Aggressive Wagering

[The Captain]

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...2_8xYnXj5iBW-h

[HalvOnHorseracing]

Watching most people bet on Jeopardy is ridiculous. I don't know if 1 out of 5 people understand how to play the game. The current champ made a brilliant move that almost guaranteed the three Daily Doubles would come up. The other thing about starting at the bottom is that even if time runs out, there's usually less than $600 dollars left on the board.

He seems, to me, to be getting tired of the game interrupting his life, but you know he's not going to lose to two people who can't bank more than 6 G's. Even Ken Jennings lost.

This may be a paradigm shift for Jeopardy.

[thaskalos]

Aggressive wagering is great, unless you lose...and then lose again...and again.

[Dave Schwartz]

I think the real takeaway here is that the guy took the time to figure out a proper strategy based upon game theory.

For decades people on Jeopardy have started with the small-value questions first. Why? Perhaps they are coached to do it that way because it pushes the excitement to the end, but most likely because of tradition.

He is there to gamble. He's clearly got an edge, and he is ready to leverage that edge whenever he's got the opportunity to do so.

There is great value in understanding game shows and the proper strategies. Like Monty Hall (my all-time favorite handicapping strategy).

Break with tradition. Apply game theory concepts to your handicapping and things will probably improve for you.

[formula_2002]

It also helps if you are extremely smart.

[biggestal99]

Show needs to be renamed Train Robbery.

James knows his stuff. And takes the air out of the game early.

His college degree is in mathematics.

Smarter than a whip.

He,s the perfect jepody contestant.

Allan

[HalvOnHorseracing]

He apparently prepared for months which shows how determined he was. He read and even looked into how the buzzer worked so he could always be the first to buzz in. He'd probably have to win 10 more shows to be the all time money winner. Eventually someone else will win, but it could be a while.

[AlsoEligible]

Solid bet that he'll overtake Jennings in terms of money won, since at this pace he only needs 10-15 more wins to do it. But I can't see him coming close to Jennings in terms of longevity (74 game win streak). His strategy is too reliant on finding daily doubles, and eventually he's going to burned on that. Either by not finding them, or betting huge and whiffing on it.

People forget that in James' second game he was down $9.5k late in double jeopardy, before he was able to find the last daily double and jump ahead. If he doesn't pull that off, he's a one-hit wonder.

That said, he's been amazingly entertaining to watch, and I hope he can keep this going for a long time.

[dilanesp]

Originally Posted by formula_2002

It also helps if you are extremely smart.

Yeah this. The game theory is fine, but it wouldn't work against a superior intellect.