Welcome to the final day of Season 37. It’s the final day of Joe Buck’s guest hosting stint. $129,400 has been donated thus far to Kidsmart. Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category 19th Century American Women) for Friday, August 13, 2021 (Season 37, Game 230):
2 of the 3 women depicted on the first statue of real women in Central Park, unveiled in August 2020
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s contestants:
Rowan Ward, a chart caller and freelance writer from Chicago, Illinois
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Eric Shi, a project manager originally from Houston, Texas
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Matt Amodio, a Ph.D student from New Haven, Connecticut (17-day total: $547,600)
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Andy’s Pregame Thoughts: On this final day of Season 37, whoever wins will return on September 13 to defend their title. One thing to keep an eye out for today: if the winning total is $52,974 or higher, the show will have donated $3 million to charity over the course of the entire guest host stint.
Rowan’s listed their occupation as a chart caller; I think that of all of the guest hosts, Joe Buck is most likely to know what a chart caller is. (A chart caller basically works at a racetrack and watches horse races in detail in order to create the box score, or chart, for each race.)
PSA: The best way to keep COVID-19 at bay (and keep Jeopardy! producing new episodes) is for everybody to get their vaccinations as soon as they are able to. When wearing a mask, ensure that your mask covers both your nose and your mouth.
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: Who are (2 of) Sojourner Truth, Susan B. Anthony, and Elizabeth Cady Stanton?
More information about Final Jeopardy: (The following write-up is original content and is copyright 2021 The Jeopardy! Fan. It may not be copied without linked attribution back to this page.)
The statue features three famous American suffragettes, Truth, Anthony, and Stanton, in a statue unveiled August 26, 2020. As an article in Smithsonian Magazine mentioned, though, the statue itself was controversial. The original statue was only originally going to honor Anthony and Stanton, both of whom came under criticism for their failure to support the 15th Amendment, which gave Black men the right to vote. Sojourner Truth was added to the monument in recognition of her work in advancing the cause of Black women in America.
Photographs of the monument, which have Truth, Anthony, and Stanton from left to right, can also be found at the above-linked Smithsonian Magazine article.
We have many new offerings at The Jeopardy! Fan Online Store! Proceeds from the sale of the “Doctor Oz’s Fast-Acting Snake Oil Elixir” T-shirt are being donated to The Trevor Project:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Tonight’s results are below!
Scores going into Final:
Matt $27,200
Rowan $13,600
Eric $2,400
Tonight’s results:
Eric $2,400 – $0 = $2,400 (Who are :)?)
Rowan $13,600 – $13,600 = $0 (Who are Tubman + Truth?)
Matt $27,200 + $1 = $27,201 (Who is Anthony & Stanton?) (18-day total: $574,801)
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Rowan $7,000
Matt $6,600
Eric $4,000
Opening break taken after: 15 clues
Daily Double locations:
1) IDIOMS $800 (clue #8)
Rowan 2000 +2000 (Matt 3000 Eric 800)
2) NOVEL VOCABULARY $1200 (clue #5)
Matt 7800 +7800 (Eric 4000 Rowan 7800)
3) LOST $2000 (clue #15, $12400 left on board)
Rowan 15800 -5000 (Matt 20400 Eric 2000)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 168
Unplayed clues:
J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 211 (0.92 per episode average), 2 Daily Doubles
Game Stats:
Matt $20,600 Coryat, 24 correct, 2 incorrect, 42.11% in first on buzzer (24/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Eric $2,400 Coryat, 9 correct, 2 incorrect, 17.54% in first on buzzer (10/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Rowan $17,400 Coryat, 22 correct, 2 incorrect, 35.09% in first on buzzer (20/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $40,400
Lach Trash: $4,800 (on 4 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $8,800
Matt Amodio, career statistics:
576 correct, 64 incorrect
27/31 on rebound attempts (on 66 rebound opportunities)
54.35% in first on buzzer (550/1012)
35/40 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $122,000)
12/18 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $26,222
Eric Shi, career statistics:
9 correct, 3 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
17.54% in first on buzzer (10/57)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $2,400
Rowan Ward, career statistics:
22 correct, 3 incorrect
2/2 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
35.09% in first on buzzer (20/57)
1/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$3,000)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $17,400
Matt Amodio, to win:
19 games: 90.912%
20: 82.650%
21: 75.139%
22: 68.310%
23: 62.102%
Avg. streak: 28.004 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- $159,601 will be donated to Kidsmart; $2,974,227 is the final season total for all charities.
