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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
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    Chesapeake, VA.

    Jeopardy watch....

    Anybody else still watching Jeopardy? There is an interesting champion on right now. His name is Matt Amodio, and he is announced as a "PhD student from New Haven, CT," which makes me think that he is probably getting his PhD at Yale.

    On his first visit he was on the far right and up against a 3- or 4-time champion who was one of those fast-talking, fast-reacting guys who was very obviously extremely smart. You know how some people just exude intelligence, to the point that after you've heard them say half a sentence you already know they are really smart? He was one of those guys.

    Matt, by contrast, came off as actually kind of dull. He speaks quite slowly and has the kind of voice you might use if you were to imitate what a dumb person sounds like. He clicks in and says "What's" and then, most of the time, there is a pause of varying lengths before he says his answer, which is usually correct. He uses "what's" as his first word regardless of the topic or the answer. So, for example, he would say "What's.....Edison?" rather than "Who is Edison?" like most contestants. He just clicks, says "what's" and then sits there, then comes up with the answer. If he doesn't get an immediate "Correct" or "that's right" he pauses again and then finishes the answer. For example, "What's...(pause)..Charles...(long pause)...the second?" And then he's always right.

    He has a strategy that is somewhat similar to what Holzhauer used to use, but slightly different. He starts with the $1000 questions and then moves up, looking to find the Daily Double. If he finds it, he always goes all in, and almost always doubles his money. Very early in the game it is not uncommon for him to have $6K to maybe $14K while the other contestants have maybe $800 or $1200.

    In Double Jeopardy, his approach differs from Holzhauer; he starts at the bottom again and tries to get both Daily Doubles, but when he gets them he either bets $2K (if it is a category about which he feels a little weak) or $4K (if he feels strong in that category). He NEVER goes all in. It seems to me that his strategy in Double Jeopardy is to find the Daily Doubles so the opponents can't have them, and then to bet only a little, so as to maintain his towering lead.

    When it comes to Final Jeopardy, though, he almost always bets BIG. He won't bet over an amount that would cause him to lose the game if he missed the question, but he will bet as much as possible. In this way, he has amassed some pretty high daily totals, on the order of $30-45K each. After, I think, 8 days of winning he is now well over $300K, and in my opinion stands a very good chance of becoming the next person on Jeopardy to win more than half a million.

    He is exceptionally strong in geography and history, but he doesn't really have any glaring weakness. I'm pretty sure that when it's a category he knows, he rings in on every question and then figures out the answer later, rather than waiting to see if he knows the answer before ringing in. It gives him the appearance of being mentally slow, but it's just a strategy to get to the buzzer first.

    Anyway, I find watching this guy somehow even more entertaining than watching Holzhauer was. Is anybody else following this? If so, I'm interested in your opinion and your predictions about how far he can go. If you are not watching, and you have any interest in Jeopardy at all, you might want to tune in.
    "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

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
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    Forest Hills, NY
    Quote Originally Posted by rsvman View Post
    Anybody else still watching Jeopardy? There is an interesting champion on right now. His name is Matt Amodio, and he is announced as a "PhD student from New Haven, CT," which makes me think that he is probably getting his PhD at Yale.

    On his first visit he was on the far right and up against a 3- or 4-time champion who was one of those fast-talking, fast-reacting guys who was very obviously extremely smart. You know how some people just exude intelligence, to the point that after you've heard them say half a sentence you already know they are really smart? He was one of those guys.

    Matt, by contrast, came off as actually kind of dull. He speaks quite slowly and has the kind of voice you might use if you were to imitate what a dumb person sounds like. He clicks in and says "What's" and then, most of the time, there is a pause of varying lengths before he says his answer, which is usually correct. He uses "what's" as his first word regardless of the topic or the answer. So, for example, he would say "What's....Edison?" rather than "Who is Edison?" like most contestants. He just clicks, says "what's" and then sits there, then comes up with the answer. If he doesn't get an immediate "Correct" or "that's right" he pauses again and then finishes the answer. For example, "What's...(pause)..Charles...(long pause)...the second?" And then he's always right.

