Jeopardy! Masters

[Egg McMuffin]

I was hoping Mattea would pull it out. But the reality is that James dominated most of the tournament. He deserved the W.

[Leeds]

Hey Matt, I guessed Castro too!

[shapeshifter]

6 hours ago, Bastet said:

I was surprised James didn't come up with the Warren Commission's report for his DD.

I was trying to think of the name of that Kennedy assassination report, but James was probably weighing various other possible responses from his vast Burden Of Knowledge that are way beyond my ken.

James's honed wagering skills give him that added edge when he needs it.

I think eventually Mattea could beat James, because I believe he would give Mattea that opportunity rather than refuse to play, but, being so young, it's possible Mattea will move on to some other realm of focus for their life.

Edited May 25, 2023 by shapeshifter

[shapeshifter]

board having technical difficulties; reported

Edited May 25, 2023 by shapeshifter

[LennieBriscoe]

Aaand another British-related FJ! Yay for us students of Brit Lit! So I knew Sir Thomas Malory! WOOT!  🥳 

(Didn't get FJ #1, Dar-es-Salaam, though.)

Congratulations,  James! 🏆

Ken, you are a masterful host! 👏

Edited May 25, 2023 by LennieBriscoe

[laredhead]

Prize $$ question - does anyone know how tax deductions work when a Canadian citizen wins $$ on American quiz shows?  Do they have to pay U.S. taxes as well as Canadian taxes?  Just curious as to how much Mattea would net out of that $250,000.

 

[ams1001]

9 hours ago, Leeds said:

Loved Ken's Santos joke.

I burst out laughing at that one.

[Bliss]

28 minutes ago, laredhead said:

Prize $$ question - does anyone know how tax deductions work when a Canadian citizen wins $$ on American quiz shows?  Do they have to pay U.S. taxes as well as Canadian taxes?  Just curious as to how much Mattea would net out of that $250,000.

 

I believe Mattea will have to pay withholding taxes in the US (probably about 40% or so). Net = approx $150,000.

Luckily, our Cdn tax system considers "winnings" tax free. However, they'll eventually pay tax on whatever their winnings earn.

[Trey]

In game 1 I got the ts of Wagner Group but did not get FJ.

In game 2 I got Warren Commission and Michael J. Pollard. I translated the Latin in FJ more or less correctly but it did not lead me any further - I might have got to Malory if I had another thirty seconds.  I am very sure James knew White wasn't correct but wanted to let it be known that he translated the Latin and knew who wrote The Once and Future King and what it was more or less based on.

At the end of the DJ round I realized James' and Mattea's combined scores were pretty much even and it would all come down to wagering and getting the correct answer.  I can't fault Mattea for their wager, but if only they had known!(Shades of Mary Roberts Rinehart)

So, I was disappointed Mattea lost, not surprised James won but at least he didn't win it in a runaway. 

Edited May 25, 2023 by Trey

[Shrek]

2 hours ago, Bliss said:

I believe Mattea will have to pay withholding taxes in the US (probably about 40% or so). Net = approx $150,000.

 

You believe incorrectly. 

[opus]

13 hours ago, secnarf said:

Oh Mattea! If you had only wagered a couple thousand less.

Yup, James's betting history bluffed Mattea into overbetting.

[SomeTameGazelle]

28 minutes ago, opus said:

Yup, James's betting history bluffed Mattea into overbetting.

I don't think people in general realize how smart James' wagers are. They think he is a loose cannon recklessly betting huge sums of money all the time. But he has an extremely good sense of when he can afford to go all in and when it doesn't make sense. 

Mattea understood throughout the tournament that her best chance was to go all in on the DDs and it paid off for her. I don't think she made a bad decision with her final FJ wager either. She had to make a choice and it was a reasonable one under the circumstances. James comments a bit here (also there may be an egg cracked):

 

 

Edited May 25, 2023 by SomeTameGazelle

[mertensia]

I really thought Mattea would do it.

Once I figured out what the Latin meant I went from White to Malory.

Congrats to James! 

[illdoc]

15 hours ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

I did wish that Ken had said more about the track that James was on with T.H. White.

