# 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:** 7
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/121 "2019-04-25T21:59:47Z")
> [@Mr\_Shine](#): > > How do they avoid the fact that those who attended the taping of the last \*Jeopardy \* of the season will know who was the champion and have no incentive to keep it a secret? Good question. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 10:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/122 "2019-04-25T22:17:23Z")
Are the audience members sworn to secrecy? ---
**Author:** ![TroutMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troutman/32/6721_2.png) [@TroutMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TroutMan)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/123 "2019-04-25T22:38:22Z")
[From here](https://www.newsweek.com/jeopardy-james-holzhauer-bets-records-1402061), it is suspected that audience members must sign NDAs (competitor certainly do), but for some reason it doesn’t seem to be general information. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [April 25, 2019, 10:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/124 "2019-04-25T22:55:04Z")
> [@Tired\_and\_Cranky](#): > > …I remember that and like Dewey Finn, I suspect they can splice those shots in later. I remember the line about Ken Jennings and I thought the comment was premature. In retrospect, it looks prescient but it was probably just a post-production trick made simple by keeping Alex’s suits, shirts, and ties in wardrobe. And making sure he doesn’t embark on one of his ‘grow a mustache/shave a mustache’ periods. ---
**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:** [April 25, 2019, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/125 "2019-04-25T23:07:56Z")
Maybe I am misinterpreting something but the Jeopardy subreddit had today’s results up this morning at around 8am Pacific Time. . . . . . . Only James was correct on Final Jeopardy, adding $35,117 to win with $90,812 for a 16-day total of $1,225,987. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2019, 12:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/126 "2019-04-26T00:58:00Z")
Does the total of Jennings winnings include tournaments? ---
**Author:** ![Stephe96](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Stephe96](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stephe96)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2019, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/127 "2019-04-26T01:13:12Z")
James missed a question about Pulp Fiction tonight. Didn’t the last big winner (can’t remember his name) end his run by missing a Final Jeopardy clue about the same movie? ---
**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:** [April 26, 2019, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/128 "2019-04-26T02:24:28Z")
I have watched this show for decades, and it always bugged me that people would invariably start categories at the lowest money amount and work their way up. It was such a consistent pattern I wondered if it was actually a rule, or at least an unwritten one. This guy just blows that out of the water. Interesting today that he noted he learned a lot of trivia from books in the children’s library. Clever! I think the young woman today, who was held by a big-name cinematic auteur when she was a baby (Francis Ford Coppola, I think?) would be a multiday champ under normal circumstances. It’s too bad, because I thought she was pretty cool. Not that I dislike Holzhauer, mind you. ---
**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:** [April 26, 2019, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/129 "2019-04-26T02:41:25Z")
> [@hajario](#): > > Maybe I am misinterpreting something but the Jeopardy subreddit had today’s results up this morning at around 8am Pacific Time. I just found out that there is a tv station in Alabama that airs Jeopardy at 10:30 am local time. That’s why the daily results are known so soon. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2019, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/130 "2019-04-26T11:52:08Z")
I’d like them to return to the old 5 day limit for appearances. So we get a couple guys who master the timing and can buzz in before anyone gets a chance. ZZZZZZZZZZZZ. Maybe we’ll see one guy last two entire seasons. I don’t think that’s good for the game. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2019, 12:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/131 "2019-04-26T12:28:43Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > I think upthread someone wondered when the season ends, so I Googled and according to the J! Archive, this season runs from 10Sep2018 through 26Jul2019. And the Tournament of Champions for 2017 was in November. I don’t see one in 2018. There was no Tournament of Champions in 2018. Which I’m sad about, because if there had been, I might have been in it. I’ve fallen off the bottom of the [ToC Tracker](https://www.jeopardy.com/contestant-zone/toc-tracker) now. ☹ For whatever reason, they seem to skip some years. Can you imagine how nervous everybody else on that Tracker is right now, knowing that they’re probably going to have to face James when the next ToC comes around? I don’t really see them reinstating the 5-game limit, or any other. They didn’t do that after Ken Jennings, and I doubt they will now. On the contrary, I think they like the possibility of this sort of thing happening occasionally. ---
**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:** [April 26, 2019, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/132 "2019-04-26T13:37:07Z")
> [@SlackerInc](#): > > I have watched this show for decades, and it always bugged me that people would invariably start categories at the lowest money amount and work their way up. It was such a consistent pattern I wondered if it was actually a rule, or at least an unwritten one. This guy just blows that out of the water. The low-value clues are supposedly easier to get than the high-value ones. Alex has more than once encouraged players to start at the top to get a feel for the category and then work their way down the column. It is not, however, a hard-and-fast rule, and I honestly don’t see much of a difference between the clues at the top and those at the bottom (most of the time, anyway). ---
