Game Recap – Jeopardy! Greatest of All Time, Match 4 (Tuesday, January 14, 2020)

46 Comments on "Game Recap – Jeopardy! Greatest of All Time, Match 4 (Tuesday, January 14, 2020)"

1. JP | January 14, 2020 at 9:02 pm |

   I believe there’s an extra digit it Ken’s stats to date.

   • Andy Saunders | January 14, 2020 at 9:12 pm |

     Thank you!

2. Brad (not Rutter) | January 14, 2020 at 9:05 pm |

   I can’t believe what I just saw in final.

3. Brandon | January 14, 2020 at 9:05 pm |

   Ken is the absolute goat amazing his performance I believe he is now the biggest money winner in game show history again.

   • Ed Collins | January 15, 2020 at 1:36 am |

     According to the Jeopardy! Hall of Fame page, before this tournament Ken’s all-time winnings were $3,370,700. Brad had won $4,688,436 before this tournament, so eve with Ken’s million dollar prize, Brad is still #1.

     • Sean L. | January 15, 2020 at 10:16 am |

       Well, I’m not surprised Brad was so happy at the end. He got 250.000 w/o winning a single game or match, was not in one of the FJ!s and got the money basically for showing up. I was very impressed with Ken though, basically beating James withy his strategy he displayed during the “regular ” games. I wonder if we will have another “James-like” player for the next ToC.

4. Ted | January 14, 2020 at 9:06 pm |

   Did Ken bet $0 in FJ to prolong the tournament?

   • Andy Saunders | January 14, 2020 at 9:13 pm |

     No, he didn’t; James was leading because of his massive Game 2 score. James’ chances of victory hinged upon whether or not James was correct in Final Jeopardy!, no matter what Ken did or wagered.

   • Marty Cunningham | January 15, 2020 at 11:15 am |

     James had to bet everything he had in the second Final to stay in the game and possibly win a second match. Even if Ken bet it all on the second final, his two-game total would still be about 10k less than James’ two-game total. It clearly seemed to be pointing to a victory for James, and Ken’s one hope was if the final was just tough enough that James may not have the answer. Ken knew James would bet it all so whether he bet all, or nothing, he would not overcome James if James had a correct response. Shakespeare is one of the favorites for Final Jeopardy in big tournaments, and it can prove to be either a king-maker or a dream-breaker, and it was a little bit of both last night. Yes, Ken got a million and moved closer to Brad (I think they are now both between $ 4.5 and $ 5 million in total earnings). James would have passed Ken if he had won the million, but he is now around $3 million in total earnings. Together, the three of them have won over $ 10 million over about 20 years, and they have truly guided Jeopardy! into the new millennium and the 21st century with their style of play and their style, period.
     This Tournament should be archived as a true Master-Class in how to play this game! Congratulations to all involved!

     • Noumon Munir | January 16, 2020 at 3:43 am |

       could not have said it any better. it came down to whether james knew Shakespeare.

   • Marty Cunningham | January 15, 2020 at 11:27 am |

     And during the last commercial break, after the Final subject has been revealed, contestants can be given scratch paper to figure out what they need to wager for Final. Their respective scores are displayed on the other side of the stage, so they can see what the other players have, and then figure what the other players might wager, and what they would need to secure a victory. I think this was where Ken knew that he could not overtake James in total points, if they both had the correct answer, so then he opts for the next stage, to wager nothing so that he loses nothing if he is wrong. James, similarly knew that he might be able to win a second match and keep things going, and his nature is to “go big or go home” anyway, so he was naturally going to bet it all.
     And, yeah, they all got at least a quarter of a million for about two days’ worth of taping work, so not bad work for Brad. And, although he can no longer claim that he has never been beaten by a human being (having lost only to IBM’s Watson computer, but he did finish third, behind Ken in that contest), he still can claim to be the biggest earner in game show history, and if he did lose, he at least lost to the “Greatest” player in the show’s history.
     Good work to everyone involved!

5. Jason R. | January 14, 2020 at 9:07 pm |

   Sad it had to end so soon. Heartbreaking that James missed, but he is still GOAT in my heart. If indeed Alex is correct and this was Ken’s last tournament, he needs to be made host when Alex leaves.

