Whoa tonight was a close one!
I just love watching James stay cool and stiletto his competition!
"We are not provided with wisdom, we must discover it for ourselves, after a journey through the wilderness which no one else can take for us, an effort which no one can spare us, for our wisdom is the point of view from which we come at last to regard the world." --M. Proust
Whoa tonight was a close one!
I just love watching James stay cool and stiletto his competition!
Nothing incites bodily violence quicker than a Duke fan turning in your direction and saying 'scoreboard.'
I was watching on and off. His opponent was very good and got on some nice little rolls on the buzzer. The opponent had the misfortune of there being what I thought was a very easy final jeopardy question (the female contestant didn't think so but my 8 year old even knew the answer). If James wins the next one it should put him over $2 million.
Luck factored into last night's game in that James found the second double. Had the opponent picked it and answered correctly, the game would have been out of reach. Someone predicted earlier in the thread that exact scenario might bring him down. Anyway, I am glad he is donating some of the funds to charity.
Ahh. The old hop toads, long legs and bumped butts argument.
The guy who came in second also played it (too) cautiously with one of his Daily Doubles. If I recall correctly, he had over $13K when he found his second Daily Double, but he only bet $6000. He got the question correct but ended up trailing James by $5400 entering Final Jeopardy. So the guy who finished second might have entered Final Jeopardy with the lead if he had bet the extra $7000 he had available on his second Daily Double.
If you are going to beat James, you are probably going to have to go all in on any Daily Double you find.
It seems that at least one of the following scenarios is likely to occur whenever James loses
- James does not find either Daily Double in the Double Jeopardy round.
- James misses a Daily Double where he goes all in (and doesn't make it up with another Daily Double).
- James misses the Final Jeopardy question in a "non-runaway" scenario.
- James runs into a "buzzer timing savant" who consistently buzzes in before James.
Something to amaze ...
Two months ago the highest winning total in the HISTORY OF FOREVER was $77,000. James is averaging OVER $77,000 a night.
He not only must have total recall but also had to have spent his entire life in the library perusing countless volumes of forgotten lore to have such a wide range of knowledge on so many subjects. It's beyond amazing.
I wouldn't fault the guy for not going all-in... he was beating James at his own game up until that point. If James was in that position he would have probably bet a similar amount.
The only way going all-in there would have been correct is if you just assume James is so much better than you that he's going to make a huge comeback. Which... may be the truth given his performance but it's hard to realize that in the moment I think. The $6k bet is only correct if you assume you can win after missing which is probably super overestimating your chances. The guy is definitely going to be kicking himself for not going all-in though...
As others have pointed out... if James doesn't find the 2nd daily double (or somehow misses it when he has to go all in) the other guy has the game won. He just got a bit unlucky.
Double unlucky that the 2nd daily double was in a category about geography... I swear James has the entire globe memorized.
He truly has an incredible range of knowledge and the ability to pull it out of his brain very quickly. And he is world-class at clicking in with the buzzer prior to the other competitors!
Interestingly, according to Wikipedia, he was a "C" student in school growing up (but very smart in math)!
It's certainly impressive to watch but I'm beginning to get a little bored with his performance. It's TOO easy for him to win every day. It's just a matter of how much money he can pull down in each game. It's a little like watching the Duke men's basketball team play Delaware State in an early season game.
Last edited by pfrduke; 05-24-2019 at 05:00 PM.
Who *is* Dr "Dree"? Lol. James is ridiculously good at this game. He got neither of the daily doubles in double jeopardy and still crushed his opponents.
Loved his response to Alex about whether he would like to be a sports stats guy - something like, "That was before I realized that Jeopardy could be a career." Bam...
BTW, tonight he beat a Duke alum whose "unique" experience was tenting for weeks for a Duke-UNC game.
Over $2 million now.