Whatever thoughts
viewers like myself might have had that the arrival of Arthur Chu and Julia
Collins so close to each other in 2014 might lead to a new wave of Jeopardy
super-champions were quickly diminished for all of the 2014-2015 season. Indeed
from Collins’ departure the previous May until the 2014 Tournament of Champions
there was only one Jeopardy champion at all Catherine Hardee who won
four games and $95,201.
In the aftermath of the
Tournament Jeopardy basically did what Jeopardy has done since the beginning of
its run and that had fundamentally was unchanged even after the five day limit
was removed: produce several excellent players who won four or five games. To
be sure there was a period that April when it did seem to be producing players
who were capable of more in very rapid succession. Indeed during that month
three different players won more than six games; the first time in the show’s
history that had happened.
Kerry Greene won six
games and $146,598 from April 1st to April 9th. The day
after she was beaten Alex Jacob won six games and $149,802 before he lost to
Todd Lovell. (We’ll be dealing with both of those players later on.) And less
than three days after Alex lost Greg Seroka won seven games and $180,401.
All of these players
and indeed the entire list of winners during this season were of the level of
very, very good, more or less at the continued excellence that Jeopardy viewers
like myself were more than used to by this point. The majority were all winning
at least $100,000 or more during their runs, which in the era where the dollar
figures are doubled is as much a benchmark of excellence on Jeopardy as it
comes to games won. Some were clearly impressive even in a more limited scope.
Kerry Greene’s first victory came over Michael Bilow who in a mere three games
had won $96,000. He played well in his fourth appearance before things went
wrong for him on both Daily Doubles he found in Double Jeopardy and he was in
the red at the end of the round. That total would turn out to be enough to get
into the Tournament of Champions later that year the first three game winner to
qualify for the Tournament of Champions since 2007. (Two actually qualified
that year Nick Swezey and Doug Hicton, with the latter finishing second to
Celeste DiNucci in the finals.)
This was, again, Jeopardy
as I knew it and when the season came to an end with no one coming close to
winning ten games I recall no sense of disappointment. Maybe Jeopardy would
produce another super-champion someday but it most likely wouldn’t be any time
soon. And I continued to believe that when the 2015-2016 season started.
Then two weeks in everything changed again and this time in
a way that not even Julia Collins could have prepared me for.
Matt Jackson first
appeared as a challenger to Dylan Parson, who’d won the previous three games
and just under $30,000. He played well his first appearance, ran away with the
game by Double Jeopardy and won $21,200. Impressive but hardly remarkable.
By the end of the
Jeopardy round of his second appearance he already had $10,000 and finished the
round with another runaway and $35,000 to his credit. He didn’t get Final
Jeopardy right but neither did anyone. By the end of the following week Alex
was starting to get familiar with his patterns to the point that when he found
the Daily Double in the Jeopardy round he actually joked with him:
Alex: “I have bad news
for you Matt. Usually when you hit a Daily Double you risk $6000. Now you have
only $5000. How are you gonna handle this crisis?”
Among laughter Matt
said $4000. He got it right. Little surprise he had yet to get a Daily Double
wrong to this point. By the end of the day he had won his sixth game and was at
$166,401. More importantly it was his sixth consecutive runaway victory.
The following day he got a Daily Double incorrect for the first time. It
changed nothing and he won his seventh consecutive runaway. When he won his
eighth state runaway victory the following day and an additional $40,009 Alex
said: “Is it too soon to mention the name Ken Jennings?”
It might not have been.
Matt was averaging just under $30,000 a game by that point and what I had
forgotten was that Ken had not runaway with his first game or indeed his third.
That streak ended the following day but he won yet again with his smallest total
of $18,801. In just 9 games he was under a $250,000. Making up for those
disappointments he won $40,000 the following day and $50,000 the next.
Alex noted Matt was now
tied for fourth place in number of games won that day with 11 but he also had
won $339,411 fourth place in money won all time. Only Ken Jennings himself had
won more money in that few games.
But it wasn’t just how
dominant Matt was that made him standout: it was how expressive he was as he
played. He wasn’t arrogant as some players such as Arthur Chu had been accused
of; rather the term was enthusiastic. He had energy and personality in a way
that Ken himself had seemed to be lacking at times in his original run (when he
came back for later tournaments he’d clearly learned to enjoy himself more)
Matt seemed as happy to be there as he was to keep winning.
Which he did for the
next two games. By that point he had won 13 games, 12 of them in runaways and a
grand total of $411,612. One more win would most likely put him ahead of Julia
Collins and David Madden in terms of money won.
But on October 14th
as it must come to all Jeopardy champions Matt met his match in Michael Baker.
Michael was the first player Matt had encountered who was at his level and the
two spent the entire game going back and forth for the lead. There were also
quite a lot of clues that didn’t get picked in Double Jeopardy. Matt moved
ahead on the last correct response before the end of round buzzer rang to go
ahead with $17,800 to Michael’s $17,600. Usually being ahead had worked in
Matt’s favor. On this day it would not.