   • Ed Collins | January 15, 2020 at 1:32 am |

     Ken as host? Ouch. I think he’d make a terrible host. A good player does not mean that player would also make a good host.

6. Jason | January 14, 2020 at 9:10 pm |

   James must not of understood that final jeopardy

   • Jim G. | January 14, 2020 at 9:20 pm |

     Or maybe he just didn’t know it.

     • Richard F Rolwing | January 14, 2020 at 10:11 pm |

       I guessed Falstaff…(That whole A&Q seems to have been on a show from the distant past, or something very similar…)

   • David | January 15, 2020 at 12:23 am |

     it’s “have” not “of”.

     • Richard F Rolwing | January 15, 2020 at 5:30 pm |

       Or not’ve…?

7. Glenn | January 14, 2020 at 9:10 pm |

   Prior to the GOAT tournament, I was very confident that James would dominate. He did not. I felt that Ken and James had parity, but Ken won the tournament with the good fortune of finding significantly more DDs than James. Nonetheless, Ken is most deserving of the GOAT title. Congratulations to Ken, James, and Brad for their talent, spirit, and wit! I really enjoyed this tournament.

   • Evan B. | January 14, 2020 at 9:23 pm |

     Ken saw 8 DDs and James 6, which isn’t that huge a difference (James was up 5-4 in this respect before Ken hit 4 and James 1 tonight). Interestingly, Brad had 10 despite making far fewer selections than the other players.

     • Steve | January 14, 2020 at 9:32 pm |

       James saw 6 DDs but they were not evenly distributed. 4 of them he found in his match 2 victory day. Tonight he only saw one despite dominating in both games (and really 3 out of 4 rounds – Ken and James were neck and neck in game 1 single jeopardy but it was all James from then out) and it took him forever to find the one DD tonight, hunting all over the board for it.

       • Evan B. | January 14, 2020 at 9:51 pm |

         James saw more DDs than Ken in matches 2 and 3 (3-1 and 2-1), Ken saw more in 1 and 4 (2-0 and 4-1). That the final DD took so long to be found was what allowed James to make a large enough wager that he was able to have the virtual lead going into the 2nd final.

       • Elizabeth Harris | January 14, 2020 at 11:04 pm |

         I don’t think he was hunting all over the board for the DD. I think he was trying to build up his cash to have a chance to win before THEN trying to find the DD. The risk was that Ken would find it in the meantime, but it’s a risk he had to take – and he got that answer correct.

     • Glenn | January 14, 2020 at 11:02 pm |

       As I have said before, Daily Doubles add a huge luck factor: who finds them? Are they found early or late? And of course, since the player only knows the category of the answer before he bets, will he know the answer? According to Andy’s stats, James and Ken knew about as much stuff as the other. With all this said, Ken was a very, very deserving winner. Ken used this opportunity to once-and-for-all cement his legacy as Jeopardy’s GOAT! Congratulations to Ken Jennings: The greatest Jeopardy player ever. Brad and James should deservedly feel honored to be just a little behind Ken. No shame there!

8. Richard | January 14, 2020 at 9:12 pm |

   Congratulations to Ken, remarkable performance, most definitely greatest of all time. Hopefully we have seen the last of James. I was overjoyed when I knew Iago and he didn’t!

   • John Douglas | January 14, 2020 at 9:30 pm |

     Rude. Most everyone wants to see more of James. Crawl back under your rock.

     • Matt | January 14, 2020 at 10:09 pm |

       I’m happy Ken won too. He’s confident without being cocky, like James. As for being rude, I didn’t like James’ remark regarding Brad’s zero score. Talk about kicking a man when he’s down.

       • Jason R. | January 14, 2020 at 10:24 pm |

         I don’t recall the comment you’re referring to, but I feel like everything in this tournament was in good spirits.

         • Andy Saunders | January 14, 2020 at 10:31 pm |

           When resetting the scores for Game 2, James pointed out that Brad’s Game 1 score (0 points) was still up.

