Today’s Final Jeopardy – June 3, 2019


Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category Shakespeare’s Time) for Monday, June 3, 2019 (Season 35, Episode 191):

The line “a great reckoning in a little room” in “As You Like It” is usually taken to refer to this author’s premature death

(correct response beneath the contestants)


Today’s contestants:

Emma Boettcher, a user experience librarian from Chicago, Illinois
Emma Boettcher on Jeopardy!
Jay Sexton, a senior research engineer from Atlanta, Georgia
Jay Sexton on Jeopardy!
James Holzhauer, a professional sports gambler from Las Vegas, Nevada (32-day total: $2,462,216)
James Holzhauer on Jeopardy!

James has cemented his spot in the next Tournament of Champions. Our ToC Tracker shows who else is in the field.

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 1,100 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!

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!

I recently updated my tournament wild card models with as much tournament data that I’ve been able to find! If you’re playing in a tournament, you’ll want to check this out!

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Correct response: Who is Christopher Marlowe?


Did you know that you can now find game-by-game stats of everyone, including James, who has won 10 or more games on Jeopardy!, here on the site?


More information about Final Jeopardy:

A contemporary of Shakespeare, Christopher Marlowe (also known as Kit Marlowe) was a major Elizabethan playwright and was a great influence on Shakespeare. In 1593, Marlowe was accused of holding treasonous opinions, and after the “Dutch church libel” was published (which contained several allusions to Marlowe’s plays), Marlowe was arrested. While awaiting his trial at the Privy Council, Marlowe was killed under mysterious circumstances ten days later in an altercation with Ingram Frizer.

Shakespeare’s As You Like It provides the most famous tribute to Marlowe, where Marlowe’s Hero and Leander was quoted, as well as the “a great reckoning in a little room” line referred to in today’s clue.


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 will be posted once the show airs!

Scores going into Final:
Emma $26,600
James $23,400
Jay $11,000


Tonight’s results:
Jay $11,000 + $6,000 = $17,000
James $23,400 + $1,399 = $24,799
Emma $26,600 + $20,201 = $46,801 (1-day total: $46,801)


Emma Boettcher, today's Jeopardy! winner (for the June 3, 2019 game.)


Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
James $9,000
Emma $6,400
Jay $2,600



Opening break taken after: 15 clues


Daily Double locations:
1) LITERATURE $1000 (1st pick)
James 0 +1000 (Jay 0 Emma 0)
2) CAPITAL “A” $800 (4th pick)
Emma 7600 +7600 (James 12600 Jay 2600)
3) POLITICAL PHILOSOPHY $2000 (14th pick)
Emma 20400 +3000 (James 17800 Jay 7400)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 215


Unplayed clues:
J! round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total $ Left On Board: $0


Game Stats:
Emma $18,800 Coryat, 21 correct, 0 incorrect, 33.33% in first on buzzer
James $23,400 Coryat, 25 correct, 0 incorrect, 42.11% in first on buzzer
Jay $11,000 Coryat, 13 correct, 1 incorrect, 24.56% in first on buzzer
Combined Coryat Score: $53,200
Lach Trash: $400 (on 1 Triple Stumper)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $400


James Holzhauer, final stats:
1,186 correct, 36 incorrect
33/36 on rebound attempts (on 68 rebound opportunities)
57.81% in first on buzzer (1077/1863)
72/76 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $654,416)
32/33 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $30,576


Emma Boettcher, stats to date:
22 correct, 0 incorrect
0/0 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
33.33% in first on buzzer (19/57)
2/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $10,600)
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $18,800


Emma Boettcher, to win:
2 games: 78.319%
3: 61.338%
4: 48.039%
5: 37.624%
6: 29.466%
Avg. streak: 4.612 games. #Jeopardy
Methodology: https://thejeopardyfan.com/2019/04/jeopardy-predictions-updated-methods.html



Tournament of Champions projections:
With a projected 69 regular-play games to go prior to the Tournament of Champions cutoff, after 500,000 simulations, our model shows:
An average of 2.1568 5+-time champions (standard deviation 1.1836).
An average of 3.7189 4+-time champions (standard deviation 1.4397).

An early cutoff took place 0.391% of the time (or a 5-game winner will be left out).

Emma Boettcher qualified 45.564% of the time.
Eric R. Backes qualified 84.074% of the time.
Anneke Garcia qualified 57.753% of the time.
Lindsey Shultz qualified 24.059% of the time.
Dave Leffler qualified 4.468% of the time.