The Final Jeopardy
category was U.S. LANDMARKS. “For its 50th anniversary in 2012, the
roof of this landmark was temporarily repainted its original color, Galaxy
Gold.”
Sally Hatfield, who was
in third wrote down: “What is Cape Canaveral?” It was incorrect. She lost
everything. Michael’s response was revealed next: “What is Dodger Stadium?” He
wagered $2399, leaving him with $15,201.
It came down to Matt.
He wrote down: “What is the Kennedy Center?” It was in fact the Space Needle in
Seattle. It came down to Matt’s wager – and he bet $17,401. Michael Baker as
Alex said was a giant killer. And as Alex said they would see Matt in our Tournament
of Champions.
There’s an argument
that Matt Jackson was the most dominant player in Jeopardy history between the
reign of Ken Jennings and James Holzhauer (though their would be one more
player who would clearly be at his level, if not better) Jennings himself
seemed to recognize the kindred spirit. Four years later at the Jeopardy
All-Stars Ken Jennings was a team captain and had a chance to make his first
draft pick he chose Matt Jackson.
Indeed Matt did every
Ken did: average 28 to 30 correct responses a game, never (well, hardly ever)
give an incorrect response, find the Daily Doubles and respond correctly on
them. And there was no question he was playing at a level that not even David Madden
or Julia Collins had, considering that in thirteen games he’d won $150,000 more
than Julia had in that span and over $105,000 more than David had.
When the Tournament of
Champions started a little less than a month after Matt was defeated I was not
as certain that Matt would prevail as I had been that either Julia or Arthur
would the previous November. I did think he had a better chance for one reason.
There’d been less than a month between his original appearance and the start of
the tournament which meant that there was less time for rust to settle. There
was also the fact that the competition, while generally very good, did not seem
to have a competitor at the level of Matt.
This brings me to Alex
Jacob. At the time of his original appearance in April of 2015 Alex was a
currency trader from Chicago. I could make a joke about how he had a lot of
currency after his original appearance to trade – except Alex seemed more than
willing to trade his imaginary currency away as if it were meaningless.
On a superficial level
Alex Jacob’s run doesn’t seem that impressive: he ‘only’ won six games and won
a ‘meager’ $149,802. That’s basically the same total Kerry Greene, whose run
ended the day before Alex’s began, won in her six games (she won $146,598). But
Alex was just as impressive as Roger Craig when it came to playing Jeopardy and
there’s an argument that James Holzhauer may have modeled his betting strategy
on Alex as much as Roger.
Indeed when Alex found
a Daily Double he just as frequently said: “All in.” He even had a similar
gesture, waving his hand in front of him. But there was a clear difference
between the gambler and the currency trader: Alex was humble and quiet as he
did so and never seemed to be showing off. He had a better poker face than
James did and a much quieter approach. No one was going to call Alex Jacob a
game show villain; indeed he very quickly became one of the more beloved
players in the show’s history. By the time he’d just won five games his
opponents knew how good he was. Todd Lovell, who unseated him after six games knew
how fortunate he’d been to beat him.
In Matt’s quarterfinal
appearance against 5-day winner John Schultz and Teachers Tournament Winner
Jennifer Giles Matt managed to win his semi-final game – but not easily. John
was close to him throughout the Jeopardy round and kept right up him throughout
Double Jeopardy. And while Matt prevailed no one gave a correct response for
Final Jeopardy and he wagered the least. Indeed the only player who managed a
runaway victory in the quarterfinals was none other than Alex Jacob.
In his semi-final Alex
once again ran away with his victory. He lead almost from start to finish in
both his games but was cautious in wagering on Daily Doubles in a way he hadn’t
been in his original run. One could have thought he was being more conservative
in his wagering. We learned very quickly in the finals that would not be the
case.
In his semi-final game Matt
was actually trailing at the end of the Jeopardy round, albeit only $400 to
Catherine Hardee. Then in Double Jeopardy he started to roll. He had $12,400
when he found the other Daily Double in SHOW TUNES. He wagered $8000:
“Act I of Wicked ends
with this high-flying song.” When Matt answered: “What is ‘Defying Gravity?”
and when he responded correctly he pounded his hands together and pumped his
fist in the air in joy. He managed to runaway with the game by the end of
Double Jeopardy, with $28,400 to Andrew Haringer’s $10,400 and Catherine’s
$6400. He also managed to do what Alex was unable to do in his match: get Final
Jeopardy correct:
The category was SPACE
EXPLORATION: “The first man to travel into space began his journey on that
fateful day in what is today this country.” Matt knew the correct country: “What
is Kazakhstan?”
Matt faced off against
Alex Jacob and Kerry Greene. In theory this should have been an exciting and
close match between two of the best game. In practice Alex Jacob was in
complete control almost from the start of Game 1. He had $5000 before he found
the Daily Double in the Jeopardy round, bet everything and at the end of the
round had $12,400 to Matt’s $4000. Kerry was at -$200. Then in Double Jeopardy
Alex got to the first Daily Double five clues in to the round in NORTH & SOUTH
AMERICA. At the time he had $15,200.
