YAJT: or should it be YAKT? (JEOPARDY) (with POLL)

[HardcoreRobot]

So everyone's favorite Jeopardy player Ken just surpassed 1 million dollars in winnings. Much of his success has been attributed to his skill at being able to buzz in at just the right time. He gets most of the "easy" questions solely because he buzzes in faster than his opponents.

It has also been said that getting the timing down for the buzzing is difficult and some players blame it for their loss (maybe not in the Ken era, but perhaps historically). When there are 2 challengers and one champ returning only for the second or third time, they are all equally inexperienced to the timing required. Perhaps you can see where I am going with this, but now that he has won 30 episodes, he has had plenty of time to practice the timing and it shows.

So, is this an unfair advantage? Is anyone aware if the challengers have access to the "buzzing" system beforehand to get acclimated? Or is this just spoils for the victor?

 

[Modeps]

Oh please, he's still gotta answer the questons properly. It's not like that guy from Press Your Luck back in the day that figured out the pattern of the whammys.

 

[titansfan098]

The way I see it, Ken beat the previous champ when he first came on the show, so he had to learn the timing also. If he can do it, I'm sure someone else can too.

 

[Atomicus]

His know-it-all-ism is his biggest asset. Statistically each player has a 1/3 chance of buzzing in (not taking into the fact of response time). However, he knows a heck of a lot, so chances are in those "guaranteed" 1/3 chances of his, he will definitely get a majority of them right. And lets not forget that the other contestants don't know as much as he does, thus his buzzing opportunities goes up even further because the other people are going "DUH.... WHAT?".

 

[minendo]

some players blame it for their loss

They are just whiny bitches seeking an excuse to conform with the American way.

 

[Turkish]

Originally posted by: minendo

some players blame it for their loss

They are just whiny bitches seeking an excuse to conform with the American way.

:thumbsup:

 

[spidey07]

bwahahahaa...

<playground kid>
"But its not fair!! pout, pout"
<playground kid>

Yes he has an advantage, that's why he wins. He's simply a better player.

 

[RedRooster]

Screw fixing the buzzing system. If they want him off bad enough, they'll come up with some categories that he's statistically been weak in instead of feeding him the same easy crap week after week.

 

[Syringer]

I love his explanation for his winnings. He says he has a really short attention span, so he never really learns a lot of something, just a little bit of everything.

 

[Syringer]

And to answer the question, no, that's absolutely ridiculous.

 

[Turkish]

ken > you.

 

[HardcoreRobot]

Im not taking sides or complaining about anything! Im just bringing up a point. Before they changed the rule, this circumstance never would have occurred. Also, you guys really dont know the importance of having good buzzing technique. Not that I do either, just that when Ken can buzz in 90% of the time before anyone else, he not only gets first dibs on the gimmes, but also a chance to guess at some of the iffy ones before anyone else does.

Also, this thread has nothing to do with "getting ken off the show", I could care less. In fact I enjoy watching him play.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

No, I don't think this is any kind of unfair advantage. It's clearly an advantage, but to me it's like a sporting playoffs - the strongest team is entitled to some benefit (usually in playing the weakest teams first) by virtue of prior performance.

 

[BaboonGuy]

Originally posted by: RedRooster
Screw fixing the buzzing system. If they want him off bad enough, they'll come up with some categories that he's statistically been weak in instead of feeding him the same easy crap week after week.

Ken has no weak categories.

 

[Modeps]

Originally posted by: HardcoreRobot
Im not taking sides or complaining about anything! Im just bringing up a point. Before they changed the rule, this circumstance never would have occurred. Also, you guys really dont know the importance of having good buzzing technique. Not that I do either, just that when Ken can buzz in 90% of the time before anyone else, he not only gets first dibs on the gimmes, but also a chance to guess at some of the iffy ones before anyone else does.

Also, this thread has nothing to do with "getting ken off the show", I could care less. In fact I enjoy watching him play.

what rule?

 

[HardcoreRobot]

Originally posted by: minendo

some players blame it for their loss

They are just whiny bitches seeking an excuse to conform with the American way.