Andy’s Thoughts:

  • Emma’s $46,801 is the sixth-highest first-game winning total in regular play of all time. (Thank you to those who have contacted me with a correction.)
  • The Combined Coryat score for the game of $53,200 is an all-time regular-play record.
  • James has been correct on his last 27 Final Jeopardy! clues.
  • According to the prediction model, a score of $23,400 going into Final Jeopardy wins 86.868% of the time.
  • Given James’ mean average score going into Final Jeopardy of $47,655 and standard deviation of $13,422, the chances of James having a score of $23,400 or worse going into Final Jeopardy are about 1 in 30.
  • There was absolutely nothing wrong with James’ Final Jeopardy bet of $1,399. He knew that Emma was overwhelmingly likely to bet what she did and, thus, his only chance of winning was if Emma did not get Final Jeopardy! correct. $1,399 ensures that his score stays above Jay’s and gives James the best chance of winning the game. Had James gone all-in, he would have finished at $46,800 and lost by $1.
  • 42.11% in first on buzzer is the worst that James did in on the signalling device since going 36.84% in his second game on April 5.

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23 Comments on "Today’s Final Jeopardy – June 3, 2019"

  1. Brian P Norwood | June 3, 2019 at 2:16 pm |

    James was a great champion. I am surprised he didn’t go all in on Final Jeopardy as he was behind. I read his daughter wanted him to lose. Could that be the reason he didn’t even cover her total before FJ?

    • Matt Rose | June 3, 2019 at 2:41 pm |

      No, James FJ bet was to insure him of staying in 2nd place over 3rd place. Which still could have gotten James a win, if the Leader was wrong. As her bet was expected to be very high, too high for James to beat her, if she guessed FJ question correctly.

  2. Matt Rose | June 3, 2019 at 2:37 pm |

    As the pre FJ Scores were leaked out on the internet. Guessing either Sony, ABC TV or Jeopardy did that link. Even as Sony later had it taken done as a copywriter violation.

    So guessing that was to get this James show, it biggest TV ratings, as it is Jeopardy last show with James till TOC.

    • They did kind of the same thing when Ken lost. I remember seeing ads the week before saying things like “you’re not going to want to miss Jeopardy on Tuesday”, when they hadn’t been really promoting the show (at least in my city) for Ken’s 74 game run. I knew something was up and that it was going to be his last game.

      • It makes sense, the ratings were already way up, so why not go out with a bang? I’d gotten kind of bored, and wasn’t really watching much anymore, (making the mistake of admitting this here…ouch!!)…I’ll definitely tune in tonight. They ain’t dummies.

  3. Matt Rose | June 3, 2019 at 2:46 pm |

    Looking at Game Stats, James still played a better game than Emma. It’s just that EMMA got the DD2 and DD3 Questions, and answered them correctly.

    Game Stats:
    Emma $18,800 Coryat, 21 correct, 0 incorrect, 33.33% in first on buzzer
    James $23,400 Coryat, 25 correct, 0 incorrect, 42.11% in first on buzzer
    Jay $11,000 Coryat, 13 correct, 1 incorrect, 24.56% in first on buzzer

    • Emma also learned to use James’ betting strategy. Trailing early in Double Jeopardy!, Emma went all in on DD2 to take the lead, got DD3 and nursed the lead into FJ. An average DD bet would have not have gotten the job done, since trailing going into FJ against James is virtually a sure loss.

      • Matt Rose | June 3, 2019 at 5:36 pm |

        Agree, the All In DD2 bet for Emma. Coming James. Pretty much was the biggest reason Emma won today.

        • Matt Rose | June 3, 2019 at 5:42 pm |

          Looking at DD2, Probably pre James, most would have risked up or about 4,000 to 5,000. Playing it safe. But she learned from James to go ALL IN, with 7,600, Togo for broke. As Emma would either have 0, or 15,200 and a 2,600 lead over James.

          2) CAPITAL “A” $800 (4th pick)
          Emma 7600 +7600 (James 12600 Jay 2600)

      • Wagering all in on an early daily double, especially from a trailing position, is not “James’ strategy” but as those who mentioned her research would agree, it is the best play. I was going to say Alex Trebek encouraged her into the big bet, but this is all on her. Good job, Emma. Hope you win a bunch.

