The surprising end caused even the famously dispassionate host to practically lose his composure.I like the way Boettcher used a James-style approach to the old game, and I hope she goes forward and breaks some new records. I like to see an amazing champ, and she beat the most amazing champ, so let's see her carry on the tradition.
“What a game!” Alex Trebek exclaimed after [Emma] Boettcher’s final score popped up. “Oh my gosh!”
Holzhauer walked over to give Boettcher a high-five.
“Nobody likes to lose,” Holzhauer said in an interview. “But I’m very proud of how I did, and I really exceeded my own expectations for the show. So I don’t feel bad about it.”
June 3, 2019
"Jeopardy!" spoiler alert.
"James Holzhauer’s ‘Jeopardy!’ Streak Ends Just Shy of a Record/The show’s most dominant player in years came just $58,484 short of the $2.52 million Ken Jennings won during his famous run," the NYT reports.
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Holzhauer did not bet enough on the final, but then neither did Boettcher.
I don’t know what she’ll do, but she won’t be remembered as a great one like Holzhauer or Jennings or Rutter. It was inevitable that someone would get lucky and score the daily doubles and beat him. Honestly she wasn’t even the most impressive player during his run. One guy got more than $50K and still lost to Holzhauer. She won’t even win 5 times, unless Jeopardy puts up a bunch of bums against her. Which wouldn’t surprise me.
"the NYT reports"
It's one we can be pretty sure the Times got right.
The defending champ just hit one Daily Double, on the very first question of the game, so he couldn't make a big bet until Final Jeopardy, when things were out of his hands.
Holzhauer has had a few close calls, actually. Anyway Holzhauer will be remembered for breaking Jeopardy. Now it’s no longer interesting because you’re just going to see a lot of people adopting his strategy, going for the big money clues first and then hunting daily doubles. Arthur Chu sort of pioneered the strategy but failed to make it really work. He was a little more random and haphazard about it, whereas Holzhauer was methodical. It’s basically a no brainer strategy now.
Holzhauer's bet on the final was completely strategic. He had to assume Boettcher was going to be enough to beat him if they both had the final answer correct. So he bet enough to win if her answer was wrong, whether his was right or wrong. It was the smart move.
He failed to see that she was not going to bet enough to beat him if he bet it all.
Psychology, not strategy.
"Hefailed to see that she was not going to bet enough to beat him if he bet it all."
She bet enough to win by $1 if he bet all he had. It would have been 46801 to 46800.
Flash in the pan. No woman will ever be as good.
Probably gone by Friday.
He was hanging back for a lot of the game.
The reason streaks are so hard is that you've got to be good all the time. The streak killer only needs to be good once. This is why airplane safety and anesthesiology are all about checklists and redundancy.
Oh for heaven's sake people, just enjoy the fact that he was very successful and ultimately undone by a competent and skilled opponent. It's just a game and no more significant than that. Wish her well and that she has highly skilled opponents; that's what makes it fun for the viewer. It's entertainment after all, not life and death.
I like these Jeopardy champs.
The thing is that the others were beating him to the buzzer (or he was laying off) and he lost control of the board.
>"Jeopardy!" spoiler alert.
"James Holzhauer’s ‘Jeopardy!’ Streak Ends..."<<
From the West coast: Hell of a half-assed spoiler alert, Ann.
Because you know, who would possibly see the spoiler *directly under* the so-called "spoiler alert."
The fact of the matter is the words "'Jeopardy!' spoiler alert" might as well have been "HOLZHAUER LOSES!"
Thanks a lot. Sheesh.
Before Holzhauer came along, the one-day record was held by Roger Craig on September 19, 2010, when he took home $77,000 in a single game.
Before Monday's loss, James' average one-day winnings were $76944.25!
What an epic player and a pleasure to watch. It will be interesting to see if he changed how the game is played going forward.
He lost it on that first selection when he picked the Double Jeopardy and had $0 banked. I think he would have lead into Final Jeopardy if he he could have bet more ... exciting finale to his epic run.
Yeah, I think that she gained about $11,000 on Daily Doubles, while he only gained $1,000.
>>He lost it on that first selection when he picked the Double Jeopardy and had $0 banked.<<
Naa, he has done that before. That, combined with her getting the 2nd and 3rd Daily Double (and being very sharp) is what cooked him.
This posr went up long after the end of the show on the west coast.
>>This posr went up long after the end of the show on the west coast.<<
Absolutely untrue. I saw it at least an hour before I watched the show at its scheduled time of 7PM on the West coast.
