Warning: There may be spoilers in the post below at any point after 8:00 PM Eastern on January 7, 2020.
Tonight’s the night for Match #1 of the Jeopardy! Greatest of All Time! Here’s tonight’s game recap (for January 7, 2020):
Are you looking for the recap for tonight’s syndicated game? Find it here!
Today’s contestants:
Brad Rutter, currently on 0 wins
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Ken Jennings, currently on 0 wins
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James Holzhauer, currently on 0 wins
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This is currently a placeholder post which will be updated with Final Jeopardy! information and a game recap once it is known.
Preview: Anything can happen and a lot is unknown going into the first of these matches. The prediction model from December made Brad a very slight favorite going in. The winner of this match will certainly get some confidence and momentum for Match #2 tomorrow as well! In case anyone was wondering, these episodes were not live; taping began on December 10.
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!
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Part 1, Final Jeopardy! category: PRESIDENTS & THE BIBLE
Part 1, Final Jeopardy! clue: “Silent” Calvin Coolidge was inaugurated in 1925 on a bible open to this 6-word first line of the gospel according to John
Part 1, Final Jeopardy! correct response: What is “In the beginning was the word”?
Part 2, Final Jeopardy! category: ASTRONOMERS
Part 2, Final Jeopardy! clue: This man’s name was given to a comet that crashed into Jupiter in 1994; he’s the only human whose remains lie on the moon
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Part 2, Final Jeopardy! correct response: Who is (Eugene) Shoemaker?
Game 1 results:
Brad 5,200 + 5,200 = 10,400
James 16,600 + 16,600 = 33,200
Ken 33,200 + 11,800 = 45,000
Game 2 results:
Brad 10,000 – 10,000 = 0 + 10,400 = 10,400 (Who is Hale)?
Ken 12,200 + 6,200 = 18,400 + 45,000 = 63,400 (Game 1 winner)
James 15,000 + 15,000 = 30,000 + 33,200 = 63,200
Daily Double locations:
1) MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS $1000 (15th pick)
Brad 1800 +1800 (James 5200 Ken 4000)
2) DANCING WITH THE CZARS $1600 (1st pick)
Brad 4000 -4000 (James 7800 Ken 7000)
3) BEFORE, DURING & AFTER $1200 (4th pick)
Ken 8600 +8600 (James 9800 Brad 0)
4) GREATEST OF ALL TIME TRAVELLERS $600 (5th pick)
Ken 2400 +2400 (James 1000 Brad 0)
5) LET’S JAZZ UP THIS PLACE $1600 (1st pick)
Brad 3800 -3800 (James 8200 Ken 7000)
6) PHILOSOPHERS $2000 (7th pick)
Brad 2800 -2800 (Ken 10600 James 9800)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this match: 0
Unplayed clues:
Game 1, J! round: None!
Game 1, DJ! round: None!
Game 2, J! round: None!
Game 2, DJ! round: None!
Total $ Left On Board: $0
Game Stats:
Ken 36,200 Coryat, 48 correct, 5 incorrect, 43.86% in first on buzzer, 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
James 31,600 Coryat, 39 correct, 2 incorrect, 33.33% in first on buzzer, 3/3 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Brad 25,000 Coryat, 28 correct, 4 incorrect, 21.93% in first on buzzer, 3/3 on rebound attempts (on 7 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $92,800
Lach Trash: $2,400 (on 2 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $12,800
James Holzhauer, stats to date:
1,348 correct, 47 incorrect
41/44 on rebound attempts (on 82 rebound opportunities)
55.69% in first on buzzer (1228/2205)
78/84 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $676,988)
37/39 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $29,272
James Holzhauer, to win (per the prediction model):
Wins in 3: 0.000% of the time.
Wins in 4: 7.383% of the time.
Wins in 5: 12.928% of the time.
Wins in 6: 11.790% of the time.
Wins in 7: 5.866% of the time.
Overall: 37.966% of the time.
Ken Jennings, stats to date:
2,983 correct, 299 incorrect
108/134 on rebound attempts
58.66% in first on buzzer (2888/4923)
145/175 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $465,399)
56/85 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $26,386
Ken Jennings, to win (per the prediction model):
Wins in 3: 7.147% of the time.
Wins in 4: 10.393% of the time.
Wins in 5: 11.455% of the time.
Wins in 6: 8.249% of the time.
Wins in 7: 3.695% of the time.
Overall: 40.938% of the time.
