# 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:** 27
**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:** [June 3, 2019, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/521 "2019-06-03T21:09:32Z")
Sucks that probably the best episode of Jeopardy ever got spoiled. For those that don’t know, the Coryat score a player’s score if all wagering is disregarded. Combined Coryat is all the players Coryat scores combined. This game set a new record of **$53,200** (out of a possible $54,000). ---
**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:** [June 3, 2019, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/522 "2019-06-03T21:54:44Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I think Jeopardy should revisit its buzzer system. A guy who can master that timing has an unfair advantage over his opponents, particularly when he gets a few games under his belt and is playing against those new to the buzzer. I’d rather see a turn-based game. I don’t think the vast majority of viewers are clammoring for that. I think the system is fine. The old system was anybody could buzz in at any time they want. Whether that was better or worse, who knows, but they changed it in the Trebek years for some reason. Making it turn-based would make it a very different game to me. Might as well just hand out a quiz to all the players and tally up the scores. ---
**Author:** ![iamthewalrus\_3](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/258eb7/32.png) [@iamthewalrus\_3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iamthewalrus_3)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2019, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/523 "2019-06-03T23:18:37Z")
We did the “should we change the buzzer rules” discussion in this very thread, like five pages ago. A great and spirited disagreement was had. I have to admit that I’m a big Ken Jennings fan and I’m kind of happy that his record remains. ---
**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:** [June 3, 2019, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/524 "2019-06-03T23:44:40Z")
Just watched it. Great run by James. I was hoping he’d at least catch Jennings on the money total, but he has other records that will probably stand for a while. I don’t know if he was having an ‘off’ game or not, but the new champion had a very strong game and seems like she could be hard to beat for future challengers. She was ‘lucky’ to hit on both Daily Doubles in DJ, and she knew she had to bet big on that first one. I guess she had the buzzer timing down pretty well, too. ---
**Author:** ![Maserschmidt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/maserschmidt/32/18829_2.png) [@Maserschmidt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Maserschmidt)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/525 "2019-06-04T00:00:25Z")
That was awesome, because it hadn’t been spoilered for me. Love the way she played. ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/526 "2019-06-04T00:08:02Z")
James seemed to run out of steam when Emma hit the DDs. I got misty eyed at the card James’ daughter made for Alex. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/527 "2019-06-04T00:13:46Z")
James got beat a challenger who was, for today at least, his equal in both knowledge and buzzer technique. Plus, she got both DDs on Double Jeopardy, one of which she used to double her score and take the lead, and the other to increase her lead to a point where James could not catch her before the game ended. It was an interesting wager on FJ by James. Entering the final round, he had $23,400; Jay had $11,000, and Emma had $26,600. All 3 answered the final question correctly. Jay bet $6,000; his only hope was that both of the other players would miss. He finished with $17,000. Emma bet $20,201, which was 1 dollar more than James could garner if he doubled his money total. She finished with $46,801. James, however, bet $1399. He finished with $24,749. He obviously knew that he couldn’t catch Emma even if he doubled his score (and she answered correctly), so his bet was low enough so that if both he and Emma missed, he would finish with 22,001, which of course is one dollar more than what Jay could have achieved had he doubled his total. So it was actually good strategy by James. We wouldn’t have expected anything else. ---
**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:** [June 4, 2019, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/528 "2019-06-04T00:52:44Z")
> [@Railer13](#): > > So it was actually good strategy by James. We wouldn’t have expected anything else. Yeah, I saw a bunch of posts yesterday saying the leak was fake because James never only bet as low as $1399, but has he ever entered FJ in second place? Of course his betting strategy would be different in that case! His wager was perfect, for the reasons you stated. When I saw the bet and the scores, I knew the leak was real, but it wasn’t certain whether it was for today’s episode or for another. ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/529 "2019-06-04T02:56:59Z")
The game theory of the wagering in a scenario like this is so fascinating to me. Reminds me of the “metagame” in poker. Emma was very conventional in her approach, but imagine if she were crafty enough to suss out what James was going to do, and gutsy enough to follow through? She could have bet nothing and ensured she won, even if she didn’t know the FJ clue and James did. > [@aceplace57](#): > > It’ll be interesting to see if Emma has a good run on Jeopardy. > > The lady that beat Ken Jennings didn’t win again. Yeah, I really like her, and hope she has herself a long run. I think this is different from Jennings, because James was so much more dominant. The Coryat scores are interesting and hint at that. I think when she doesn’t have James to contend with (and the other guy was good too!) she will do very, very well. But we’ll see! > [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > [Possibly](https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/see-it-viral-clip-shows-jeopardy-star-james-holzhauers-defeat). Whoa, you posted that early in the morning without spoiler boxing it? WTF, not cool, dude. :mad: I didn’t happen to swing by, but given that this was before it aired anywhere in the country, I could easily have done. ---