Or, it is a tricky system in which people that think of the answer first get prohibited from answering because they try to buzz in too quickly.

I agree that Ken not is winning because of the practice has had, but rather his trivia knowledge. HOWEVER, this practice has undoubtedly given him an extra edge over his challengers. The question is, whether this edge is unfair. Everyone has an opinion and thats fine!

 

[HardcoreRobot]

Originally posted by: Modeps

Originally posted by: HardcoreRobot
Im not taking sides or complaining about anything! Im just bringing up a point. Before they changed the rule, this circumstance never would have occurred. Also, you guys really dont know the importance of having good buzzing technique. Not that I do either, just that when Ken can buzz in 90% of the time before anyone else, he not only gets first dibs on the gimmes, but also a chance to guess at some of the iffy ones before anyone else does.

Also, this thread has nothing to do with "getting ken off the show", I could care less. In fact I enjoy watching him play.

what rule?

Previous to this season champions could only play 5 times. This season, its unlimited how many times they can return.

 

[simms]

Were you ON Jeopardy and lost to him? It's great that people are attracted to intellect rather than boobs and brawns. Let the guy be. I'd be pretty cool if there was a battle of intellects... not that it'd do terribly well, but all the same..

 

[ggavinmoss]

Another reason the challengers aren't coming close is their RE-tarded way of betting on Daily Double squares. If you're behind (which they all are) and you get a Daily Double on one of the first two questions in a category, you damn well better bet most of, if not all of, your score. Betting $700 here and $1100 there won't get you close. Ken bets in such a ridiculously conservative manner that challengers could definitely make it interesting.

-geoff

 

[ViRGE]

My understanding of the Jeopardy buzz system, is that it's manually unlocked after Alex finishes reading, and it's done by a different producer each day(they have several) so that no one can buzz in early(they need to wait for the light to turn off), and there isn't a recognizable pattern, since each producer is purposely different. As such, I don't think the buzzer is helping Ken at all, he really has no more idea of the timings on it than the next guy.

 

[Drekce]

What should they do? Implement Jeopardy socialism? Should they start Ken off at a negative dollar amount? Should they make his buzzer inoperable for two seconds after the question has been asked to give the other players a chance? Ken is a master of the game. There are others out there who CAN BEAT Ken, and one of them will eventually come forth. Ken is being attacked in much the same way as when a business does well and attempts are made to curtail its progress (Microsoft). Let the capitolism and competition of Jeopardy continue in the same way it has been for years. If the two "challengers" are not good enough to beat the returning champion then they have no business complaining about it.

 

[Fenixgoon]

ken > alex trebek

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Originally posted by: ggavinmoss
Another reason the challengers aren't coming close is their RE-tarded way of betting on Daily Double squares. If you're behind (which they all are) and you get a Daily Double on one of the first two questions in a category, you damn well better bet most of, if not all of, your score. Betting $700 here and $1100 there won't get you close. Ken bets in such a ridiculously conservative manner that challengers could definitely make it interesting.

-geoff

I wouldn't say Ken bets in a "ridiculously conservative manner" at all. He bets in an eccentric manner, in that he nearly always shoots for $5K increments, but I've seen him bet $5K or more on categories he is strong in. He has enjoyed a meaningful lead everytime I've ever seen him in a Daily Double, and to me it would be dumb to jeopardize (no pun intended!) his edge by overbetting.

Alex said last night that one other Jeopardy contestant has won more than a million dollars - does anyone know the story of this? They have had the 5-day max the entire time I have been watching the show, until this year, so I'd be interested to know how and when this happened.

EDIT: I found it - apparently they had a million-dollar Master's championship in 2002. May God help Ken's competitors if they ever have such a tournament again.

 

[Demon-Xanth]

Today's topics:
Getting laid.
Sewing.
What's in <challenger A>'s wallet.
What did <challenger B> have for dinner.
...

 

[DaveSimmons]

I'll take "Lessons from 'Harrison Bergeron'" for $500, Alex.