- Matt absolutely made the correct bet in Final Jeopardy – he is more likely to get Final Jeopardy! correct than he is to win a tiebreaker against Rowan—who ran him about as close on the signalling device as anyone has his entire run. Matt’s advantage was only 24-20. And, yes, $1 is the correct bet. While Rowan very likely wouldn’t have, enough challengers historically have failed to make the proper bet from second place to make it very worthwhile to only bet $1.
- This was the first game where Matt did not lead after the Jeopardy! round.
- Counting tournament play, Matt at $574,801 moves to #7 in all-time winnings. Matt Jackson sits #6 at $611.612.
- I like how Joe Buck signed off the way his father Jack Buck used to, “Thanks for your time this time. ‘Til next time, so long”.
Contestant photo credit: jeopardy.com
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I blindly picked Truth and Anthony cause they were the first two women from that century to come to me. I would’ve never gotten Stanton no matter how many guesses you gave me. I had to google her.
I would have guessed Anthony and Harriet Tubman. And my first question when I looked at the contestants was: What’s a chart caller? (no pun intended) And thanks to Andy, I have my answer.
Now that the season is over, I might as well give my ranking of all the guest hosts.
I may be a bit biased since he was the first one, but Ken knocked it out of the park for me. He got as close to being Alex as you can without being Alex, and his sign-off greatly improves my rating. I would be more than happy to have him as permanent host.
Aaron Rodgers somehow manages to pull off calm and collected without being boring, which is a monumental feat in my opinion.
LeVar Burton is around the same quality as Aaron Rodgers, but I put him one spot below because he can be a bit too enthusiastic at times.
Buzzy is a fan favorite, and for good reason. I think a lot of people would be happy with him being host, myself included, even if he can’t be a contestant anymore for that reason.
I was prepared to hate him, but Joe Buck surprisingly did a pretty good job this week. The only criticism I would give is to lower the volume of his voice a bit, but he’s probably at the point in his career where he just can’t. 🙂
Most of the other hosts are an interchangeable clump for me. I will say, people like Bill Whitaker or Katie Couric are at the bottom of the clump, not because they’re bad, but I think they’re a little too soft spoken for Jeopardy.
And lastly, even though he didn’t do too bad as host, I’m still obligated to put Dr. Oz at the bottom for all the stuff he’s done and said pre-Jeopardy.
Let me know what your rankings are!
I realize this will not be a popular opinion but it’s mine and I’m sticking with it.
Mike Richards was the absolute best, most like Alex, most natural, most enjoyable until Mayim, then Joe Buck surprised me with his excellent job.
I’m perfectly happy with Mike as daily host and Mayim doing specials. I don’t know if Joe wanted this full time job but I would like to see him again.
Regardless of his performance, his actions to bring himself into the conversation were unacceptable and should have been disqualifying.
Yo! Joe Buck was Great!!! I am so happy he was given a shot! I would not have mind him being the full time guy! Thanks Joe!
Buzzy, Ken, and David Faber 1,2,3. Buck was getting too full of himself in show four, and I expect more of the same tonight. LeVar was trying way too hard and it showed, unfortunately. Mayim is fine, and I would have no problem if she became the full-time host eventually. As for Richards, he was ok as host but would not have been in my top five.
I will first say that I have bad esses. So does Mike Richards, Ken Jennings. I could not stand Richards for that reason, and I may not actually be ‘able’ to watch the show with him as host. At least Ken softens them a bit, so he gets away with it because it does not grind into my ears. I feel Joe Buck was the best. Buzzy was awesome. Faber was awesome.
I liked Buzzy and Faber the best, too.
Since the host choice has already been made, I’m very pleased about Mayim Bialik and not at all pleased about Mike Richards.
Andy – once again, thanks for all you do. One question, above where you say ‘whomever wins’, is that one of your little ‘gotchas’ you put in here to catch people plagiarizing your work on other sites?
Andy I thank you again for all you’ve done here.. especially the whomever wins. With Mayim Bialik as the host for the college tourney, I wonder how mike will do now with Matt as the leading contender going into season 38?
My answer waas stanton and Truth of course. Tubman didn’t come to me at all. These women were my stuff that I studied during my elementary school years and even into middle school. OVerall matt I think will get a breather room for the entire month to relax and prepare for the next season. COngrats to him on his win
Lou:
Susan B. Anthony was the third, not Harriet Tubman.
Will be interesting to see if Matt takes the same abuse on Reddit (that infernal cesspool) for the $1 bet in a lock-tie game (absolutely the correct bet in my opinion) that an earlier contestant did this year.