    He has a strategy that is somewhat similar to what Holzhauer used to use, but slightly different. He starts with the $1000 questions and then moves up, looking to find the Daily Double. If he finds it, he always goes all in, and almost always doubles his money. Very early in the game it is not uncommon for him to have $6K to maybe $14K while the other contestants have maybe $800 or $1200.

    In Double Jeopardy, his approach differs from Holzhauer; he starts at the bottom again and tries to get both Daily Doubles, but when he gets them he either bets $2K (if it is a category about which he feels a little weak) or $4K (if he feels strong in that category). He NEVER goes all in. It seems to me that his strategy in Double Jeopardy is to find the Daily Doubles so the opponents can't have them, and then to bet only a little, so as to maintain his towering lead.

    When it comes to Final Jeopardy, though, he almost always bets BIG. He won't bet over an amount that would cause him to lose the game if he missed the question, but he will bet as much as possible. In this way, he has amassed some pretty high daily totals, on the order of $30-45K each. After, I think, 8 days of winning he is now well over $300K, and in my opinion stands a very good chance of becoming the next person on Jeopardy to win more than half a million.

    He is exceptionally strong in geography and history, but he doesn't really have any glaring weakness. I'm pretty sure that when it's a category he knows, he rings in on every question and then figures out the answer later, rather than waiting to see if he knows the answer before ringing in. It gives him the appearance of being mentally slow, but it's just a strategy to get to the buzzer first.

    Anyway, I find watching this guy somehow even more entertaining than watching Holzhauer was. Is anybody else following this? If so, I'm interested in your opinion and your predictions about how far he can go. If you are not watching, and you have any interest in Jeopardy at all, you might want to tune in.
    Agree with your assessment. In DJ, why risk a significant bet on a DD if you already have a commanding lead? Appears measured, but confident. Obviously bright.

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    North of Durham
    Quote Originally Posted by rsvman View Post
    Anybody else still watching Jeopardy? There is an interesting champion on right now. His name is Matt Amodio, and he is announced as a "PhD student from New Haven, CT," which makes me think that he is probably getting his PhD at Yale.

    On his first visit he was on the far right and up against a 3- or 4-time champion who was one of those fast-talking, fast-reacting guys who was very obviously extremely smart. You know how some people just exude intelligence, to the point that after you've heard them say half a sentence you already know they are really smart? He was one of those guys.

    Matt, by contrast, came off as actually kind of dull. He speaks quite slowly and has the kind of voice you might use if you were to imitate what a dumb person sounds like. He clicks in and says "What's" and then, most of the time, there is a pause of varying lengths before he says his answer, which is usually correct. He uses "what's" as his first word regardless of the topic or the answer. So, for example, he would say "What's....Edison?" rather than "Who is Edison?" like most contestants. He just clicks, says "what's" and then sits there, then comes up with the answer. If he doesn't get an immediate "Correct" or "that's right" he pauses again and then finishes the answer. For example, "What's...(pause)..Charles...(long pause)...the second?" And then he's always right.

    He has a strategy that is somewhat similar to what Holzhauer used to use, but slightly different. He starts with the $1000 questions and then moves up, looking to find the Daily Double. If he finds it, he always goes all in, and almost always doubles his money. Very early in the game it is not uncommon for him to have $6K to maybe $14K while the other contestants have maybe $800 or $1200.

    In Double Jeopardy, his approach differs from Holzhauer; he starts at the bottom again and tries to get both Daily Doubles, but when he gets them he either bets $2K (if it is a category about which he feels a little weak) or $4K (if he feels strong in that category). He NEVER goes all in. It seems to me that his strategy in Double Jeopardy is to find the Daily Doubles so the opponents can't have them, and then to bet only a little, so as to maintain his towering lead.

    When it comes to Final Jeopardy, though, he almost always bets BIG. He won't bet over an amount that would cause him to lose the game if he missed the question, but he will bet as much as possible. In this way, he has amassed some pretty high daily totals, on the order of $30-45K each. After, I think, 8 days of winning he is now well over $300K, and in my opinion stands a very good chance of becoming the next person on Jeopardy to win more than half a million.

    He is exceptionally strong in geography and history, but he doesn't really have any glaring weakness. I'm pretty sure that when it's a category he knows, he rings in on every question and then figures out the answer later, rather than waiting to see if he knows the answer before ringing in. It gives him the appearance of being mentally slow, but it's just a strategy to get to the buzzer first.

