# The Jeopardy thread \[was James Holzhauer\]\[contains spoilers\] **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** reality-or-game-show\ **Created:** [April 17, 2019, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696 "2019-04-17T21:53:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 19
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/361 "2019-05-23T00:46:51Z")
[Moderating] Yes, **Tangent** , that is totally shallow and irrelevant to the thread. Keep it in your pants. ---
**Author:** ![Tangent](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tangent/32/3098_2.png) [@Tangent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tangent)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 4:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/362 "2019-05-23T04:55:44Z")
Apologies if this has already been covered, but I wonder what the constraints on Jeopardy are with regard to doing something to end this streak. If they wanted to, could they at some arbitrary point say, “Enough”? As a game show, they have to follow certain rules, right? Or do they already have some limit and it just hasn’t been reached yet? James is impressive and may be good for ratings for now (I guess?). But what if he’s still winning 6 months from now? A year from now? Surely at some point he becomes a drag on the show’s continued success. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 5:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/363 "2019-05-23T05:36:05Z")
Instead, James Holzhauer may choose to retire before that point. If he ever accumulates $10M in winnings, I think that’s more than enough to retire on, comfortably. Either that, or he breaks the show. Or he breaks the production company, Jeopardy Productions, Inc. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 6:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/364 "2019-05-23T06:47:53Z")
Here’s an interesting idea discussing his strategy. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/4Z922g9R6xE/maxresdefault.jpg "How James Holzhauer Broke Jeopardy - Cheddar Explains") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z922g9R6xE) ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/365 "2019-05-23T06:48:00Z")
Today’s contestant performed fairly well but she finished a distant second to James Holzhauer. If she bet it all in Final she would have inished with $14,000. And yes she is quite attractive. The third contestant ended in the red and could not participate in Final Jeopardy. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/366 "2019-05-23T06:59:52Z")
> [@davidm](#): > > Here’s an interesting idea discussing his strategy. > > [https://youtu.be/4Z922g9R6xE](https://youtu.be/4Z922g9R6xE) That 8+ minute video was pretty good, thanks **davidm**. Yes, James Holzhauer is changing how the game is played. I am enjoying watching him on his run. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 10:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/367 "2019-05-23T10:40:51Z")
Ratings crumbled during the 2 week teacher tournament. Judge Judy took top spot. Holzhauer is definitely drawing in the viewers. It will get more compelling as he gets closer to ken Jennings record. > **['Jeopardy' loses top ratings spot to 'Judge Judy' without James Holzhauer](https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/jeopardy-judge-judge-james-holzhaur-ratings)** > > Without its star contestant, James Holzhauer, “Jeopardy!” lost its top syndicated ratings spot, allowing “Judge Judy” to retake the throne. > [@](#): > > “The contestant’s most recent set of games, which aired across the first week of May, pulled ‘Jeopardy!’ to an 8.3 rating – its best showing in 14 years,” TheWrap’s Reid Nakamura wrote before noting that the first half of its “Teacher’s Tournament” fell to a 6.1 Nielsen rating. ---
**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/368 "2019-05-23T13:42:01Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > That 8+ minute video was pretty good, thanks **davidm**. Yes, James Holzhauer is changing how the game is played. I am enjoying watching him on his run. His strategy is working for him but it does have to be backed up by an encyclopedic knowledge of trivia. ---
**Author:** ![commasense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/commasense/32/3017_2.png) [@commasense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/commasense)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 2:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/369 "2019-05-23T14:06:32Z")
> [@Ponch8](#): > > The only scenario I see for anyone to beat him is if he finds a Daily Double fairly late in the game, bets a lot of money, and gets it wrong. This would put a competitor within striking distance going into Final Jeopardy. Then James would have to miss the Final Jeopardy question as well. > [@Gus\_Gusterson](#): > > He’s smart enough to know how much he can safely bet at any time. He will go all in on a DD in the first round because he knows that he can quickly retake the lead even if he has to start over. In the second round he is more conservative and his bets are generally in the $9,812 to $12,000 range. He’s often up over $20,000 by that point. He’s not going to blow a locked game on a dumb bet. The thing is, even though he’s raking in tons of cash, he’s leaving a fair amount of money on the table by being more cautious than is strictly necessary. In Double Jeopardy, his favorite bets on Daily Doubles are $11,381 (his wife’s birthday: 11/3/1981), and $11,914 (his daughter’s). Yet most of the time he could bet more and still retain an unbeatable lead. I have to believe that his math skills are such that he could figure out the optimum amount on the fly, but I suspect that he makes these smaller bets because they humanize him by displaying devotion to family members and by not mechanically going for the absolute maximum he could wager. I haven’t bothered to figure out exactly how much more he could have won (it would be an interesting problem to work on), but several times I’ve noticed that he could have risked 50-100% more on a DD and still been out out of reach if he had gotten it wrong. So, as well as he’s done, and as much as he’s made, I believe he’s intentionally not winning as much as he is actually capable of, probably to reduce the resentment such an overwhelming performance might create in the viewing public. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/370 "2019-05-23T14:41:26Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > I haven’t bothered to figure out exactly how much more he could have won (it would be an interesting problem to work on), but several times I’ve noticed that he could have risked 50-100% more on a DD and still been out out of reach if he had gotten it wrong. > > So, as well as he’s done, and as much as he’s made, I believe he’s intentionally not winning as much as he is actually capable of, probably to reduce the resentment such an overwhelming performance might create in the viewing public. It’s still a lot of math to do on the spot to figure out how much he can safely bet. I feel like he became more conservative once he realized he could actually beat Jennings record. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/371 "2019-05-23T14:44:33Z")
Do they allow the contestants a calculator or even pencil and paper for calculating the final jeopardy bet? ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/372 "2019-05-23T14:56:55Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Do they allow the contestants a calculator or even pencil and paper for calculating the final jeopardy bet? I think they get pencil and paper. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/373 "2019-05-23T14:57:34Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > Do they allow the contestants a calculator or even pencil and paper for calculating the final jeopardy bet? Pencil and paper, yes. A calculator, no. ---
**Author:** ![Rebo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rebo/32/13005_2.png) [@Rebo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rebo)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/374 "2019-05-23T15:06:40Z")
> [@commasense](#): > > The thing is, even though he’s raking in tons of cash, he’s leaving a fair amount of money on the table by being more cautious than is strictly necessary. > > In Double Jeopardy, his favorite bets on Daily Doubles are $11,381 (his wife’s birthday: 11/3/1981), and $11,914 (his daughter’s). Yet most of the time he could bet more and still retain an unbeatable lead. I have to believe that his math skills are such that he could figure out the optimum amount on the fly, but I suspect that he makes these smaller bets because they humanize him by displaying devotion to family members and by not mechanically going for the absolute maximum he could wager. > > I haven’t bothered to figure out exactly how much more he could have won (it would be an interesting problem to work on), but several times I’ve noticed that he could have risked 50-100% more on a DD and still been out out of reach if he had gotten it wrong. > > So, as well as he’s done, and as much as he’s made, I believe he’s intentionally not winning as much as he is actually capable of, probably to reduce the resentment such an overwhelming performance might create in the viewing public. Maybe, since he’s a gambler, he likes to bet “lucky” amounts, like birthdays. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/375 "2019-05-23T15:21:27Z")
Seems to be working pretty well for him, I’d say! ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 4:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/376 "2019-05-23T16:33:34Z")
Nate gave Holzhauer a good fight today. He was behind for much of the game. Nate answered final Jeopardy correctly. Didn’t bet enough. I really thought this was it for Holzhauer. So darn close. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/377 "2019-05-23T17:33:42Z")
> [@aceplace57](#): > > Nate gave Holzhauer a good fight today. He was behind for much of the game. > > Nate answered final Jeopardy correctly. Didn’t bet enough. I haven’t seen the game, but I saw the results. Even if he bet it all, he would have been short, unless James missed the final Jeopardy question. (And it was a pretty easy one, at least for me.) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/378 "2019-05-23T17:39:58Z")
Looks like the problem was Nate’s Double Jeopardy Daily Double; had he bet more aggressively, he could have won. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 5:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/379 "2019-05-23T17:44:29Z")
The Daily Double was Nates chance to get a big enough lead. It was just bad luck Holzhauer immediately found the other daily double. That put him back in the game. He is beatable. His game was way off today. He still won. It’s going to take an aggressive player to beat him. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [May 23, 2019, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/380 "2019-05-23T17:49:11Z")
Can we not post spoilers for the days game? Not everyone sees it at the same time. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696.md?page=18) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696.md?page=20)