And they said no one could make a living off a game show! Fret not! He’ll be OK! ‘Jeopardy!’ James Holzhauer will be OK!
First off, congratulations are in order. His go-for-the-jugular tactics were more than balanced out by his low-key fair play and good sportsmanship. He could have preened and strutted and made the self-righteous gestures the way, say, Matt Jackson did, but Jm. Holzhauer refrained, and for that we are grateful. And, anyway, Holzhauer was still, when the counting became official, five times the player Jackson was. Jm. Holzhauer > > > > > Matt Jackson, so that was nice.
As well, you can tell a lot about a player, especially a dominant champeen, by how he or she handles a successful daily-double wager made by a challenger. From what we could see, Holzhauer never failed to applaud generously when an opponent made a positive move. That’s class.
And now for the receipts, the numbers. In case you did not know, there is a statistical repository of the performance of just about every player of ‘Jeopardy!’ during the Alex Trebek era, the last 35 years. You can find it at: http://www.j-archive.com. It’s like what the old Baseball Encyclopedia was to that sport, or what baseball-reference.com is now.
At any rate, here’s Holzhauer’s numbers: http://www.j-archive.com/showplayerstats.php?player_id=12600
These numbers are Ruthian. His regular-season batting average was .596; in comparison, Ken Jennings’s was .597, which dips to .560 when tournament play is included. Holzhauer’s Coryat Score, an average-earnings measure based solely on the clues’ stated dollar-values and not sensitive to daily-double or Final Jeopardy! gains or losses, was $30,576; Jennings’s was $27,861. And of course in terms of average earnings per game, Holzhauer’s unprecedentedly bold wagering put him at $75,364; Jennings’s was $33,727.
In terms of correct responses, they both averaged about 35 a game. But Jennings was much more of an indiscriminate ringer-inner: he averaged more than 3 incorrect guesses per game; on the other buzzer, Holzhauer was wrong just over 1 time per game — one-third the unforced errors!
But the most telling stat: Final Jeopardy! hit-rate: Holzhauer, 97pc; Jennings, 68pc.
Good job, Jm. Holzhauer. Best wishes in the next Tournament of Champions.
N.B. Buzzy Cohen vs. A Randomly Selected Player of Yore…
http://www.j-archive.com/showplayerstats.php?player_id=11743
http://www.j-archive.com/showplayerstats.php?player_id=2970
Yes, obviously, that guy who said the thing about lies, damn lies and statistics was exceedingly correct! Got that, Fantasy Rotisserie Fan?!
Yesterday:
Arapahoe 3
#4 Picyourpoison ($79.60, BestLine Fair Odds 7.13-1)
Finger 7
#6 P J Advantage ($34.20, BestLine Fair Odds 6.09-1)
Keystone/Phila. Park/ParXXX 7
#4 Asphalt Paving ($56.80, BestLine Fair Odds 4.65-1)
Keystone/Phila. Park/ParXXX 10
#7 Seeking Shamrocks ($33, BestLine Fair Odds 7.00-1)
Thistle 7
#5 Kiss Sin Goodbye ($25.80, BestLine Fair Odds 4.41-1)
Louisiana 7 (Low-Priced Overlay of the Day)
#5 O’L Red ($7.60, BestLine Fair Odds 1.92-1)
Two selected races from Presque, with five win-overlay wagers there, zero wins.
WMF Report / Track-Trend Notes:
Available daily via Twitter feed: here.
Today:
Keystone/Phila. Park/ParXXX 4, 5, 7, 9.
