Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category Jazz Classics) for Thursday, May 23, 2019 (Season 35, Episode 184):
In one account, this song began as directions written out for composer Billy Strayhorn to Duke Ellington’s home in Harlem
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s contestants:
Nate Scheffey, a technology consultant from New York, New York
|
Laura Schulman, a public defender from Seattle, Washington
|
James Holzhauer, a professional sports gambler from Las Vegas, Nevada (25-day total: $1,939,027)
|
If you’re curious to see how James’ stats so far shape up to those of Ken Jennings, you can find them at A James Holzhauer vs. Ken Jennings Statistical Comparison.
James has reached 900 correct responses on the show and has moved to #2 all-time on that list! See who else has at least 300 on our 300 Club page!
Did you attempt any of the online tests last month? You can find last week’s questions and answers here!
The Jeopardy! Book of Answers is out now! Here’s my review.
Are you going on the show and looking for information about how to bet in Final Jeopardy? Check out my new Betting Strategy 101 page!
(Content continues below)
Correct response: What is “Take The A-Train”?
More information about Final Jeopardy:
According to the lyrics, “you mst take the ‘A’ train to go to to Sugar Hill ‘way up in Harlem.” Written in 1939 by Billy Strayhorn, it became Duke Ellington’s signature tune.
Since Alex Trebek’s diagnosis of stage 4 pancreatic cancer, many community members have been raising money. The Jeopardy! Fan Online Store is as well! All proceeds from any “Keep The Faith And We’ll Win” shirt sold will be donated to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. To date, over $370 has been raised.)
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Tonight’s results are below!
Scores going into Final:
James $31,200
Nate $25,800
Laura $1,200
Tonight’s results:
Laura $1,200 – $0 = $1,200 (What is Take 5?)
Nate $25,800 + $10,000 = $35,800
James $31,200 + $20,908 = $52,108 (26-day total: $1,991,135)
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Nate $10,200
James $6,600
Laura $1,200
Opening break taken after: 15 clues
Daily Double locations:
1) NUMERIC PHRASES $800 (14th pick)
Nate 3400 +3400 (James 5400 Laura 600)
2) SCIENCE $2000 (4th pick)
Nate 13400 +6000 (James 6600 Laura 1200)
3) MOUNTAINS $1600 (6th pick)
James 8200 +8200 (Nate 19400 Laura 1200)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 245
Unplayed clues:
J! round: THE 2018 IG NOBEL PRIZES $200
DJ! Round: None!
Total $ Left On Board: $200
Game Stats:
James $24,600 Coryat, 26 correct, 1 incorrect, 42.86% in first on buzzer, 2/2 on rebound attempts
Nate $19,200 Coryat, 24 correct, 1 incorrect, 37.50% in first on buzzer, 2/2 on rebound attempts
Laura $1,200 Coryat, 6 correct, 2 incorrect, 14.29% in first on buzzer
Combined Coryat Score: $45,000
Lach Trash: $3,800 (on 3 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $5,000
James Holzhauer, stats to date:
939 correct, 29 incorrect
28/30 on rebound attempts (on 58 rebound opportunities)
57.98% in first on buzzer (850/1466)
58/62 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $534,054)
25/26 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $30,646
James Holzhauer, to win:
27 games: 98.069%
28: 96.176%
29: 94.319%
30: 92.498%
31: 90.713%
75: 38.471%
Avg. streak: 76.797 games.
(This is using the updated model.)
Tournament of Champions projections:
With a projected 76 regular-play games to go prior to the Tournament of Champions cutoff, after 500,000 simulations, our model shows:
James Holzhauer qualified 100.000% of the time.
Eric R. Backes qualified 93.911% of the time.
Anneke Garcia qualified 78.852% of the time.
Lindsey Shultz qualified 52.694% of the time.
Dave Leffler qualified 30.391% of the time.
Jonathan Dinerstein qualified 22.720% of the time.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- This was the 4th time that James was not leading after the Jeopardy! round, but the first occurrence since his 8th game on April 15.
- Between the 5th and 9th clues of the Double Jeopardy! round, James picked up $15,400, moving from $12,800 behind to $2,600 in front.
- James has been correct on his last 20 Final Jeopardy! clues.
- Nate’s $25,800 is the second-highest trailing score of all time going into Final Jeopardy, second only to Adam Levin’s $27,000 on April 29.
- $52,108 is the 28th-highest winning score of all-time. Prior to the start of James’ run in April, it would have placed 9th.
- If you took the 25 games James has already won out of the prediction model, it would still predict a streak of 50 games for James.
- The prediction model gives James a 87.241% chance of surpassing Ken Jennings’ winnings total of $2,520,700, and a 50.537% chance of James surpassing Brad Rutter’s all-time winnings total of $4,688,436. (At his current average, James would pass Ken on June 3 and Brad on July 26.)
- James’ average winning total on Thursdays is $61,423.
- In a similar situation to today’s game, Ken Jennings survived a challenger not betting enough on a Daily Double in his 23rd win on July 2, 2004.
Become a Supporter now! Make a monthly contribution to the site on Patreon!