**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:** [April 26, 2019, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/133 "2019-04-26T13:40:07Z")
> [@BobLibDem](#): > > I’d like them to return to the old 5 day limit for appearances. So we get a couple guys who master the timing and can buzz in before anyone gets a chance. ZZZZZZZZZZZZ. Maybe we’ll see one guy last two entire seasons. I don’t think that’s good for the game. Actually, I think it is good for the game. Normally I watch only half paying attention but now am watching more closely and I’ll bet that others who normally don’t watch are tuning in. ---
**Author:** ![notfrommensa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/f14d63/32.png) [@notfrommensa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/notfrommensa)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2019, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/134 "2019-04-26T14:07:10Z")
What is James doing to the Jeopardy! budget? Is it so liquid that it can absorb the extra $50K/episode they are paying out to James? The average win is 20-25K for a Jeopardy winner, and James is earning 75K per show. Pro-rated on a monthly basis, that is over a Million dollars a month. Obviously any increase in ratings is going to offset the increased winnings. ---
**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:** [April 26, 2019, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/135 "2019-04-26T14:24:10Z")
Even if it’s more expensive than a game show usually is, any game show is going to be cheaper than any scripted show. Think about how much it’d cost for a cast of a dozen actors. ---
**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:** [April 26, 2019, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/136 "2019-04-26T14:49:25Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > What is James doing to the Jeopardy! budget? Is it so liquid that it can absorb the extra $50K/episode they are paying out to James? > > The average win is 20-25K for a Jeopardy winner, and James is earning 75K per show. Pro-rated on a monthly basis, that is over a Million dollars a month. Obviously any increase in ratings is going to offset the increased winnings. _ **Jeopardy!** _ and _ **Wheel of Fortune** _ are franchised all over the world. The money MGP receives from these in licensing fees is more than enough to offset any temporary drain on the US versions’ funds. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2019, 3:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/137 "2019-04-26T15:00:28Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > What is James doing to the Jeopardy! budget? Is it so liquid that it can absorb the extra $50K/episode they are paying out to James? > > The average win is 20-25K for a Jeopardy winner, and James is earning 75K per show. Pro-rated on a monthly basis, that is over a Million dollars a month. Obviously any increase in ratings is going to offset the increased winnings. I’ve seen a couple of articles speculating about that. Jeopardy! has a prize budget, which is based on the average winnings. James is trending way above average, so it might potentially put a strain on things, especially if he lasts a long time. The good news is that they won’t have to pay out to him right away. They don’t send out the check to a contestant until a few months after that contestant’s final episode airs. As long as he’s still playing, they don’t actually have to pay him! That gives them a bit of time to figure out the financing. He’s also apparently getting them big ratings, which might allow them to increase their advertising rates. Those same articles mentioned that a lot of game shows carry insurance policies that cover going over their prize budget. Particularly shows like _Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?_, where the top prize is rarely won, but is very expensive on those few occasions when it is. It seems to be unknown whether Jeopardy! has such a policy or not. ---
**Author:** ![Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba9def/32.png) [@Just\_Asking\_Questions](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Just_Asking_Questions)\ **Post date:** [April 26, 2019, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/138 "2019-04-26T15:38:55Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > He’s also apparently getting them big ratings, which might allow them to increase their advertising rates. Ah, the lies of the advertising world. “We have increased ratings because of James, so we can charge more!” But as soon as he’s gone, the same surge people that only watch because of him will quit watching. ---
**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:** [April 26, 2019, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/139 "2019-04-26T16:31:11Z")
Might be confirmation bias, but it feels to me like he’s starting to play more conservative. He goes for a true daily double in the opening round, but during double Jeopardy he’s only betting so much that if he gets it wrong he still has a comfortable lead. Maybe he sees Jennings record as an obtainable goal now and wants to stay as long as possible. ---
**Author:** ![Sherrerd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sherrerd/32/8_2.png) [@Sherrerd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sherrerd)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2019, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696/140 "2019-04-27T00:29:00Z")
> [@MrAtoz](#): > > …The good news is that they won’t have to pay out to him right away. They don’t send out the check to a contestant until a few months after that contestant’s final episode airs. As long as he’s still playing, they don’t actually have to pay him! … Which gives him quite an incentive to _lose_… For people who don’t have major savings, being a long-term Jeopardy! champion could mean an incredible drain on their finances—assuming their jobs aren’t in the LA area, they’d have to be living on savings during the weeks they’re playing. (And have an understanding employer, who’d be willing to give them a long leave of absence, unless the winnings are so huge that they can quit their job.) I guess technically since tapings take up only two days per week the person could get a temporary job in Los Angeles on the other five days—but I bet few do that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696.md?page=6) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-jeopardy-thread-was-james-holzhauer-contains-spoilers/832696.md?page=8)