Brad Rutter, stats to date:
722 correct, 81 incorrect
41/44 on rebound attempts
41.27% in first on buzzer (681/1650)
43/52 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $62,300)
16/27 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $19,124
Brad Rutter, to win (per the prediction model):
Wins in 3: 0.000% of the time.
Wins in 4: 3.059% of the time.
Wins in 5: 6.259% of the time.
Wins in 6: 7.434% of the time.
Wins in 7: 4.342% of the time.
Overall: 21.095% of the time.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- The turning point was absolutely the BEFORE, DURING & AFTER Daily Double, and it goes to show just what they can do. Good on Ken for going all-in. That buoyed a Double Jeopardy! round where he went 16/0 in the second half of Game 1, en route to a Game 1 $25,800 Coryat and a 27-20 advantage over James on the buzzer.
- James played very well for not seeing a Daily Double, and the prediction model is bullish on James’ chances, even though Ken is a slight favorite thanks to his Game 1 win.
- Brad’s interview comments about his brain losing a step were prescient; it felt like all 3 of his Daily Doubles were on the tip of his tongue, and he probably would have had them all in 2005. I’ve always said that he gives you one chance to beat you. Was this the one chance? Will he be able to bounce back tomorrow?
Contestant photo credit: jeopardy.com
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Were you able to get the FJ questions before air time because you were at the taping, or through some other source (or are they airing earlier than I thought)?
Keep up the great work. Your dedication to the site is inspiring.
In Atlantic Canada, the show airs at 8 PM local time (1 hour earlier).
So you know today’s winner! We want the spoilers. Pretty, pretty please?!!
In due time. In due time.
Brilliant!
I await the comments of anti-religious people and cries of “inside baseball” on the first Final Jeopardy.
Two fantastic FJ clues for this tournament, in my opinion.
I got the first one correct and I’ve been to exactly two church services in my entire life. 😉
I think the second DD in DJ! was poorly worded…”this double first-name philosopher..?” I was trying to think of someone with a double first name, like John-John. Looked to me that so was Brad.
I totally agree and said exactly the same think to my daughter. His response reflected the poor wording of the question as all he could come up with was Jean Paul Sartre. It should have been worded “This philosopher whose last name is also a first name…”
correction: thing
Also, the tape clearly looked like it had been edited before he chose the next clue…I’ll bet he said something about it.
For brad this is the same problem with Watson he’s not just playing ken but another quick person on the buzzer. I think ken wins in 6 3 for him 2 for James 1 for brad
I think it was more a matter of confidence. Ken got confidence after his True Daily Double, Brad lost his and was shellshocked a bit.
And don’t discount the fact that Ken Jennings has been behind that podium more than any other individual – it’s his second home.
Can someone tell me who the actors were that gave out clues in the 2nd game, double jeopardy round? The one guy played on a tv drama I used to watch and I can’t remember the name of it and it’s driving me nuts!
Bryan Cranston and Dax Shepard.
Dax Shepard was on Parenthood
In his biographical feature, Ken really seemed determined to finally climb the Brad Rudder mountain. In Game One, he seemed to be up to the task–very impressive!
Thank you for setting the tournament up on this site, Andy. Good job!
I NEVER KNEW THERE WAS A CORPSE ON THE MOON!
Oops! I just realized that this was most likely crematory remains.
Well, it’s more like ashes… but it was a great FJ. My thought was Gene Roddenbery, whose ashes were indeed shot into space, but nope.
Has there ever been a string of back-to-back games that saw six consecutive TDDs before?
It will all hinge on who gets the daily doubles and Brad seems to get most of them. I’ve seen enough, no matter the outcome, James is the greatest of all time!
Ken:
W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W
James:
W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W W
If you wanna be the GOAT…win baby!
If you’ve done this MORE THAN TWICE AS MUCH as the next guy in line…you the GOAT!
What a game! I guess Brad’s streak of never losing to a human came crashing down tonight. Ken and James looked like the best players (with tiny edge to Ken) but I’m not counting Brad out by any means.
In my opinion, Brad’s never losing to a human went out when he came in THIRD in the Watson tournament.
$200 was all there was between 1st and 2nd place! Wow, what a close finish. What would have happened if it was a tie?
There would have been a tiebreaker clue between the tied contestants.
A written or buzzer tiebreaker clue?
Buzzer.
Ken knew exactly how much he needed to bet to win, so the close finish wasn’t a total surprise, as he assumed that James would go all-in, as he did.