Pretty good season in my view. Certainly a memorable one, and glad it ended with a pretty fun champion on an epic run. See you all for RichardsFest in September.
I must not understand the strategy of thee $1 bet… If they had gotten the correct answer they would have tied him but if he got it wrong, they would have dethroned him… Would he not have been better off forcing a tie breaker?
No. Here’s the numbers: https://andysaunders.link/2016/01/strategy-talk-why-you-should-bet-for-the-win.html
Note also that those numbers were calculated using average players. Both of the major variables taken into account here—Matt’s skill in Final compared to average and Rowan’s skill on the buzzer compared to average—would have worked against a $0 bet, such that in this case, the $1 bet was overwhelmingly the best choice.
Since Matt has not yet lost a game I suppose he will have to wait an entire year to be in a Tournament of Champions instead of the being in next one.
Or is the cutoff date not the end of the season?
Jeff, it seems lately like it has been about two years between Tournaments, but really i think it is based on reaching critical mass and getting 15 players who meet the qualifications. Usually winning 5 games is the first and major qualifier, regardless of winnings, although i believe the current list does include a 4-game winner right now. Matt will no doubt be at the top of any list for the next tournament, but we will have to see what happens after his run is done.
So probably, the maximum cutoff date is in January 2023.
The new season doesn’t start until September 13, as has been stated. Were those episodes shot immediately after the current ones, or did the players(ie, Matt) get any kind of break before starting to shoot the next season?
As best as I can tell, no Season 38 episodes have been taped. The show was waiting until the host was signed and announced.
It seems like they usually start taping the new season in August, so probably next week, the 17th and 18th, or possibly one more week later, and the events of this year may have pushed things back a bit, but I think they usually try to have about one month’s worth of shows (about 4 weeks) recorded before they actually start airing the new season, which usually starts the first full week after Labor Day.
The show’s website sometimes features a link to get tickets to attend a taping, and will list the dates of availability, but i did not see the link today; still you could always check it each July to see when they might start taping the new season.
I guess the long break between when these last shows were taped and the new ones will be could be good or not so good for Matt. He gets a nice long break, but hopefully he won’t lose his mojo. Of course, he had a great mojo even going into his game 1, so hopefully he will continue his amazing streak.
I don’t think that they’ve allowed for the general public to gain access to tapings at this point.
The catch is how much notice the initial contestants will get for a taping. It’s usually a month or so; did they take a chance and start calling people 3-4 weeks ago for tapings next week? Figuring they’d either have a host or could break glass and call on Ken, Buzzy, Mike, or Jimmy if necessary. Although they’d certainly want to start the new season with the new host.
The other alternative would be making calls to a lot of SoCal residents offering a slot if they’re willing to do it one a week or two’s notice. I won’t be surprised if close to the first month of new shows consists of almost exclusively “Originally from anywhere other than Southern California” folk and one guy from New Haven. : -)
Remember that the final wagers are made only after the category has been revealed, not the actual clue, and contestants are fully apprised of everyone’s scores, so Matt made the safe and reasonable bet. This also based on the fact that second place was much closer to him than was the case in most of his other games, in fact, exactly half of his total, so he really had to consider how they might wager, and plan accordingly, based, first upon them both getting the answer right, then on only his missing the final, and then on both of them missing the final. And each contestant has to assess the scores on their own and ‘do the math’; there is no help from the staff which are monitoring the process, although they may (ahem) occasionally ask that numbers be re-written if there might be confusion over the wager when reading it. Thankfully there is usually much more time given for wagering than the thirty seconds given to come up with the correct response.
Glad Matt won today, even if i have not seen the game. Have not seen the Thursday game, and may never see it, since the show is carried on the FOX affiliate in Denver, which pre-empted the show last night due to the “Field of Dreams” baseball game, which then went longer than planned and bumped Jeopardy! and Wheel out of their scheduled spots following the game.
But, nice to end the season a positive note for the returning champ (he can certainly afford to return for taping of the new season), plus Matt will also add to his amazing record with the unique distinction of now having played the game with 5 different hosts! (which probably will stand longer than earnings titles).
I, for one, plan to watch when the new season begins and even after Matt finishes his run. It’s still really about the players and the facts (and throughout Alex’s run, those two elements made the mainstream news more than what the host did, either on the show or in his personal life; a great model to follow and keep going into Season 38 and hopefully into Decade 5, too). Enjoy the re-runs for a couple weeks and, as a sign says on the Sony lot, showing Alex with the Clue Crew, “Never stop questioning.”