It does give me joy that (a) I knew what the Latin was and (b) I came up with the same answer as James (even though I suspected that the book wasn't that old)! I take my "victories" where I can!

[ProudMary]

2 hours ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

I don't think people in general realize how smart James' wagers are. They think he is a loose cannon recklessly betting huge sums of money all the time. But he has an extremely good sense of when he can afford to go all in and when it doesn't make sense.

Perhaps surprising for those who are just now being introduced to James Holzhauer, "self-professed game show villain", however, those of us who are aware that his actual "occupation" is Professional Gambler, it's certainly not a big surprise that his wagering ability is a huge part of his skill set.

 

[shapeshifter]

2 hours ago, SomeTameGazelle said:

Great post-Masters interview!!!

[MerBearHou]

18 minutes ago, shapeshifter said:

Great post-Masters interview!!!

Loved watching that -- thank you for posting!  I thought they did a fantastic job with this first ever Masters tournament.  As was said in this interview, it was "great television" from Ken as the ideal host to the impressive competitors to the high level of play to the humor, warmth and clear friendships between this group.  

I'm glad to hear they're already planning the second one -- will be interesting to see the tweaks they make.  

Edited May 25, 2023 by MerBearHou

[crashdown]

2 hours ago, mertensia said:

Once I figured out what the Latin meant I went from White to Malory.

It was an instaget for me, and I never would have thought that my eighth-grade obsession with all things Arthurian would ever come in handy! (I may or may not have tried to read Malory in middle English just for kicks. I was a deeply weird kid!)

Edited May 25, 2023 by crashdown

[catrice2]

Congrats to James.  Always a favorite. 

Edited May 26, 2023 by catrice2

[Prevailing Wind]

I'm catching up. After that main thread's discussion of the Kit Carson joke, I cracked up when there was a Kit Carson clue.

Stephan Pastis, the creator of "Pearls Before Swine" posted the clue on FB, saying he was pretty confident he knew the correct response.

Awwww... There was a Tina Turner response. Damn.

ETA: I knew Pierre Boulle. I read the book years ago, after the first movie came out and, as usual, the book was SO MUCH better, especially the ending.

Edited May 26, 2023 by Prevailing Wind

[HyeChaps]

Another of these Masters Tournaments is certainly something to which we can look forward.  Please, nothing with teens!

[Leeds]

Can someone explain the "James as villain" references?  Villain is not a word that comes to mind when I think of him.  Thanks!

[LennieBriscoe]

It's  beyond late, but....what is a "TS"? Help me get "Taylor Swift" outta my brain! ☺

[chitowngirl]

16 minutes ago, LennieBriscoe said:

It's  beyond late, but....what is a "TS"? Help me get "Taylor Swift" outta my brain! ☺

Triple Stumper-an answer all three miss

[SomeTameGazelle]

5 hours ago, Leeds said:

Can someone explain the "James as villain" references?  Villain is not a word that comes to mind when I think of him.  Thanks!

For the Masters tournament he was introduced every day as a "self-described game show villain". On the Chase (where he is one of the Chasers) the Chaser is supposed to trash talk the contestants. 

 

[shapeshifter]

1 hour ago, LennieBriscoe said:

It's  beyond late, but....what is a "TS"? Help me get "Taylor Swift" outta my brain! ☺

51 minutes ago, chitowngirl said:

Triple Stumper-an answer all three miss

See also:   forums.primetimer.com/topic/25226-what-is-the-jeopardy-glossary. 
— which might need a Masters Tournament acronym added at some point. 

 

[possibilities]

I realize that different people enjoy different things, but that interview with James has him saying that he thinks the villain persona makes for good television. For me personally, it's the thing I found annoying about the tournament, which I otherwise enjoyed.

[shapeshifter]

20 minutes ago, possibilities said:

I realize that different people enjoy different things, but that interview with James has him saying that he thinks the villain persona makes for good television. For me personally, it's the thing I found annoying about the tournament, which I otherwise enjoyed.

James' Game Show Villain persona pretty much disappeared at some point in the tournament, so I guess he (and others) agree with you that it was too OTT for the Jeopardy! Masters Tourney. 

