He took a dive. His FJ bet was pathetic...why didn’t he wager more? Just covering the other guy gets him nothing...at that point it was either win the match or go home. He knew the woman was a strong player and that there was a high probably that she’d have the correct question for the FJ clue. And although she did make one ‘all in’ wager on a DD, her other DD wagers weren’t huge. James’ only chance for a win was to go big on FJ...why didn’t he do it? It’s not like was a stranger to big bets.

Missing out on the two 2nd-round DD picks was James’ undoing...betting big on DDs was what usually put the game out of reach for his opponents.

And if he did want to voluntarily bow out, why not do it after he bested Ken Jenning’s record? He only needed a little more than $60K :confused:

I also think he threw it. His FJ bet was uncharacterisitically small. In the past he's bet more than that when he was guarannteed a win even with a tiny FJ bet.

Also the clues seemed easier this time.

His choices were to win big or lose it all. He did neither. He broke with his strategy. If he didn't throw the match, he made a costly mistake. I'm going with the former.

James is so far above all of u$ at this "game"...

It's not over....He will meet KJ soon....Alex too :)!

That was one of the BEST games EVAR....all three....

And the new champion simply ROCKS...obvious from the git-go...you go girl! James enjoyed it as much as I did I'm sure...seriously....

That's my .02 worth....

Had both bet their max and answered correctly, Boettcher would still have one by one dollar. James' FJ actual wager would not have surpassed Boettcher's total even if she bet 0. What he did was bet on her betting big and not knowing the answer. That is the only possible way he could have won.

"The 34-year-old professional gambler correctly responded, "Who is [16th Century author Christopher] Marlowe?", but as host Alex Trebek pointed out, he made a conservative wager, betting only $1,399 of his $23,400, finishing the game with $24,799.

Boettcher, however, also responded correctly and wagered $20,201 of her $26,600, giving her a total of $46,801.

This ^^^^^

Will be interesting to watch today to see if she continues with the same strategy James used. When she went for the true daily double and got it right she put herself in the position to beat him. When she got the second daily double answer correct, his only real chance to win was for her to miss the final jeopardy question.

^^^^^True. If she kicks ass like James, I will keep watching. She is smart and fast on the button.

So if the shows are taped and delayed in advance. Do the contestants know James' strategy and can use the same against him? Do they allow contestants to watch taping of the show before they play?

I've watched many of his shows. Last night was very good. It's the first time I saw both opponents using his similar strategery.

I too think he may have played conservatively. Not intentionally to lose, but he could tell the game was up for grabs last night.

They tape two days a week, five shows a day. Contestants have a seating area in the audience and can watch the other players before their turn comes up.

He got taken down by bad luck - his strategy was to use the daily doubles to build a commanding lead, and the only one he got didn't help much. The other two players proved as knowledgeable as him with only one missed question, so the writing was on the wall when he was behind at Final Jeopardy. The only way to win was if his opponents missed the question and he didn't, and that was pretty unlikely.

Just my opinion but I don't think he tanked it.

That said, with his winnings and fame, I bet he was perfectly OK going out when he did - and obviously with a lot of respect for his opponent, as evident by the enthusiastic high five. She's a librarian and did well again tonight.

Nice to have a librarian doing so well. Something about that is reassuring...

The new champ reminds me of Kim Darby in the original True Grit. (showing my age)

I thought she sort of looks like a man.....

Definitely a gracious loser. On Twitter he responded to someone who said he would lose after making a cocky big bet on a daily double and lose, and his response was "Nope, James got his ass kicked straight up by an elite player who nailed her own big bets"

It seemed like James clicked in on many fewer "questions" than usual. The other two responded more often than usual, and that's why James didn't hit either daily double in round two. Emma got them both. He was uncharacteristically silent for long stretches. I'd like to see a stat comparing the number of his responses in the game he lost to the number of his responses in the other games.

James was being gracious even then.....NOBODY got their ass kicked. James saw from the start he had two very worthy and capable opponents....and all three went toe-to-toe like Ali-Frazier....

That's why it was the best Jeopardy single show that I can ever remember ;)!

The showdown between JH and KJ (2 week tourney w/ Alex) has already been taped....trust me....

I wrote it on the Internet :)!

No doubt that the show was starting to figure out what subjects that James excelled at, and started implementing the categories that he wasn't so knowledgable in.

The Russians put a 200 ms delay on James' buzzer!

I wrote it on the Internet!

It's TV folks....

There is no way they would do this and risk getting caught.

^^^^ Yup...as the saying goes...

That's why they play the game ;)

Do y'all know that saying? I wrote it....might be plagarized too....just not off the Internet.

I agree...Sony wouldn't risk losing those very lucrative sponsor deals for that show.

One thing that I did notice though was that the first round DD seemed to be coming up in the bottom row of clues more often than usual as James got deeper into his run. Knowing that he always went for the bottom row first, placing the DD there would limit the amount he could wager if/when he hit it. The first DD in Monday's match was in the bottom row again...he picked it right off the bat and could only wager $1K. Going in big on the DDs was a key part of James' strategy. I think there could've been some subtle manipulation involving the DD placement in an effort to slow him down a bit. Hard to prove that there was any funny business going on though... :rolleyes: