Jeopardy Champions Assessement, Both Syndicated And In Prime Time

 

 

A month ago Ben Chan, who had managed to win three consecutive games, did not appear on Jeopardy the following week. It was revealed later on that he had contracted COVID and would not be able to return to defend his title for another month.

I will confess to being somewhat alarmed by this. Ever since Stephen Webb lost after winning eight consecutive games on March 17^th,  during the subsequent month no new champion had arrived to fill his shoes. To that point, the longest winning streak that any champion had managed was three and it was very possible Ben would not be able to retain his title when he returned.  Tonight Ben will return to defend his title, but he does so against another player who has in the interim built up a fairly extensive streak of her own.

Hannah Wilson is to this point in Season 39, the first female contestant to qualify for the Tournament of Champions. She has also, in the last eight games, demonstrated that she is one of the great champions of this season. In her eight games she has to date managed to win an impressive $229,801, tying her for the third longest streak of the season with Stephen Webb. She has, however, won significantly more money than him, as he won just $184,881.

I am aware that Hannah’s streak came to an end tonight and that Ben has since resumed.  So it is worth looking at where Hannah ranks among Jeopardy champions. Obviously she does not compare remotely with some of the biggest winners in even the last few years (I will be getting to them in a bit) but when she won her eighth, she became only the fourth female competitor in history to win that many and she also moved ahead of Larissa Kelly on the ranking of most money won by a female contestant.  As anyone who knows Jeopardy by now, the three female competitors ahead of her in games won are Julia Collins, Mattea Roach and Amy Schneider. (Like Schneider, Hannah is also transgender and I am aware that Mattea identifies as non-binary. They did not at the time of their original run.)

A chart would do well to compare Hannah’s track record to the three female contestants at this same point:

Hannah Wilson: $229,801

Julia Collins: $170,6210

Mattea Roach: $182,801

Amy Schneider: $295,200

 

This is a pretty impressive comparison, considering the company that Hannah is in. Hannah also managed to run away completely with three games and nearly run away with two more. Julia had run away with four games by this point in her run, Mattea had run away with five and Amy had run away with seven. In a way, she compares more favorably with Amy than you might think because in more than a few she had to wager big in order to end up winning.

Hannah has clearly demonstrated that she is a superb champion deserving of a fair amount of respect. Whether she will have the ability to get past some of the contenders such as Ray LaLonde or Cris Panullo remains to be seen but as the last Tournament of Champions more than proved, winning a lot of games in your original run does not mean you win the Tournament of Champions or even make it to the finals.

Which brings me to the first week of the Jeopardy Masters Tournament which has been everything I had hoped it would be and somehow more. All of the eight matches that have been played have essentially been a thrill a minute and all of the players have showed great moments even when they were not doing as well as they might hope.

To this point the highlight of the play has been the second set of matches. The first match set Sam Buttrey, Amy Schneider and Mattea Roach against each other.  Amy managed to take an early lead when she found the Daily Double in the Jeopardy round and -big surprise – bet everything and won. But all three players managed an even fight and the scores were close at the end.

Mattea, who up until this point had been playing poorly, found the first Daily Double in Double Jeopardy on the second clue in THE MAP OF EUROPE. Knowing they needed to make up ground, they bet everything: “Walk straight from Narbonne to Zaragoza and you’ll pass in and out of this country.” Mattea knew it was Andorra, doubled their score and went into the lead for the first time in their playing a game. But not long after Sam found the second Daily Double, also bet everything and had a much bigger lead. He would hold it for the remainder of the round neither Amy nor Mattea surrendered. By the end of the round Sam had the barest of leads with 17,600 points to Mattea’s 16,400 and Amy’s 11,200.

The category for Final Jeopardy was 21^st CENTURY AUTHORS. “Once a journalist himself, he began his first novel with his hero being fined 150,000 kronor for aggravated libel. Amy and Mattea both knew this clue referred to Stieg Larsson. Mattea’s wager would put them into the lead. Sam was thinking of someone else and Mattea won.

Andrew He, James Holzhauer and Matt Amodio faced off in the next game which, if possible, was more thrilling. Matt, who had been struggling so far, found the Daily Double early and got an early lead. The round ended with James back in the lead, but it was cutthroat: he had 7600 points, Matt had 6800 and Andrew had 5200.

Then in Double Jeopardy Matt found the first Daily Double in ‘OF’ PAINT and took a huge gamble. He already was in the lead with 13,200 but chose to wager everything. It’s hard to blame him considering his competition. “This 1793 painting seen here depicts and event from July of that year.”  He knew it was the Death of Marat and had 26,400 points. (The artist was David in case you’re curious.)

James Holzhauer does not surrender.  Just a little later he found the other Daily Double in A NEW COAT (yes, it was next to ‘OF’ PAINT) and also bet everything he had 10,400 points. “This Scottish chemist invented a waterproof material that was used to make a raincoat that bears his name.” He knew it was MacIntosh and was back in it. James and Matt spent the rest of the round fighting for the lead, and on the last clue of it, Matt moved into a tie with him. James left his podium and gave Matt a high five; this is game recognizing game.

The Final Jeopardy category was about WESTERN HEMPISHERE HISTORY: “In 1915 the assassination of President Sam brought Uncle Sam to this country, beginning a 19-year military occupation.” Don’t ask me how, but somehow I knew this clue referred to Haiti.

James wrote down Haiti, crossed it out and wrote in Nicaragua. James lost all his points. Matt also wrote down Nicaragua but he only wagered 1000.  Ken told the audience with little hyperbole: “If we have another game like this, I don’t know if my heart can take it.” I’m not sure mine could.

The Master Tournament is being devised in a series of match points: you get three for winning a game, one for finishing second and none for finishing third. This makes wagering far more important even in runaway games as everyone is fundamentally trying to maintain their position going forward. This is how the lieder board looks to this point:

James Holzhauer: 9 Points

Andrew He: 8 points

Mattea Roach: 7 points

Matt Amodio 4 points

Amy Schneider: 3 points

Sam Buttrey: 2 points

The last set of preliminary matches will end tomorrow with the top three players qualifying. The fourth highest scorer will be invited back to play in two sets of semi-final matches.

I neglected to give a record of the prize money involved. Here is a full listing:

Sixth Place: $50,000

Fifth: $75,000

Fourth: $100,000

Third: $150,000

Second: $250,000

Winner: $500,000

 

As I said, small change to most of these players but nothing to sneeze at either.

I should also at that this tournament has not just been exciting to watch but also wonderfully fun. All six players are clearly enjoying this and Ken is clearly having as much fun as they are. As you might imagine, he and James have spent a fair amount of time needling each other: Ken trying to convince James that he’s not a game show villain and James arguing he is. But all the players are doing a fair amount of needling Ken.

In one of the interviews, Matt said that one of the players he had modeled himself after in his original appearance was James Holzhauer. James took a bow. Ken that asked, half in jest: “There isn’t anybody else in mind?” Matt said in his deadpan way: “No one I can think of.” There is also a fair amount of needling about Sam Buttrey’s habit of selecting the last clue by using the term ‘Bring In’, which Sam has been doing with his own variations or ignoring it all together. The other champions have been more than willing to do the same when they pick the last clue, either in tribute to Sam or saying it by not giving him credit. It would not surprise me if there is a category with some variation of BRING IT in the next couple of games; there’s already been a category called ALL IN, and Ken mentioned that it was a shame that James wasn’t playing that game. Sam and Andrew have also done a fair amount of joshing with Ken in interviews: Sam referred to him as ‘KDOG’ and Andrew as ‘Ken-Jen.

I think it is fitting that Jennings’ is hosting this tournament and that even if Alex Trebek were still alive, it would have been more fitting for him to be here instead. Ken has a respect for what so many of these players have accomplished in their original runs better than any man alive and I think that there is a depth of back-and-forth between them that not even the legendary Trebek could have handled. No Ken does not have Alex’s legendary gravitas, but he has a spirit de corps that in a way is far more appropriate.

I will have further comments on the tournament as we move into the next rounds. All I can say at the moment is that it is everything I hoped for when it was proposed, has already surpassed by expectations and made me hope that it will be renewed for another season later on. It won’t be the same thing as a fortieth anniversary tournament, but as an annual event it does full credit to Jeopardy’s legacy. Perhaps in the next edition, Hannah Wilson will ended up being invited back.