Matt is slacking off. Two times in a row, he won without the cushion of a runaway game. Before that, he has about two weeks of runaway games (I didnt count so I could be wrong).
At least it is now official. “The Mike and Matt Show” premiers in September. NOBODY can replace Alex Trebek. Would Merv Griffin have chosen Mike Richards?
No he isn’t. The competition has been getting better, he hasn’t been getting worse. He’s actually been cutting down on the amount of incorrect responses – he got 2 today and none yesterday, as opposed to the four he usually gets.
“While Rowan very likely wouldn’t have, enough challengers historically have failed to make the proper bet from second place to make it very worthwhile to only bet $1.”
I remember this happening earlier this season; in that particular game, it outright cost the second place challenger the win.
No one has commented on this, so I will. Rowan was basically playing Matt neck and neck- very impressive. This was a very dangerous game, and the daily doubles were the difference.
Trying again. What is Coryat?
A player’s score if all wagering is disregarded. In the Coryat score, there is no penalty for forced incorrect responses on Daily Doubles, but correct responses on Daily Doubles earn only the natural values of the clues, and any gain or loss from the Final Jeopardy! Round is ignored.
https://www.j-archive.com/help.php#coryatscore
Can’t wait to see Matt in a TOC, whenever that happens. He will certainly be the prohibitive favorite. As amazing as he has been, and will presumably continue to be, winning against TOC competition really takes it to another level.
Glad Matt won much deserved. However not too pleased with choice of hosts. Most too loud, too much talking heads
Levar Burton would ha e been great. But if you are the boss you vote yourself in above anyone else!!
To me, tonight’s show displays one of my peeves about the show. Rowan is the best Matt has faced and in fact they could potentially be better that him. Jeopardy should have a mechanism where common sense is used and these incredibly strong second place finishers get a chance to go on the show again. If they had been in Matt’s shoes instead of him in his very first game, it could be them that folks are talking about on the golf courses and at the water fountain. 🙂
That’s an interesting idea. Perhaps Jeopardy can have a future spin-off for Bialik to host along the lines of “Tournament of Losers” I can think of well over 15 players over the past few years who might qualify including Matt’s first victim and his last. Plus the winner, in lieu of a huge paycheck, could qualify for a do-over in a future regular match.
I was thinking along the lines of a “Redemption Tournament” of sorts where Jeopardy invites back the 15 people with the lowest scores after Double Jeopardy (example: Patrick Pearce with -7,400) and the winner gets a chance to play again along with a big payday. (Plus, the name sounds much nicer than “Tournament of Losers”.)
I disagree with Matt’s final bet. Since Rowan had to double their score ($13,600 x 2 = $27,200) to tie Matt, so their bet was correct. But Matt should have bet zero (to tie Rowan) or $22,399, just enough to out distant the third place contestant if he bet $2400 ($2400 x 2 = $4800) and correctly answered. By Matt betting $1 if he’s incorrect he loses to Rowan, if Rowan answers correctly, but would have come in second
Bruce:
You’re making the assumption that second place will bet everything, and that is a very dangerous assumption to make in this situation.
Matt is in a position where the future expected value of every win is about $338,000. Thus, he’s essentially risking a potential future $338,000 in order to win an extra $22,400.
In fact, enough second-placed players have failed to bet everything in this situation—including one earlier this season, even—that this bet becomes too risky to be worthwhile.
I agree with Bruce above. If Matt would have bet zero he would have guaranteed that he returns as champ or co-champ even if it means that he has to face Rowan again.His $1 bet gains him virtually no money but risks everything (meaning the ability to return and keep playing) if Rowan is correct with an all-in bet and Matt is incorrect. Remember Ken Jennings with FedEx and H&R Block. Why not take the sure thing? Am I missing something?
You are missing something huge. The rule changed in 2014. Ties no longer result in co-champions and are resolved by a tiebreaker clue.
Folks, the $1 bet is the correct bet! Stop trying to manufacture reasons or apply old rules to assert it is incorrect! Sheesh.
Oops. Now I see what I was missing: That they no longer allow co-champions but instead use a tie breaker (which pretty much is just a test of your signalling ability). Never mind.
A number of you have failed to demonstrate that you have read the Andy’s Thoughts section above, specifically the point where I outline exactly why betting exactly $1 is the best idea.
Do note that I have compiled nearly 4,000 episodes’ worth of empirical wagering data that I refer to when making my analyses.
Why is Jeopardy rerun on tonight? (August 16, 2021)
Friday was the season finale. Season 38 begins September 13.
Wow, almost $3,000,000 donated for good causes this season. That’s very impressive.