can spring it on me later and use it against me.” Still not seeing why it’s Trebek’s business. > [@](#): > > 1. Given that most contestants really should know more than half the answers on any board, and given that you also get to pick your categories, MOST of the time a contestant who hits a Daily Double has an excellent chance at a huge, huge payoff. According to most sources, 65-70% of all Daily Doubles are answered correctly. The positive expectation is very high if you bet high. Sure, I agree overall people waste Daily Doubles. They have the potential to be real stakes changers, putting you way ahead, but also putting you way behind. Most people are fairly conservative and bet somewhere in the neighborhood of the dollar values. They’re hedging their bets against losing. Statistically, that’s bad. If that’s what Trebek is trying to say, then alright, but I was getting the notion he was whining at players for devaluing the item. “I picked _German Chancellors_ for $1600, I’ll wager $200.” Well, so what? I get to assign the value of the clue, I’m going to assign what I think it’s worth, not what you wanted it to be worth. If I don’t know German Chancellors, why would I want to risk $1600? Yep, I raced to a category I know nothing about and picked the highest value item in that category because I’m hunting Daily Doubles. I want to eliminate them from my opponents rather than use it myself. Okay, I probably wouldn’t use that strategy, I’d opt to have at least some money to wager, and knowing that most contestants waste Daily Doubles I’d be less concerned with taking them away from my opponents. But it is a strategy, and it seems to work. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardistas-what-do-you-think-of-arthur-chu/680441.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/jeopardistas-what-do-you-think-of-arthur-chu/680441.md?page=9)