You think you know how to play Jeopardy!, don’t you? Answer in the form of a question, study your
butt off, capitalize on anything that feels trendy, and press the buzzer when
Trebek stops yapping, not before. It’s worked for hundreds of people. But a new
champion is showing that there’s a better way, using game theory to get an edge
on the other folks playing against him. People hate it.
So far Arthur Chu’s won three episodes of the long-running
game show, which doesn’t exactly put him in Ken Jennings territory. But it’s
not just about him winning, according to The Wire It’s Chu’s method for beating other contestants
that has audiences rooting against him. He relentlessly hunts for the Daily
Double clues in each round, clearing out the bottom three rows of the board so
that he can get to them before anyone else. Once he gets a Daily Double, he
either bets really big or really small. The point is to keep the game-changing opportunity
out of opponents’ hands. This, of course, undercuts the tension of the game.
Couple Chu’s unorthodox style with incessant buzzer pressing
and an odd set of quirks and you’ve got Jeopardy!-holics trashing him for
ruining their favorite answer-with-a-question pastime. But if he winds up racking
up a hot streak for the ages, chances are we’ll see a lot more players trying
out this model on the air.
You can read our interview with Chu here, in which he explains his methods in a little bit more detail.
https://lastchance.cc/meet-the-man-who-hacked-jeopardy-1516792430%3C/a%3E%3C/p%3E