    Anyway, I find watching this guy somehow even more entertaining than watching Holzhauer was. Is anybody else following this? If so, I'm interested in your opinion and your predictions about how far he can go. If you are not watching, and you have any interest in Jeopardy at all, you might want to tune in.
    Thanks for the update - very interesting. I saw something about him but haven't seen him yet. I just googled him and he is getting his PhD in Machine Learning and AI. So I wonder if his strategies are informed by analysis. His undergrad is from The Ohio State University.

    My 7 year old and I started watching Jeopardy nightly beginning in the fall with the last set of episodes that Trebek hosted, into the spring. It was great bonding time - he would occasionally know an answer and be very proud. After a few months that ritual ended. I keep meaning to start watching again but haven't seen it recently. I watched The Chase for a while but lost interest - too much schtick and I don't like the rules of the game and how it is structured.

    I will try to tune in this week and see the new champion and report back. I'm not a big Holzhauer fan - I admire his talent but find him quite smarmy. I generally don't like arrogance - Holzhauer isn't horrible, but he's not great either.

    I saw something on a newsfeed this morning that people really like this week's host. I'm eager to check him out. What did you think?

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Durham, NC
    I did not know who this week's host was until I googled him. He's OK. I still think Aaron Rodgers was the best, and not just b/c he's hot. I liked his laid-back approach.

    I did NOT like Mayim Bialik. She giggled after each response. Even when the response was not humorous. And I thought Robin Roberts was over the top enthusiastic. Savannah Guthrie was better.

    I hope Ken Jennings or Aaron Rodgers gets the gig.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Vermont
    yeah, we're addicted, though we only watch Double Jeopardy and Final...Poor LeVar tried way too hard...agree that Rodgers was tip top.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Durham, NC
    Quote Originally Posted by budwom View Post
    yeah, we're addicted, though we only watch Double Jeopardy and Final...Poor LeVar tried way too hard...agree that Rodgers was tip top.
    LeVar kept scaring me every time he yelled YES!! whenever the contestant got it right.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Nov 2007
    Location
    Vermont
    Quote Originally Posted by aimo View Post
    LeVar kept scaring me every time he yelled YES!! whenever the contestant got it right.
    yeah, we concluded he needed a pre-game valium...

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Greensboro, NC
    Quote Originally Posted by aimo View Post
    LeVar kept scaring me every time he yelled YES!! whenever the contestant got it right.
    If LaVar can loosen up, I like him as the next Jeopardy host. His enthusiasm is a big plus. Aaron Rodgers was a pleasant surprise. He did well, but I'd put him closer to the bottom than the top if all the hosts were ranked. That's the thing, most of the hosts have done very well. The final decision will be tough.
    Man, if your Mom made you wear that color when you were a baby, and you're still wearing it, it's time to grow up!

  9. #9
    I was expecting this thread to be about the actual Jeopardy Watch.

    https://www.ebay.com/itm/37360305209...evt=1&mkcid=28

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    New Orleans, Louisiana
    Quote Originally Posted by rsvman View Post
    He is exceptionally strong in geography and history, but he doesn't really have any glaring weakness.
    Oh yes he does: basketball. Matt (and his opponents) didn't ring in for an easy Atlanta Hawks question* on Friday. He does seem to know baseball, and I'm not sure about other sports (there was an Atlanta Falcons question in the same round, but an opponent rang in first).

    The "What's" default is efficient for Matt, but it seems to throw off the rhythm of the show. I think Robin Roberts handled it better than LeVar Burton did.

    I've heard early comparisons to Alex Jacob. Matt started with a similar nonchalance, and the way he would build to $20,000 seemed to sneak up on you. He's since become more comfortable and aggressive, not unlike James Holzhauer. Those two are the only contestants I can remember that crossed $10,000 before the interview.

    He's now the first contestant to play for three different Jeopardy! hosts, and could play for more. The show keeps a Tournament of Champions tracker for the current season, and five players are eligible. Matt tops the list.

    * Category FOWL BALLS: "Long after Dominique Wilkins, this NBA team flew through a rough 2004-05 season, going 13-69." (From the Jeopardy! archive.)

