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Jeopardy Greatest of all Time tournament

Discussion in 'Non-Vegas Chat' started by Vegas Insight, Jan 7, 2020.

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  1. Vegas Insight

    Vegas Insight MIA

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    Spoilers may be contained below.

    The best Jeopardy player to come out of Vegas is up against the two biggest Jeopardy champs of Trebek's career.

    King James is in a multi-day tourney against Ken Jennings, the most famous Jeopardy genius, and Brad Rutter, the guy who is better than Jennings, but not as well known.

    Each night these guys will play two separate, full games, and their combined scores will crown a winner for that set. First to win three sets wins the match, and $1 million. So it'll be at least three nights of competition.

    I gave Jennings no chance, and he won day 1. James showed he could hang with the legends, and was stymied by his inability to pick a Daily Double. I don't think he got one of the six.

    Rutter came up empty three times on Daily Doubles, which I wouldn't have expected. He went all in on each one, although he never had a huge bankroll when he did. I expect him to be a factor in future sets.

    Full hour of prime time Jeopardy on ABC until they crown a GOAT. I think the plan is to do it in the first hour each night, Tuesday through Friday this week and Tuesday through Thursday next week, if necessary. Seven is as far as it can go before crowning a winner. And they can't show it on a Monday evening and make Bachelor nation wait an hour for the most shocking season ever.

    Jeopardy seemed to have run out of ways to bring back Jennings and Rutter for tournament stunts on the daily show. After James reinvented Jeopardy game play and amassed almost as much as Jennings did in about half the time, I knew they'd find a way to pit him against the legends. I didn't think it would happen so fast, but Trebek won't be around forever. Seems only appropriate to have him preside over the GOAT show.

    Rutter beats Jennings every time they match up, with the only exception being they both lost to the Watson computer. I didn't give Jennings a chance in this tourney, so the fact he won set 1 impressed me greatly.

    It was a lot of fun to watch the greatest players in a mega-tournament format. I am glad they came up with the format and are making it available in prime time.
     
    Last edited: Jan 8, 2020
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  2. grosx2

    grosx2 Have fun storming the castle!

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    Mathematically, it's tough to pick against Jennings now that he only needs 2 more wins vs 3 for the others, but my money is on James, due to your first point.

    The fact that he kept it so close without hitting a DD is telling. It's unlikely that he has another night without hitting a DD or two, which will obviously benefit him.

    Rutter came up short when it mattered, missing several DDs and one of the final questions, though he will most likely bounce back. Jennings benefitted from a big DD hit (that clearly made him nervous, knowing he had to mirror James' wagering strategy), but he missed more questions probably than the other two combined.

    I agree that this match was inevitable after James' run last year. Jeopardy is a 3 person game, and his performance created an ideal scenario, where there are 3 players that are unquestionably the strongest in the history of the show.

    I also agree that Trebek's health played a significant role in how quickly they made it happen...
     
  3. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

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    Brad was disappointing tonight. Seemed slower on the buzzer too. They need to make the questions harder for these boys. Most questions are still being answered correctly.
     
  4. DBear

    DBear VIP Bear

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    This had my attention after listening to VSIN this morning that offshore books stopped taking bets on this tournament. Seemed like all the money was going in on one player and they sensed a leak was made. VSIN declined to name the player all the bets were on for spoilers sake. Given there’s a live studio audience, it seems pretty easy how the results would get out before airing. The only way to avoid spoilers leaking would be for Trebek to pull a Survivor Jeff Probst and fly off with the final jeopardy questions until the day 7 live reunion show where the winner is crowned.

    Ken Jennings looked absolutely relieved a few times after answering correctly and then winning day 1 like it was a shock. Looking forward to the next show. Lots of celebs making cameos but I’d rather hear Trebek’s voice giving the answers.
     
  5. h0und10

    h0und10 VIP Whale

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    James did not get one daily double and still only lost by 200
     
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  6. LKG276

    LKG276 Tourist

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    I think James will be the overall winner, he seemed the most as ease.
     
  7. Big Tip

    Big Tip VIP Whale

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    This made me laugh. I think now Bachelor knows how silly they are and just make fun of themselves on purpose.
    The other thing that makes me laugh is that they pay Chris Harrison to come in and say, "..this is the final rose." Really? Duh! Glad you told us. lol.

    There is a lot of luck on Jeopardy. It is amazing that James got so close without getting even one anyway.
    And I agree this tournament came about as a veiled tribute to Alex Trebek. And I am totally glad it happened.
     
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  8. Vegas Insight

    Vegas Insight MIA

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    No disagreement. And missing a Final J question is never a good look, but if you're going to miss one, you might as well miss one when you have zero chance of winning the set, as was the case for Brad in game 2 last night.

    Seems odd that any offshore book would consider action on a predetermined outcome. Not sure when they taped these, but even if there wasn't an audience, having a crew there is reason enough not to book action. Posting odds for attention and chatter, that's good marketing.

    Ken bet what he had to in game 2. Had he bet it all, foolishly, James would have lost by thousands. Same outcome. "Only 200" is a fact, but it could have been only 1 point, or 5,000. The margin of victory doesn't often paint a representative picture of the game (or games in this case) that was/were played, at least for me. The biggest swing in the outcome, for me, was Ken's big DD wager during Double J of game 1. If James gets that clue, that's where your outcome swings, I think.

    My buddy has watched this show for years. Many years. I'd be embarrassed for him. But I started watching it 4 or 5 years ago just so I could see the foolishness that he enjoys, and it would give us something to talk about...although I half-ass it most weeks, and might be 2-3 episodes behind at any given point. Point being, we both scoff at Harrison's doofiness from day 1 to the end of the show. And yes, his dramatic appearance to announce "this is the final rose" is the ultimate testimony to how worthless he is. Irony, I thought he did a nice job of hosting Millionaire. I want hosts to emcee, not do their act or be a character, and he showed a little personality without trying to perform while hosting the show. He wouldn't be my first pick, but if he were to replace Trebek on Jeopardy, it wouldn't offend me.

    All I know is I want to get paid to do a silly job like his.
     
  9. dmr

    dmr Registered Abuser

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    Hardcore Jeopardy addict here! We normally get it two times per day here, and I try to get home in time for the early (rerun) showing.

    I found it amusing that Jennings bet his final amount so that he would just beat James if he put it all on the table, which he did.

    I was able to get many of the answers (well, questions) in the first half hour, but some of those in the second part were VERY difficult!
     
  10. Vegas Insight

    Vegas Insight MIA

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    I thought that was basic Jeopardy betting strategy.
     
  11. Vegas Insight

    Vegas Insight MIA

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  12. dmr

    dmr Registered Abuser

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    I know James used this technique frequently, but I guess I didn't pay much attention to that until James had his run. I was mostly interested in the questions and answers.
     
  13. jpw711

    jpw711 Is that your cat?

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    I was going to watch last nights episode today, I dvr'd it, but since GMA gave it away this morning in the first two minutes of the show, not even the main show, the coming up blips, oh well.
     
    No reason to go home yet.
  14. Big Tip

    Big Tip VIP Whale

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    I get a lot of entertainment out of trying to guess what each contestant will bet as well as the questions. I just cringe at some shows about how uninformed some players are as for as the wagering goes.
     
  15. rooster42000

    rooster42000 Goat of all Goats , My Hero

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  16. BlackJackLady

    BlackJackLady High-Roller

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    Was it on tonight? local station had undercover boss listed.
     
  17. tringlomane

    tringlomane STP Addicted Beer Snob

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    7p central on ABC for at least the rest of the week.

    Man, Brad looked bad again tonight.
     
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  18. grosx2

    grosx2 Have fun storming the castle!

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    I think it will pick up again next Tues after the Thurs show.

    And yeah he did, he has surprisingly looked like he doesn't belong there so far.
     
  19. BlacklabberMike

    BlacklabberMike MIA

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    same goes for black jack tourneys ....would have never won the first table if the kid to my right knew basic math.
     
  20. Vegas Insight

    Vegas Insight MIA

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    I was under the impression that the first four days of competition were through Friday, picking up next week after a Bachelor night, if necessary.

    James did what was expected: Bet big when he got his hands on a Daily Double, and capitalize. I expected he and/or Ken to bet all of it on game 1's Final J, so the bets surprised me. I get the strategy of leaving yourself something to build off of at the end of game 2, but I'm still surprised in this tourney that both of them made partial bets. It would have killed Ken, and it would have practically iced it for James before the second half of the set, which wouldn't have been good for ABC.

    I'm stunned by how lackluster Brad has been. Considering he bests Ken every time, I figured Ken would be the also ran in the field. Instead he's the one nipping at James' heals for two nights running.

    With the healthy numbers the first night attracted to ABC, nerds in game show circles are expecting ABC to trot out more Jeopardy stunts down the road. I suspect they'd do it in a heartbeat if they had a formula they could bank on for success. After you put James, Ken and Brad through a super tourney, how do you capture half the excitement down the road?

    It's only night two, and the score is 1-1-0, but it seems like James is in the driver's seat. Unless Brad and Ken replicate night 1, and prevent him from getting any DDs, it's James' match to lose.
     
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