His final wager was so very low.
I think those who truly didn’t want spoilers at this point, know enough to stay away until they have watched .
He seemed to have bet based on multiple possible scenarios, which he had not really had to deal with before . Including the third place guy potentially pulling it off in the end, depending on Final Jeopardy answers and bets.
James knew that if he bet everything (and was correct), he still couldn’t catch Emma if she wagered responsibly. Emma bet enough so that even if she got it wrong, she’d still have $1 more than James’s best bet. His only option was to bet against Jay (3rd place). He bet just enough so that if Jay doubled his score, and even if he (James) lost, his wager was small enough that he’d maintain a lead over Jay (this is presuming Emma bet and lost). It makes a lot of sense.
I want to see a James and Ken Jennings play…Watson. That would be a fun show!
“Any thoughts on why he chose that bet for final jeopardy?”
He is a professional gambler. He is smart and knows strategy (aka game theory).
He was in second place going into final jeopardy. Given his record of making huge bets in final jeopardy and getting it right, the woman in the lead had to bet enough to stay ahead if he bet everything and they both got it right. He was hoping that the question was so hard that she would not get it, and was optimizing his chances of winning given that assumption.
Good game. I’ll miss watching James, and I wish he had broken Ken’s $$$ winnings. On the other hand, my husband is happy James is done. He didn’t like watching such lopsided games.
Was it my imagination, or did Alex get a little choked up when he closed the show, saying good-bye to James? I loved the get well card from James’s daughter.
Issue today wasn’t that he didn’t bet enough in Final Jeopardy; its that he didn’t have enough going into Final Jeopardy. Had he bet everything he had he would have lost by $1. Emma bet enough so that if she got the final question right, she was assured a victory (not a tie because I doubt she wanted to go up against him again – and playing the odds – who would). Most contestants going into final with the lead will do that. James knew that and wanted to make sure he bet enough that he couldn’t be passed up by the contestant in third place and would win if Emma got the question wrong.
I don’t recall James playing from behind in Final Jeopardy. Maybe I just don’t remember it. Wonder if Ken Jennings was ever behind going into final and pulled out the win.
Was interesting the James’ strategy of seeking out the higher value categories to maximize what he could bet typically left him with a big lead and only small dollar clues left on the board which often meant there wasn’t enough money on the board for anyone to catch him. Tonight he got the daily double with no money (could be $1000) and Emma got the other two so she was in the lead. Playing from the bottom up didn’t leave enough money on the board for James to catch up. And look in his face at one point indicated that he knew that was true.
Looking forward to seeing him back in tournament of champions and what I assume will be some type of Jennings/Rutter/James match. And will be interesting to see if Emma can break the curse of the long time champ slayers. They often end up as one and dones.
To clarify about spoilers- I would not have been happy if someone here had posted results yesterday or earlier today based on a leak (without a major spoiler alert). After an airing on network TV, I think it’s fair game, and people in other time zones would probably know not to look here if they really did not want to know the results before watching? I knew the results because I looked it up after a post here earlier today indicated the results were in. I chose to look. I told my husband I knew what happened tonight but he wanted to watch without knowing the results.
Out of ken’s 75 games, there were 10 times he didn’t have a runaway in Final Jeopardy! I don’t know if he was behind in any of those games, but he had to get final right in those 10 games. Nine times it worked, final game it didn’t. I do remember that in the final game, he did have the lead but got the final wrong.
@SnLMom I also thought Alex appeared to get a little choked up.
I will miss James! I am in the west coast. Jeopardy airs at 7pm on ABC. I know not to check here before it has aired. But by early afternoon the results were all over my Facebook, on the bottom line of ESPN, etc…
Ironic that James lost on the day he was expected to beat Ken Jennings record winnings. Several things went wrong for James. His first pick was the daily double so the most he could gain was $1000, Then Emma picked and won the two other daily doubles. And on her first daily double she bet everything although she seemed really uncomfortable doing it.
We didn’t get to see the game here in San Diego until 9:30 PM, so it was pretty hard to avoid spoilers. The normal broadcast time was pushed back due to coverage of a hockey game on the local NBC affiliate.
I don’t know that James was really off last night so much as Emma was on. Emma is exactly the sort of player that I predicted would eventually beat James. She was able to keep up with him on the boards, played his bottom-up method, denied him the DDs, and wasn’t afraid to bet big when the strategy called for it.
It also helped that the Christopher Marlowe clue was a pretty easy FJ, Unless someone makes a really goofy bet, an easy FJ will usually just cement the players into the positions they had going into FJ.
James bet correctly in FJ for someone in 2nd place going into FJ. He could only win if she got it wrong, so he bet to stay ahead of the guy in 3rd.
He finally got beat by someone who used his strategy, was as quick as him on the buzzer, and who had the knwlege to get questions right.
I avoided the spoilers yesterday though I was aware there were spoilers out there. When it was obvious to me that James wouldn’t beat Ken’s record winnings, I figured the spoiler was that he lost. It was nice to have a competitive game for a change, so I don’t really mind that he’s gone.
Will Emma do better than the woman who beat Ken? She lost the next game.
I was surprised how easy the final question was. While I couldn’t recall the exact quote from Marlowe (“whoever loved that loved not at first sight?”), his name was the first to come to mind. I write this as one who rarely can answer the questions.
Emma was really great on the buzzer! How many shows have we watched where James kept answering questions while his competitors stood there like stones or waved their buzzers around maniacally in vain?
I trust that James played the final Jeopardy question and wager correctly according to game theory, but the idea that part of that is assuring he still beats the 3rd place guy is kind of absurd to me. After winning $2 million, it’s win or go home for him. Who cares if he adds $1k or $2k?
Had James bet everything he had on Final Jeopardy, he would have lost to Emma by $1. If she got the final question right, she was going to win (unless she didn’t bet to cover his max bet which he clearly expected her to do and which she did in fact do). There are times when all 3 contestants miss the Final Jeopardy question. Had that happened, James would have won. Had Emma missed and James and the other contestant answered the final question correctly, James would have won. So he wasn’t trying to get second place; he was trying to give himself the best chance of winning if Emma didn’t get the final question right.
When Emma stepped up to the podium to play Jeopardy, she had never seen James play. She used his strategy–practice on the buzzer beforehand, hunt for Daily Doubles, bet aggressively-- because it’s a winning strategy, not because she was copying him. Going forward, most players will use it, because it’s a winning strategy.
@“Cardinal Fang” But until James appeared no one else had used that strategy successfully. And no matter what strategy you use if you are not a trivia goldmine you will lose.
Another part of the strategy is “be a trivia goldmine,” which she also executed.