  11. #11
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Chesapeake, VA.
    brevity, you are correct... that clue was a softball. I was yelling out the answer while he sat looking perplexed.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Washington, D.C.

    Yep

    I like Amodio, but I agree about all of the quirks rsvman lists. Still, he's very impressive, despite his odd smile.

    My son compared him to Alex Jacob, but Amodio seems a little more upbeat. Still, how did no one get the Hawks question?

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Dec 2009
    Location
    North of Durham
    Quote Originally Posted by rsvman View Post
    Anybody else still watching Jeopardy? There is an interesting champion on right now. His name is Matt Amodio, and he is announced as a "PhD student from New Haven, CT," which makes me think that he is probably getting his PhD at Yale.

    On his first visit he was on the far right and up against a 3- or 4-time champion who was one of those fast-talking, fast-reacting guys who was very obviously extremely smart. You know how some people just exude intelligence, to the point that after you've heard them say half a sentence you already know they are really smart? He was one of those guys.

    Matt, by contrast, came off as actually kind of dull. He speaks quite slowly and has the kind of voice you might use if you were to imitate what a dumb person sounds like. He clicks in and says "What's" and then, most of the time, there is a pause of varying lengths before he says his answer, which is usually correct. He uses "what's" as his first word regardless of the topic or the answer. So, for example, he would say "What's....Edison?" rather than "Who is Edison?" like most contestants. He just clicks, says "what's" and then sits there, then comes up with the answer. If he doesn't get an immediate "Correct" or "that's right" he pauses again and then finishes the answer. For example, "What's...(pause)..Charles...(long pause)...the second?" And then he's always right.

    He has a strategy that is somewhat similar to what Holzhauer used to use, but slightly different. He starts with the $1000 questions and then moves up, looking to find the Daily Double. If he finds it, he always goes all in, and almost always doubles his money. Very early in the game it is not uncommon for him to have $6K to maybe $14K while the other contestants have maybe $800 or $1200.

    In Double Jeopardy, his approach differs from Holzhauer; he starts at the bottom again and tries to get both Daily Doubles, but when he gets them he either bets $2K (if it is a category about which he feels a little weak) or $4K (if he feels strong in that category). He NEVER goes all in. It seems to me that his strategy in Double Jeopardy is to find the Daily Doubles so the opponents can't have them, and then to bet only a little, so as to maintain his towering lead.

    When it comes to Final Jeopardy, though, he almost always bets BIG. He won't bet over an amount that would cause him to lose the game if he missed the question, but he will bet as much as possible. In this way, he has amassed some pretty high daily totals, on the order of $30-45K each. After, I think, 8 days of winning he is now well over $300K, and in my opinion stands a very good chance of becoming the next person on Jeopardy to win more than half a million.

    He is exceptionally strong in geography and history, but he doesn't really have any glaring weakness. I'm pretty sure that when it's a category he knows, he rings in on every question and then figures out the answer later, rather than waiting to see if he knows the answer before ringing in. It gives him the appearance of being mentally slow, but it's just a strategy to get to the buzzer first.

    Anyway, I find watching this guy somehow even more entertaining than watching Holzhauer was. Is anybody else following this? If so, I'm interested in your opinion and your predictions about how far he can go. If you are not watching, and you have any interest in Jeopardy at all, you might want to tune in.
    Thank you for reminding me to check him out. I think your description of him is very accurate. Though I really did not like him. My biggest complaint about Jeopardy contestants is when they are really cocky (there was a lawyer earlier this year who won about five times who fit the bill) and Matt is not overly cocky - a little self-assured, but not offensive. He is less self-assured than James. And I have no problem with socially awkward people. But it was just uncomfortable for me to watch him - I was actively rooting for the others (though the woman's teeth were killing me).

    He is clearly brilliant and has a ton of information in his brain so I'm not sure if he is pausing to go through the huge library in his head to get the answer, knowing it is probably there, or if there is just a slight delay from thinking of the answer to saying it.

    Tonight he was lucky that his Double Jeopardy daily double was easy. Though give him credit for taking the chance of betting it all. If I recall, it was on a $1200 question, so theoretically it was going to be a little easier than a $1600 or $2000 daily double, so it was a somewhat calculated wager.