     • Christopher Denault | January 14, 2020 at 10:13 pm |

       I don’t agree at all with you on this, John. James has rubbed quite a few of us in the J! alum community the wrong way with his demeaning smack talk and tone-deaf comments. While there’s no disputing his excellence at the game, there have been more than a few instances in the past with James and other contestants off-camera that you’re not aware of, along with instances he’s had with others well before he ever appeared on J!.

     • Andy Saunders | January 14, 2020 at 10:14 pm |

       As you’ve already seen here, John, I don’t think that it’s as unanimous as you think it is.

       • Will E. | January 14, 2020 at 11:35 pm |

         @Andy I agree — although I feel like it’s a generational or gambler/academic divide. People have hated James prior to this because he made the game “no fun” by having blow out scores. We saw that, when they started jumping around the board too, and the old guard got angry at that too!

         I think this tournament also has 2 different types of watchers — those on twitter and those same old guards. If you’ve been on Twitter the past few weeks, you’d know all of these jabs are totally in jest and that they’re all super friendly with each other.

         I feel like James’, and Ken and Brad’s reactions after it all prove the latter. I think it really is a difference between how people in 2 different worlds react to things.

   • Elizabeth Harris | January 14, 2020 at 11:05 pm |

     SO mean. Ken had a remarkable performance, but James was AS remarkable in that he changed the game and provided a much greater challenge to Ken to be his best which Brad was not able to do in this performance.
     They’re all better sports than your comment.

     • Jeff M | January 15, 2020 at 1:16 pm |

       I agree with you 100% Elizabeth. But please let me elaborate to say that I don’t agree with this so-called “old guard” perspective at all. I think what James has accomplised this past year is literally phenomenal, and elite players like Buzzy Cohen, Brad Rutter, and Ken Jennings himself are all on public record saying exactly this. This “old guard” perspective hating on James comes across as stuffy and elitist. Look at it this way: by bringing something both novel and remarkable to Jeopardy!, James has singlehandedly managed to draw a huge number of new viewers to your favorite game show. And if at least a decent portion of that new viewership stays (despite the fact that daily gameplay has regressed to the previous mean given the overwhelming majority of contestants lack of combination of the elite trivia knowledge and aggressively risky betting instincts James brought) that translates to increased ratings and revenue. This new reality has a good chance of increasing the number of entertaining tournaments in the near future, and inspiring a next generation of people training to become the next Jeopardy! elite. Don’t be so emotionally short sighted.

       With regard to the comment James made on Brad’s 0 score, I too found it a bit cringey at the time. But not because I thought James was actually attempting to callously kick Brad when he was down, but because of how some people might perceive it who were not completely tuned in to the atmosphere of fun banter they each were having at the others expense both in Jeopardy! GOAT advertising on TV, and on social media. I think James was simply trying to be funny and to use humor to manage the obvious psychological stress he was feeling about being so far behind Ken again with his performance in the next game meaning the entire competition for him. I agree it fell a bit flat, but so do a lot of attempts at humor by most people without great comedic skills and timing. James has always come across to me as a bit socially awkward like an aspie or a very high-functioning savant, and these folks notoriously have a slightly off sense of humor.

       But with all that said, I congratulate Ken Jennings on the victory last night. He is the Jeopardy! GOAT hands down. He’s brilliant, enormously talented, and an all around wonderful guy. He deserved the title and winnings, and I’m very happy for him. But based on his own public statements, Ken would be among the first to admit that if he had not adopted James aggressive all-in betting strategies, his chances of winning the tournament against James who also clearly excels in the trivia competition were poor. Now this folks is praise for your elite competition.

       Finally I’ll end by saying I wish James had gotten last night’s FJ question right. He would have won the match and taken the exciting tournament to at least one more night. I’m sad and disappointed he missed it because that’s one less night of drama watching super-elite players battle for the title. It ended too quickly for me.

       Cheers!

       • Elizabeth Harris | January 15, 2020 at 10:29 pm |

         Jeff, I actually was replying to Richard’s comment that he was overjoyed when James didn’t remember Iago. One unfortunate aspect of this blog is that the comment to one person often is way down from what it is responding to. I didn’t find James mean at all. I don’t necessarily think he has “a filter,” but he is – BY FAR – my favorite player and will always be MY GOAT for the way he made the game much more exciting IMHO. Just look at the games they’re showing now – mostly very easy clues and a bit of a letdown from watching the masters play!