When he said, “Let’s
bet it all” there were audible murmurs and gasps in the audience. With good
reason: this kind of thing simply was done in Tournaments of Champions. And when
players did doit in special tournaments
it almost always backfired.
“Louie’s Backyard is a
party spot in this Texas spring break destination.” Alex barely took a breath: “What
is South Padre Island?” The round barely started and he had $30,400.
Matt and Kerry spent
the remainder of Double Jeopardy trying to close the gap. Alex helped slightly
by getting two expensive clues wrong that lost him $3600 and Matt managed to
get to the other Daily Double before he could in THE TUTORS.
With only $5200 to risk
and in a position he’d never been in before Matt bet $5000:
“Around 343 B.C he was
summoned by Philip II to be tutor to his son.” Matt knew it was Aristotle and upped
his score to $10,200.” By the end of Double Jeopardy Matt was still in the lead
with $29,600 to Matt’s $14,600 and Kerry’s $8200.
Once again they were
faced with an excruciatingly difficult Final Jeopardy. The category was FRENCH
NOVEL TITLE HEROES. The clue was even tougher the category sounded: “He ‘looked
as if he had been shut up for a long time in a tomb and…been unable to recover
the…complexion of the living.” Both Kerry and Matt wrote down: “What is The
Man in the Iron Mask?” That was the right author but the wrong novel. It
was The Count of Monte Cristo.
Kerry lost $4800. Matt,
who had little choice wagered and lost $11,600. Alex was humble in victory. He
wrote down: “Who is good game guys?” and after the scores were revealed said
chivalrously: “Let’s do it again, tomorrow.” He was gracious: he now had
$29,600 to Kerry’s $3400 and Matt’s $3000. To defeat him was going to take a
lot of work by either Matt or Kerry.
Neither Matt nor Kerry
gave in to their credit. Alex managed to take the lead early yet again in the
Jeopardy round and while he held it, it was smaller than the previous day. He
finished with $8600 to Matt’s $5600 and Kerry’s $3200.
Alex didn’t intend to
make it that easy for his competitors. Again he found the first Daily Double in
Double Jeopardy and he had $11,800 this time. But, in keeping with a pattern
that he had sometimes done in his original run, he only wagered $100 in HOW THE
EAST WAS WON:
“Russian caravans got
access to Beijing in a 1689 treaty with this dynasty that gave its name to a
region.” It took him until the end of time to come up with: “What is Manchu?”
Three clues later Matt
found the other Daily Double in THE EXECUTIVE BRANCH. At the time Matt had $10,000.
Alex Trebek said: “You’re bright enough to do the math.” And Matt knew it: “Sorry
Mom, I’m betting it all.”
“Overseeing the FDA is
one job of this Cabinet Department.”
Matt paused: “What is
the United States Department of Agriculture?”
Alex Trebek gently said:
“No what is Health and Human Services?” Sorry, Mom. Sorry.
Matt had nothing to
apologize for. He had no choice in what he had to do. The rest of the round was
fundamentally an exercise. After Alex Jacob basically ran the category MOVIE
LINES, MADE TV SAFE it was for all intents and purposes over. To beat Alex Jacob
you had to be practically perfect and in Game 2 of the Final Alex had been perfect,
giving 23 correct responses and not making a single mistake.
Alex Trebek said before
Final Jeopardy was over told Alex that this was the most dominant performance
by anyone in any of our tournaments. I’m not sure that’s entirely accurate – as
I mentioned in my first article in this series Roger Craig had performed as
well as Alex if not better when it came to scoring – but I know that Matt and
Kerry wouldn’t have disputed that statement.
Final Jeopardy for Game was an exercise and it was, if
anything, tougher then the one in Game 1. The category was PHILOSOPHERS: “His last
name means a type of burial place and in 1855 that’s where he went.” Kerry
incredibly knew the correct response: “Who is Kirkegaard?” In Danish, that name
refers to churchyard or graveyard.”
If the viewer wasn’t
already an Alex Jacob fan by this point his Final Jeopardy response would have
done the job. He wrote down: Thanks to everyone who works on the world’s
greatest gameshow!!” He risked nothing of course. As Alex Trebek congratulated
him Alex Jacob was clearly choked up and near tears as he accepted his due. In
a later interview he said simply: “I just love this game so much.” And few players
had done more credit to it.
While there is supposedly
no silver medal for finishing second, Matt Jackson’s second place finish did
have significance. By winning $100,000 his total combined Jeopardy winnings
were $511, 612, moving him ahead of Julia Collins and David Madden in total
money winning and trailing only the big three at the time – Brad Rutter, Ken
Jennings and Roger Craig.
Matt’s run, in
hindsight, officially began the era of the super-champion. In every season that
has followed (at least until today) there has been at least one player who has
won 12 games or more. And just as often their runs would come up short in the
Tournament of Champions the following year. Such would end up being the case –
though in the next article there would be a longer gap for the next Tournament
of Champions altogether.
In the next article I
will deal with the runs of two champions who each won a dozen games and why it
took such a long time for them to participate in a Tournament of Champions.
No comments:
Post a Comment