I have watched every game and he clearly uses his knowledge of the odds plus he really knows a lot of information.
I know they are supposed to select the questions far before the contestants are known and I know all the stuff about how they could not cheat.
I think they do cheat.
I don’t think they are giving them the answers or stuff like that but there are plenty of ways to give certain people an advantage.
Having said that, I doubt they really are cheating with him. He really is just that good.
You covered all the bases with your post. In fact you covered the outfield and infield as well. I’m not sure you even know where you stand on the issue of cheating, not cheating. 8>)
They dont cheat. These people are just odd recepticals of information.
I have watched every episode as well. What is amazing is the breadth of his knowledge. I'm pretty good at Jeopardy, and I can often keep up with many of the contestants. James, however, seems to know something about everything and leaves me in the dust. The fact that he took time off to study for a long time does explain a lot. He mentioned once on the show that he read a lot of books in the childrens' section of the library. That way, he probably knows at least the one thing you need to know about something. He either has an eidetic memory or he studied those books like flash cards until he memorized them.
I've seen at least a few shows in which the other contestants just stand there. If the question is something simple like "he was known as Tom Sawyer's friend", I know they know the answer. In some cases, they don't even seem to try to push their buttons. It's like they are dazed by James and forget to play.
I love watching Holzhauer and the whole household are rooting for him. His knowledge is impressive and I have speculated that perhaps he has a photographic memory. But he’s also excels with buzzing in which seems to trip up a lot of contestants. His unnerving gambling style keeps me on the edge of my seat. All hail James!
(After watching two weeks of those dummy teachers tonight will be a great treat!)
If I ever get on Jeopardy I hope every category is “Arcane Firearms Trivia”.