[dcalley]

On 5/23/2023 at 9:44 PM, secnarf said:

I said this before, but I am really surprised at how close to airing this was filmed. But I wonder how big the gap was between the first seven games and the back three - even with Mattea's father's death - since Sam (and hopefully Amy?) were still in the audience for the semifinals at least.

J-Archive now lists tape dates at the bottom of each game page. Although the last week of the tournament is not yet in the Archive, those tape dates still display when you hover over the links [for me, on desktop]. I don't know if the hovering trick works on mobile/other browsers, so here they are:

Games 1-6: March 14

Games 7-8: March 15

Games 9-14: May 2

Games 15-20: May 15

On 5/25/2023 at 2:51 PM, MerBearHou said:

I'm glad to hear they're already planning the second one -- will be interesting to see the tweaks they make.  

Getting rid of the silly Daily Double location reveal would be fine by me!

[Browncoat]

4 hours ago, dcalley said:

Getting rid of the silly Daily Double location reveal would be fine by me!

What was the point of that?  Showing us where the DDs are adds nothing, imo.

[chicagofan]

I agree. I looked the first time, didn’t see the point and then closed my eyes during the reveal the rest of the tournament.

[ams1001]

4 hours ago, chicagofan said:

I agree. I looked the first time, didn’t see the point and then closed my eyes during the reveal the rest of the tournament.

I didn't purposely look or not look. If I happened to be looking toward my TV when they showed it, I noted them, and, unless they picked them right away, pretty much forgot where they were almost immediately. So it was kind of pointless for me either way. If I missed it, I didn't care.

Edited May 27, 2023 by ams1001

[Bastet]

2 hours ago, ams1001 said:

I didn't purposely look or not look. If I happened to be looking toward my TV when they showed it, I noted them, and, unless they picked them right away, pretty much forgot where they were almost immediately. So it was kind of pointless for me either way. If I missed it, I didn't care.

I could have written this word for word -- that's what I did, and how I felt about it. 

[Prevailing Wind]

I think it was supposed to engender suspense, like when they start at the bottom, work their way up, and veer off to another category just before the DD. The home viewer is supposed to get all, "Aw, damn! You moved away from it!" as though that makes a difference.

It does bring up a different question, though... Would Bialik be as breathlessly surprised by a contestant finding the DD if the home viewer already knows where it is? Would she still giggle?

[shapeshifter]

16 hours ago, Prevailing Wind said:

It does bring up a different question, though... Would Bialik be as breathlessly surprised by a contestant finding the DD if the home viewer already knows where it is? Would she still giggle?

Since I've concluded that Mayim's giggling at the DDs is an uncontrollable nervous reaction to the alarm sounds and strobing lights (if I'm correct about those) I now wonder if they were trying out this pre-DD reveal on The Masters to see if they could introduce it into regular Jeopardy! to enable Mayim to not react so viscerally? 

[opus]

I'm imagining an alternate universe where the Daily Doubles were always revealed ahead to the home audience, and in the Masters Tourney they decided to keep it secret till the contestants found them.

[SomeTameGazelle]

4 hours ago, shapeshifter said:

Since I've concluded that Mayim's giggling at the DDs is an uncontrollable nervous reaction to the alarm sounds and strobing lights (if I'm correct about those) I now wonder if they were trying out this pre-DD reveal on The Masters to see if they could introduce it into regular Jeopardy! to enable Mayim to not react so viscerally? 

The host already knows so I don't see how the secret reveal to the audience would make any difference from that perspective. In fact I imagine what prompted them to try this experiment is that Ken and/or Mayim mentioned that it creates suspense for them as the contestants blunder around just missing the DD and so Jeopardy decided to offer the scintillating experience to us the audience. I don't know what Michael Davies' sports analogy for *that* is.

 

[30 Helens]

I know Mayim is trying to bring positive energy with her giggling reactions to the DD reveals, but I think it just makes her look simple-minded. She reminds me of a baby playing peekaboo. It’s cute when a 6-month old is continuously delighted by the reveal, less so when the baby is 47 years old.

On 5/25/2023 at 1:34 PM, shapeshifter said:

Great post-Masters interview!!!