      • From his game totals and from playing James in the game, she knew she was going up against a dynamite player who was going to be tough to beat. She even said that she figured she better make it a true daily double on her first daily double. Daily Doubles and Final Jeopardy are ways that make Jeopardy more dramatic but not fairer.

  4. Mary A Rose | June 3, 2019 at 3:53 pm |

    Was my birthday a jinx for James somehow? Well, Happy Birthday to me anyway! Sorry, James.

  5. Prithvi Sudhakar | June 3, 2019 at 4:47 pm |

    Congrats to James Holzhauer on his winning streak! He set a lot of records, and I enjoyed seeing him play and having most of his games as runaways.

    One game of his that I found surprising was Game 17, in which he won but did not manage to find a Daily Double.

    Now let’s hope that Emma can keep a streak going!

  6. Noumon Munir | June 3, 2019 at 5:00 pm |

    Can someone explain to me how this happened . I thought like everyone else that he would have won. And is there a story about the woman Emma that beat him??

    • Elizabeth Harris | June 3, 2019 at 5:49 pm |

      She wrote her masters thesis at UNC Chapel Hill on Jeopardy so I am sure she has been studying the game for a long time. This was her game. Found the 2 DDs when she had enough cash to make a difference and got a FJ clue on Shakespeare and she’s a librarian. Not taking away from her win but the stars aligned for her. A lot of smart women don’t risk enough on FJ but she did! I will really miss James who is the GOAT for me because he has changed the way the game will be played from this point on and games will not be so predictable. Both James and Emma are from Chicago and it’s suburbs.

  7. Leonard Davis | June 3, 2019 at 5:13 pm |

    Thanks a LOT, news reporters at ABC 7 Eyewitness News!

    They spoiled the outcome of this episode for me and got me to check this page for results to verify whether it was true.

  8. Marty Cunningham | June 3, 2019 at 6:20 pm |

    Sad to see the run end! Really thought he would pass Ken’s record today.

    There is so much that goes on during taping, to ensure fair play, that there is no possibility of tampering with the outcome. There is a monitor from Standards and Practices who is not only present during filming, to ensure fair play, but he is actually the one who reviews the game boards that the writers have put together and he determines which ones to ‘load in’ for the 5 shows to be filmed on a given day, before the contestants arrive, and even they are randomly picked to play each game as well, so, yes, occasionally there may be a clue that may seem to favor one player over another, but that is truly random chance. Having seen it work, and been part of some edits that were made to ensure fairness, there is no way that the board can be ‘rigged’ for or against any player. It is the luck of the draw for any given show, then the contestants’ knowledge, and finally, the speed on the buzzer (and maybe being able to read the clue through before Alex finishes reading it) that determine who may or may not have an edge in each game.
    Hard to say if ratings may drop now that James is gone, but there could be a dip between now and the end of the season in July. Definitely do think that more contestants, especially in the new season, will try and adapt to James’s style of play, just as some tried to adapt after Arthur Chu’s run, which may help with the pacing of play, and could generate some exciting games.
    No doubt there will be a lot of analysis on James’ run, probably a fair amount from James himself, but this is good to keep the show fresh and exciting. This does open the possibility to get some more ‘streakers’ for the tournament (winners of 5 or more games) before the cut off in August (still 4 spots open), and it will be interesting to see how James does in the Tournament, now that the others know that he is coming.

  9. Bob Chang | June 3, 2019 at 6:22 pm |

    Even if the DD situation with Emma and James were reversed with identical wagering, there wouldn’t have been a runaway, though he would have won. He’d have entered FJ with 33,000 and Emma with 17,000. Exciting, but quite likely he wouldn’t have broken Ken’s record this game.

  10. Congratulations James.Well done.Now have a great party with your daughter and all the family

  11. I feel sorry for him.

  12. Did anyone else think that Trebek seemed to be a bit choked up at the end? Maybe a combination of the taping to his cancer announcement, the end of a great champion’s run, and the sweet card from James’s daughter. Hopefully Alex’s treatment will continue to go well and he’ll be there for the TOC and the James, Brad, and Ken match we all want to see. Making it a charity event for pancreatic cancer would be great!

    • I did think Alex was choked up as I bet many Jeopardy diehards including myself were. Kudos to Emma for the true daily double and being the new champ, glad a woman. 😉James will be greatly missed.

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