         • Elizabeth Harris | January 15, 2020 at 10:44 pm |

           Jeff, I definitely think James is both a polymath and probably on the spectrum as many brilliant people are. What I loved about him in addition to all he knows is his absolute honesty (“I never really studied in school but cut classes to play poker, etc”) and all the causes that he has already given so much money to – libraries (because they meant so much to him personally) and the homeless teens in Vegas. I also liked the way he made many of his wagers based on his relationships (daughter’s birthday, etc.) which showed he was not the heartless person some made him out to be. However, that class cutting probably meant he didn’t read all of Othello when he was in high school and maybe reading the Cliff notes he didn’t realize how much Iago never really shut up in that play!
           My hat’s off to all of them to be able to answer that many trivia questions about so many diverse categories at lightning speed. If anyone saw James on The Chase 5 years ago, they would know he was a force to be reckoned with. He interviewed for Jeopardy numerous times – 11 I think – and they told him he did not “interview well.” How ironic that he proved to be the person that really made the GOAT championship possible. There have been others who could have been the third player, but I don’t think anyone wanted to risk their reputations to come up against Ken and Brad. James was willing to put himself out there and he will always be the hero to me for actually making this competition possible that so many of us have enjoyed. Just my opinion.

         • Jeff M | January 16, 2020 at 8:24 am |

           Hi Elizabeth,

           I apologize for my laziness in posting. I wanted to reply to you because I wanted to second your sentiment on taking the kind of pleasure Richard did not just of Ken winning but of James losing. That came across as far more crass and mean than the playful trash talking James, Ken, and Brad have which was clearly meant in jest. But I also wanted to address the “old school” sentimentality expressed above by others in the “Richard” thread that was very down overall on the Jeopardy! James phenomenon as well as some commenters not liking his teasing of Brad between games 1 and 2. I instead should’ve taken the time to reply directly to those posts, so I’m sorry for the confusion. You and I are clearly on the same page regarding James.

           Cheers!

9. R. B. Smada | January 14, 2020 at 9:14 pm |

   Go Ken! So happy he won.

10. Jason R. | January 14, 2020 at 9:18 pm |

    Confused as to why 2nd and 3rd get the same prize?

    • Evan B. | January 14, 2020 at 9:25 pm |

      They established the prize structure knowing there was a very reasonable chance that the two non-winners would have won the same number of matches. Having no tiebreakers makes it clear that the players should wager only with the idea of winning each individual match.

11. Mark | January 14, 2020 at 9:32 pm |

    Could someone please recap the final wagers in the final game? Like what did Ken need to wager to ensure an overall win? I’m not good a final wager strategy in tournaments. Thank you.

    • Brandon | January 14, 2020 at 9:48 pm |

      So James controlled his own destiny if he was right he would of won knowing this ken bet 0 to force James to get it right which he did not and Ken won.

    • Alex C | January 14, 2020 at 9:50 pm |

      Ken’s win hinged on James so it honestly didn’t matter what he wagered. His $0 wager was justifiable since James was pretty much guaranteed to go all in. If James was right, it wouldn’t have mattered if Ken went all in.

      • Bill | January 15, 2020 at 1:24 am |

        “…was pretty much guaranteed to go all in.” Mathematically, not quite. Ken’s highest possible score going into FJ was 2×23,000+65,600=111,600. To get to 111,601, James needed to bet at least 33,420. But there really wasn’t any downside to wagering more than that, and knowing James’s tendencies, I think it surprised no one that he went all in.

12. Jim G. | January 14, 2020 at 10:09 pm |

    That was sweet when Ken “out-Jamesed” James with that 1st FJ! wager. You’re right Andy…Ken took his already considerable Jeopardy! skills and adapted them to compete with James, especially with the wagering. I don’t think there can be any credible doubt he’s the G.O.A.T.!

    • Noumon Munir | January 16, 2020 at 3:49 am |

      yeahhh given that ken doenst play like james , he definitely had to adjust