It’s really pretty obvious. First, he intentionally only rang in for one Daily Double....
“It’s really pretty obvious. First, he intentionally only rang in for one Daily Double....”
Or to be slightly more accurate, Emma rang in quicker than him on two daily doubles.
Sorry, but that is just factually wrong. The contestants DO NOT KNOW which clues will have the Daily Doubles before they buzz in.
The computer knows... and, although I'm sure the show's producers deny it, they COULD control who gets the DD's. James hit one on his very first pick, when he had NO money... so, he was limited to a $1000 wager. The Librarian got all the others, later.. when she was able to wager a total of $10k, and got easy questions.
Clearly, the show did NOT want James to break Ken's record. This was the first show where he really was in range to do it. They brought in two of the BEST contestants ever... all together, they only got ONE incorrect answer on the entire show. The guy that came in third stole a lot of money in the Double Jeopardy round.
I saw every show James was in. I don't buy any theory that he was intentionally losing. The show just rigged it against him. He was still answering questions up to the very end. His last wager was smaller than usual, yes... but, that was a good strategy. He knew he couldn't catch the leader, if she got the answer correct and bet enough. (She did, on both counts). So, he wagered an amount that would keep him ahead of the third place guy, no matter what. That's what a professional gamble does: Analyze the situation, put yourself in the HIGHEST PROBABLY place for winning.
The Final Jeopardy question was a layup for Emma. It was her field of study in college. Hell, even I knew the answer, and English Lit is NOT my specialty.
Oh... for the record, James is, hands down, the BEST Jeopardy player ever. His average winning was more than DOUBLE that of Ken Jennings. James changed the show.
It's pretty obvious that you don't watch the show. You don't "ring in" for the Daily Double. When you are in control of the board, you find it by calling out a board piece.