General James Holzhauer's domination on Jeopardy
- Thread starter MovinOn
- Start date
The dude had a great run. It was fun to watch. Because I’m an old grumpy ass, i wanted Ken Jennings records to stand. I didn’t see anyone beating James soon though. He was incredible. The new chic played well and made the most of the daily doubles. The only part that i found odd was that James was wagered so little in Final Jeopardy. He had been so aggressive during his reign. Is it possible that he done what we see some MMA champs do and be super conservative and play not to lose instead of playing to win? Either way, congrats to him. He made some serious money and will make more from a book and going around telling his story.
INCREDIBLE! Meant to post this when the news broke!!!!
Alex Trebek says he's in 'near remission' with his cancer - CNN
Alex Trebek says he's in 'near remission' with his cancer - CNN
He bet the final perfectly.
Going in to Final, Emma had $26,600 and James had $23,400. The dude in 3rd had $11,000
Even with a correct answer, the most James could end up with was $46,800. With the lead, Emma needed to bet $20,201 to make sure she could "freeze out" James with a final total of $46,801 should she answer correctly.
So knowing that Emma would bet that amount to cover herself, James only had to worry about the 3rd place guy. He needed to make sure that with a wrong answer he didn't fall below $22,000. That's why he only wagered $1,399. ($23,400 - $1,399 = $22,001)
So if Emma and James had both answered incorrectly, James would have won even if the 3rd place guy doubled up. That was the reason for the low wager. He was effectively taking the 3rd place guy out of the game.
As it ended up, both James and Emma answered correctly and Emma ended up with $46,801. Even if James had bet it all, he would have ended up with a 2nd place finish at $46,800
Only the winner keeps their final total. 2nd place wins $2000; 3rd place gets $1000.
James hedged his bet perfectly to give himself the greatest chance to win.
I know the losers only get $1k and 2k, but i hadn’t really considered the detail in your answer. With 11k, i never really considered the 3rd nerd to be a threat. Based off your analysis i guess he was screwed no matter what. The girl nerd got the job done.