    I also noticed that when the woman got a daily double right in the first round, the other man clapped, as per Jeopardy custom, but Matt did not.

    I liked the host tonight - kept it interesting and moving, put in a little humor but not too much, and largely stayed out of the way.

  14. #14
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Chesapeake, VA.
    Quote Originally Posted by CrazyNotCrazie View Post
    Thank you for reminding me to check him out. I think your description of him is very accurate. Though I really did not like him. My biggest complaint about Jeopardy contestants is when they are really cocky (there was a lawyer earlier this year who won about five times who fit the bill) and Matt is not overly cocky - a little self-assured, but not offensive. He is less self-assured than James. And I have no problem with socially awkward people. But it was just uncomfortable for me to watch him - I was actively rooting for the others (though the woman's teeth were killing me).

    He is clearly brilliant and has a ton of information in his brain so I'm not sure if he is pausing to go through the huge library in his head to get the answer, knowing it is probably there, or if there is just a slight delay from thinking of the answer to saying it.

    Tonight he was lucky that his Double Jeopardy daily double was easy. Though give him credit for taking the chance of betting it all. If I recall, it was on a $1200 question, so theoretically it was going to be a little easier than a $1600 or $2000 daily double, so it was a somewhat calculated wager.

    I also noticed that when the woman got a daily double right in the first round, the other man clapped, as per Jeopardy custom, but Matt did not.

    I liked the host tonight - kept it interesting and moving, put in a little humor but not too much, and largely stayed out of the way.
    Agree that his double jeopardy was easy, but he didn't know it would be easy when he bet $13K on a single question. Pretty gutsy.
    I was rooting for him tonight. He has grown on me. I actually want to see him keep climbing up the all-time money list. Currently he is apparently eighth, which is pretty amazing.

  15. #15
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Los Angeles
    Thanks for the heads up on this. He was definitely impressive snd I didn’t find him to be cocky at all. He’s awkward that’s all. The woman in the middle had an early lead but no way could she keep up. When he went all in on the DD in DJ for $13K and got it, he broke the game open and then it was just a matter of how much he would amass. Despite kind of a slow start he still made more than $50K. Pretty dang good.

  16. #16
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    Oregon
    Statistics and interesting tidbits for J can be found at https://thejeopardyfan.com

    For Matt, his career record is 309 correct, 39 incorrect for 89% right. He is 53% first in on the buzzer, which is impressive.

    TJF predicts he will win 18 games.

    (We're taking a break from J as the constant rotation of hosts is a bit distracting, and the last thing we want is to pick a fav among the guest hosts only to have the show settle on someone else. )

  17. #17
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Chesapeake, VA.
    Quote Originally Posted by Neals384 View Post
    Statistics and interesting tidbits for J can be found at https://thejeopardyfan.com

    For Matt, his career record is 309 correct, 39 incorrect for 89% right. He is 53% first in on the buzzer, which is impressive.

    TJF predicts he will win 18 games.

    (We're taking a break from J as the constant rotation of hosts is a bit distracting, and the last thing we want is to pick a fav among the guest hosts only to have the show settle on someone else. )
    You might want to start watching again while Amodio is still riding this wave. It's been a pretty fascinating run. Oh, and this week's host isn't bad.
    "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

  18. #18
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    Nov 2007
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    Vermont
    Quote Originally Posted by rsvman View Post
    You might want to start watching again while Amodio is still riding this wave. It's been a pretty fascinating run. Oh, and this week's host isn't bad.
    yeah, the host is not a household name, but he's doing a solid job.

  19. #19
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    Feb 2007
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    Watching carolina Go To HELL!
    Quote Originally Posted by budwom View Post
    yeah, the host is not a household name, but he's doing a solid job.
    He's a CNBC anchor. They showed the $13K Double Jeopardy question and answer on the show this morning.
    Ozzie, your paradigm of optimism!

    Go To Hell carolina, Go To Hell!
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  20. #20
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    Nov 2007
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    Quote Originally Posted by OZZIE4DUKE View Post
    He's a CNBC anchor. They showed the $13K Double Jeopardy question and answer on the show this morning.
    yeah, I looked him up (as did everyone else), still not a household name (yet)..?

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