Contestant photo credit: jeopardy.com
When commenting, please note that all comments on The Jeopardy! Fan must be in compliance with the Site Comment Policy.
If you are going to quote any statistics from this page or this website, attribution is required.
This finality is too easy. Any contestant who misses it should have to wear a Dunce cap to work on Monday.
Edward: That’s an unfair statement to make. It’s only easy if you know the answer.
Finality? I actually think this is a pretty difficult final for someone who is not musically knowledgeable. It was a hit way back in 1941 and most folks only casually acquainted with Ellington would know tunes like “It don’t mean a thing” or “Mood Indigo,” but not necessarily this one. This piece is far more challenging to remember. I won’t be surprised if they all miss final. (And anyone who capitalizes Dunce should wear a dunce cap… We all know different things, whether music or grammar. No need to be insulting on this helpful forum!)
Just got to see the show because the Cubs game preempted our broadcast.
Well I got this FJ, but because I have a very different kind of knowledge. I knew this because of Hall of Fame and former Chicago Bull Artis Gilmore whose nickname was the A Train. Since James is a Chicago native sports fan, he may have gotten it right for the same reason! I probably would have been a “dunce” too, otherwise.
Good point!
I only know the answer because I know the song, but regardless, the final question shouldn’t always be the hardest possible. A varied difficulty makes for a more competitive betting strategy based on the category alone. If you’re 75% confident in a category, you might be less inclined to bet high if it’s guaranteed to be hardest possible clue.
Where does today rank among James’ lowest scoring games?
I believe that most people James’s age would not know the answer. He has a lot of knowledge on prior events that his age demographic would not know.
Wow, I thought Nate would beat James today. He was so quick on the buzzer as we have seen James dominate that aspect in many previous games. Nate would have been a deserving champ on almost any other show.
Nate gave James one opening and James took advantage.
Yes, he did. Hats off to Nate.
As was the case with Adam Levin, a quality opponent finding the DDs is hard to overcome. In both games, James split the DDs in Double Jeopardy. If he had not found at least one, he would have been trailing heading into FJ. I too, thought that James was going home, but like a quality racehorse, after he went all-in on the DD, started getting the vast majority of correct answers; which allowed him to regain the lead heading into FJ. It seemed like that once James found the DD, he knew he had a chance, and frantically surged ahead. Truly, it was a dramatic race to the finish line of Double Jeopardy!
OK, that had me holding my breath!!! Have these current players seen James on tv or are they still just watching him the day they get there? Nate should have bet his entire 13K on the DD!! I was hoping James would hit 2 mil today… guess we have to still wait it out!
I’m rooting for James to continue for a long time, but this episode shows that he is indeed beatable. As mentioned above, if Nate had bet more on the daily double, he could very well have been the new champion.
Actually, James did have a runaway in his 8th game on April 15th. So, this is the 3rd time in which James has the lead going into Final Jeopardy!, but it’s not a runaway.
As a citizen of New York City, I got “Take the A-Train” immediately.
Once upon a time, there was a legendary bar in New York City’s Greenwich Village called The Lion’s Head. Writers, journalists, actors, musicians, lawyers, politicians were among those who drank there. “Take the A-Train” was on the jukebox. It was #125. “How appropriate,” I thought when I noticed that all those decades ago. I never found out if that was intentional, or just a coincidence.
Thank you Andy for all your fantastic statistical analysis .
Why did James bet $20K?
Interesting!
Alex seems to be encouraging this champion now
since ratings are up! I love watching the dynamics.
James use of probability theory is exquisite !
I would like to study for a year or eight for the show !
But my memory and quickness would fail me!
Laurie:
He bet that much because in order to pass Nate’s score doubled ($25,800 x 2 = $51,600), he needed to add $20,401 to his $31,200.
Just two little words would have (most likely) given us a new champion today…”All in.”. Oh well, woulda, coulda, shoulda.
I think another factor that plays into it is that, given that Jeopardy tapes five shows a day, someone who has been on a long time like James, must ultimately get fatigued. I know Ken won 74 games, but that’s a huge aberration.
Give him an inch, he will take a mile.
Nate played too traditional with the lead. To slay the beast you have to go for the jugular.
And WOW … Rutter’s record is now on the radar: July 26?!!!
To beat James, contestants must have an all or nothing approach as demonstrated in today’s episode. The worst any contestant can do is leave with $1k or $2k in their pockets. If Nate goes all in and hits, he takes home more than $60k today, instead, he settles for $2k. If he goes all in and misses, he simply settles for $1k at worst.
I’m sure it won’t be long before this is figured out but to win, we need another Nate or Adam at the podium.
James to 62 wins for sure.
It just goes against basic human nature, as we are seeing time and time again, to go all in. People are risk-averse and no matter how confident someone is, asking them to lay down all their (fake!) money/points is too hard. We’ll need someone with Nate’s skill level and luck finding DD’s, but with that willingness to bet everything every time. I’m hoping it’ll eventually be an old woman, I don’t know why, lol, just something like with Ken Jennings – an unexpected winner 🙂
When $50,000 is considered a ho hum, disappointing win