Tuesday, February 04, 2014

Math In The Real World

What would Watson say about this?
A talented “Jeopardy!” contestant has found a new strategy for winning the game, but his unique playing style has die-hard fans of the quiz show up in arms.

Arthur Chu is a three-time "Jeopardy!" champ who has won the competition using game theory. Instead of going for the easy questions first, he plays by jumping around the board in search of the coveted Daily Doubles. He also works to keep points away from his opponents.

“I don’t think I’m particularly smart,” Chu told The New York Post. “It was all about looking for the right strategy for studying and the right strategy for playing the game and drilling myself on it until it became second nature."
Boldface happily added by your RotLC host :)

4 comments:

  1. PeggyU12:14 AM

    What is wrong with strategy??? Isn't that what you're SUPPOSED to do in a competitive game? I've been watching recently, and I think Arthur Chu is terrific! Hope he makes big $$$!!!

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  2. I saw him interviewed last night...his strategy is not really that much of a strategy, beyond the fact that most of the daily doubles lie in the middle of the board, so he can potentially find more of them ... the problem is, if you find them early, before you've built up money, you don't have enough to take full advantage. There is a minimum amount you're allowed to bet, regardless of how much you have, but it's more advantageous to have answered more questions first ... you may increase your odds of winning, but you're probably reducing your expected gain. That said ... absolutely nothing wrong with it, if it works. Guy's still got to answer the questions correctly...

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  3. One of the key issues Max is not just getting the Daily Double, it's not letting your opponent get it. The gent may not be able to bet a lot if he gets it early in the round, but more importantly, his opponents can't bet a lot because they won't get it later in the round.

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  4. True enough, Steve ... I was thinking purely from the standpoint that if I were ever able to make it on to Jeopardy, I would want to win as much as possible ... but then again, you need to win to gain anything. It's certainly an interesting strategy ...

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