I don’t care what anyone says (including the man himself), James is just a giant teddy bear. 

[ams1001]

Just got this headline on my phone:

Jeopardy! execs admit drastic change for Masters special may not return

...referring to the reveal of the Daily Double positions. 

"Drastic"? Really? 🙄

[SomeTameGazelle]

1 hour ago, ams1001 said:

Just got this headline on my phone:

Jeopardy! execs admit drastic change for Masters special may not return

...referring to the reveal of the Daily Double positions. 

"Drastic"? Really? 🙄

As they sang in Schmicago:

Quote

Does that shock you?
We hope it shocks you
'Cause we're really putting a lot of effort into it

Edited June 1, 2023 by SomeTameGazelle
Formatting

[film noire]

I loved every minute of the tournament -  Ken's hosting, the camaraderie of the contestants, the hugs and handshakes, the upbeat mood of the audience  - it all felt so lighthearted, but also important to the players. A pleasure to watch.

Edited June 2, 2023 by film noire

[Prevailing Wind]

I just finished watching it this afternoon. I love the mock-snark between Ken & James. And the "K-Dog" names Sam came up with for Ken were hysterical.

 

[MrAtoz]

Tooke me awhile to finish all of it as well.

I think James's "supervillain" persona had completely crumbled by the end, especially when he hugged Mattea after the final game, and you could hear him say "You played a great game, your dad is so proud of you!"

I don't know about the idea of doing this every year.  I'm not sure they'll ever be able to recapture the chemistry they had here.

[shapeshifter]

26 minutes ago, MrAtoz said:

I think James's "supervillain" persona had completely crumbled by the end, especially when he hugged Mattea after the final game, and you could hear him say "You played a great game, your dad is so proud of you!"

🥲

[annzeepark914]

On 6/2/2023 at 10:40 AM, MrAtoz said:

I don't know about the idea of doing this every year.  I'm not sure they'll ever be able to recapture the chemistry they had here.

Would it be the same people? Does any other contestant come close (other than Brad) in winning so many games?

[chicagofan]

We know that James, Mattea and Matt will be 3 of the contestants for Masters redux as we were told that the 3 finalists would return. Unless there's a new champion that appears that they deem worthy they could go old school with someone like Brad, or just bring back more of this year's crew since the camaraderie was so special, especially with Ken as host. Last season/early this season was something of an outlier with all the super-champions and then Sam charming our socks off winning the Professors Tournament and making the finals in the TOC. We'll just have to wait and see what happens between then and now.

Edited June 4, 2023 by chicagofan

[possibilities]

There haven't been a lot of long winning streaks lately, so I do think it's a bit of a question who they could invite, unless they recall the same folks as they had this time. And I do think it might be risky to try to repeat the exact same group. It will either be great-- same great energy-- or people will be disappointed and bored. 

[chicagofan]

There have been a few double digit winners - Ryan Long and Ray Lalonde - but the only recent champ with more than 20 wins is Cris Pannullo. Ryan was knocked out of the last TOC in the first round but Ray and Cris will be in the next TOC. And Andrew barely made the last TOC having only 5 wins in regular play before he was beaten by Amy (I love me some J! Archives). I think he and Sam made the Masters group by being finalists in the last TOC.  Maybe this year's TOC finalists will get some consideration.

[ATS]

They talked about next year's Masters Tournament plans on the the Inside Jeopardy podcast.  They have the go ahead for a tournament next year but don't know the number of shows yet.  They said if the number of shows was similar to this year and they kept six contestants, those 6 contestants would be - 3 Masters finalists from this year, TOC winner, Jeopardy Invitational Tournament winner (I haven't heard any details about that other than Sam, Amy and Andrew are invited to participate in it) and a producers pick.

[ProudMary]

I'm calling this but it does not make me happy:

I'll bet we end up with Yogesh in the next Jeopardy! Masters Tournament. The producers seem to want him in the mix. I know he's been asked back for the Champions' Wildcard Tournament, (all S39, 1, 2 and 3 day champions) whose winner is getting a TOC slot, so if he wins he gets an automatic slot in Masters. Otherwise, there's that Producers' Pick wild card. 😒