**Author:** ![sciurophobic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cab0a1/32.png) [@sciurophobic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sciurophobic)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/530 "2019-06-04T03:15:03Z")
> [@Tangent](#): > > She was ‘lucky’ to hit on both Daily Doubles in DJ, and she knew she had to bet big on that first one. And he was unlucky to get his Daily Double on his very first turn and so could only wager the value of the answer ($1000), when his average bet had been about $9000. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/531 "2019-06-04T04:51:32Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > Whoa, you posted that early in the morning without spoiler boxing it? WTF, not cool, dude. :mad: I didn’t happen to swing by, but given that this was before it aired anywhere in the country, I could easily have done. Yeah, I only saw the episode on my DVR now, I hadn’t seen anything about it online earlier so was completely surprised, but damn that was a dick move by **ElvisL1ves**. Posting that at 6:25am!? ---
**Author:** ![hajario](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hajario/32/171_2.png) [@hajario](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hajario)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/532 "2019-06-04T04:56:42Z")
I think that everyone who was saying that the game was irrecoverably ruined and rule changes were called for can calm down now. Next season everyone will play like James and things will be much more entertaining. ---
**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:** [June 4, 2019, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/533 "2019-06-04T04:59:48Z")
> [@sciurophobic](#): > > And he was unlucky to get his Daily Double on his very first turn and so could only wager the value of the answer ($1000), when his average bet had been about $9000. Yeah, it was almost a ‘perfect storm’ against him on the Daily Doubles. ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/534 "2019-06-04T05:04:31Z")
I really do suspect that James tanked this intentionally. That final wager was not anything near what he normally wagered. ---
**Author:** ![Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eyebrows_0f_doom/32/3119_2.png) [@Eyebrows\_0f\_Doom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eyebrows_0f_Doom)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/535 "2019-06-04T05:07:48Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > I really do suspect that James tanked this intentionally. That final wager was not anything near what he normally wagered. Read post 527. James wagered perfectly. ---
**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:** [June 4, 2019, 5:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/536 "2019-06-04T05:15:33Z")
Wow — I just watched it and it wasn’t spoilered for me. I stayed away from this thread. > [@aceplace57](#): > > It’s been a fun run and maybe earned Jeopardy some new fans. Or bring fans back to the show. I’m one. And it was a fun run. > [@aceplace57](#): > > It’ll be interesting to see if Emma has a good run on Jeopardy. > > The lady that beat Ken Jennings didn’t win again. She’s pretty sharp, to be sure, but one big factor not mentioned yet was the middle player (Jay?). His answering several questions stole opportunities from James, and of course Emma too. About Emma, her voice tone reminded me of Lilith (Bebe Neuwirth) on Cheers. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/537 "2019-06-04T05:38:42Z")
Never bet against a librarian! ---
**Author:** ![magnusblitz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b4bc9f/32.png) [@magnusblitz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/magnusblitz)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 5:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/538 "2019-06-04T05:40:35Z")
I am really disappointed about how easy it was to get spoiled - Google had it as their top story, Reddit had a thread reach the front page (the title wasn’t a spoiler but c’mon, the mere fact there was a Jeopardy thread on the front page makes it obvious) and even fucking ESPN had a spoiler in their headline. Kinda bullshit for something that’s not a live show on at the same time in every time zone, but even worse was all of these were posted in the morning before the show even aired. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 9:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/539 "2019-06-04T09:41:19Z")
> [@ElvisL1ves](#): > > [Possibly](https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/see-it-viral-clip-shows-jeopardy-star-james-holzhauers-defeat). I had the result spoiled to me pretty early. Then I intentionally opened this thread to see if Dopers could hold their water for a minute. **Elvis** , next time don’t be cruel. mmm ---
**Author:** ![F.U.Shakespeare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/aca169/32.png) [@F.U.Shakespeare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/F.U.Shakespeare)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2019, 10:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/540 "2019-06-04T10:08:07Z")
> [@Rick\_Kitchen](#): > > I really do suspect that James tanked this intentionally. That final wager was not anything near what he normally wagered. Glad to know I’m not the only one who wondered about this. You couldn’t have scripted a better ending: the unassuming librarian takes down the champ. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696.md?page=26) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696.md?page=28)