I bet Jeopardy leaked the results to get everyone to watch tonight, IMHO. I wouldn't have watched otherwise.
"This posr went up long after the end of the show on the west coast."
Nope
Let's hope Holzhauer doesn't turn out to be a big douche like Ken Jennings did after he ended his run.
That's OK, Althouse, I had already spoiled in the previous thread.
I didn't realize that episode was recorded in March! I gotta hand it to the show- they kept that secret really, really well.
I hope that Weird Al sends Holzhauer a condolence card.
I don't think she missed a single answer, did she? Yes, not getting a single Daily Double to actually double really hurt him against an opponent that was consistently even with him on the buzzer. She pitched a perfect game at the right time.
As always, I seem to be off in some far left field in thinking this stuff was ruining the show. To me, the appeal was always the idea that, if only I could be up there (and I passed the initial test once, but I won't get into that (hey, a little praeteritio/ paralepsis/ whatever here), I was bummed that you didn't get some sort of certificate or whatever confirming that you qualified, I knew I was never going to get on the air)), then I could win. Competitors like Jennings and Holzhauer pretty much destroyed that illusion. So I liked the old, five days and you're gone approach, making things well, I guess, more (small-d) democratic. Not, I guess, what folks want these days for our bread and circuses.
Extra points for parsing my insane second sentence!
--gpm
P.S. I go with praeteritio and not the fancy Greek stuff (which I later came to love) because I first learned the concept from Cicero's first Catalinarian. From the Latin meaning of "praetereo," basically, I go by/pass over that stuff I'm not going to talk (but really want you to think about). I've always thought the classic English example is something like "I won't even mention" the foul things about you that I actually want other people to dwell on.
Holzhauer's streak will not change Jeopardy that much. For his system to work, you also have to be really good; that is, a master of trivia from long experience participating in trivia contests and fast on the button, which Holzhauer was, but I would think he is pretty much a one-off in the population.
I hope he has sense enough to let his wife bank the major portion of his take after taxes for the family's lasting safety and welfare.
That's some terrible writing in the NYTimes!
The surprising end caused even the famously dispassionate host to practically lose his composure
What is the use of the word 'practically' in this sentence? Did he lose his composure or not? The sentence suggests not -- so why bring it up?
I hope he has sense enough to let his wife bank the major portion of his take after taxes for the family's lasting safety and welfare.
There are a number of sports books in Vegas where his action is not welcome. He's too good at it.
Let's hope this guy doesn't turn into the jerk that Jennings is now by getting political and picking on the President's kid, Barron.
I was wrong about the betting. My eyes are not what they used to be and time was up so they closed up pretty fast. Sorry about that.
I rather like James Holzbauer. Sort of like Douglas Fairbanks does "Maverick."
I'll now go back to watching Countdown. I like Countdown mostly because of the bookish ladies (Brits want to shag Susie more than Rachel) and the fact the stakes are the lowest of any game show I can recall. It's not an everyone gets a trophy kind of thing, the winner doers get a (very) little grab bag of prizes. More like it's tea time and nobody gives two shytes.
"I don't think she missed a single answer, did she?"
The only missed answer in the whole game was by the third player, very near the end.
Theresa May puts it out there in Holzhauer's and Trump's honor. Spoiler: it is.
I think James got an MLB offer and strategically tanked. Have no reason to think so, just do.
Beyond the fact that Holzhauer's streak was broken, that game was probably the best episode of Jeopardy I've ever seen. The combined "Coryat" score for the 3 players set an all-time record. (Coryat is the total of the clues answered correctly, not counting money bet on the Jeopardy clues or Final Jeopardy.) 54,000 is the theoretical max and the players last night combined for 53,200.
Let's hope Holzhauer doesn't turn out to be a big douche like Ken Jennings did after he ended his run.
Jennings is from Seattle. You expected something else from him?
Several JEOPARDY fans I've heard voice opinions on the subject think Holzhauer was burned out and (at least subconsciously) took a dive. Me, I can only wish I could take a dive into two-and-a-half million simoleons.
He missed zero answers. If you removed the Daily Double questions he would have led by about $22,600 to $18,400. I can't see tanking in that.
Commenting a bit late, but he followed the betting strategy they explain to you in the Green Room. She was ahead so he could not bet 1 more than she had, so he bet enough to ensure second place if they both got it right.
He may have been tired or distracted and did not do his best the whole game, so he did what he could at the end.
Been there, done it. All you need to do is lose focus for a few minutes and you're in trouble.
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