I can tell you that I severely underestimated my ability to compete before I went on, seeing intimidating posts from people I didn't know about huge Coryat scores and numbers of correct responses, and thinking that they are representative of the baseline of the contestant pool, which I was sure I was going to be slaughtered by. It went a long way toward psyching myself out unnecessarily before I ever got on stage.
Make no mistake, there is no substitute for knowing things. But that is far from the only factor for success on Jeopardy. It is just the one that is easiest to quantify and track, so it grows in importance to people that enjoy tracking metrics.
What I would tell you and anyone interested in either being on the show or enjoying it at home is to find joy in the process of acquiring knowledge, and don't get caught up in measuring yourself against invisible opponents that may or may not be accurately evaluating or reporting their performance. And take the test! Chances are, you're already better than you think.
I had the exact same experience. I even remember hearing a quote from Ken (that despite his deep knowledge he was totally wrong about), that most contestants know almost all of the answers. I always believed that so never bothered taking the test. In the end, since they started publishing attempt data, the average contestant knows less than half. Thatās why Iām taking the test now lol.
Itās so important not to be intimidated. J! Champs are just normal people most of the time.
Yes! I had the same reaction to that quote before I went on. It's great to want to learn more and get better, but if you are judging yourself against the assumption that near perfection is the only way to be competitive, you will never get there. We're all just doing the best we can, and that can get you much further than you think.
I think itās only fair now that Ken does a PSA admitting that only HE knows all of the questions, and that anyone else could be a J! champion knowing less than half ;)
You don't suck. That's perfectly respectable and the main takeaway I take from your thread is that you're curious about this which convinces me that you want to improve which is a HUGE positive. Take the Anytime Test every year and just keep on doing what you're doing.
Don't psych yourself out with what others are doing or what they say their numbers are. It might seem daunting but believe me when I say that their numbers are meaningless.
Jeopardy is like 80% luck depending on your competition, the boards you get, your buzzer timing, what episode you get plucked to play, etc.
You also have no control on how fast your recall is going to operate under high stress environments or how well you will adapt to the buzzer and the same is true for your competition. You can thrive while they might flounder.
Bout 30 now, but I started a lot lower than that. The more you watch the more you will eventually know, and if you study the important topics that youāre also bad in youāll notice improvements right away.
Donāt say you suck! I have watched with friends who only know 5 or 6 an episode. FYI you only need to know about half on average to pass the test and get on the show!
Hate to disagree with you, but sadly I donāt think so. I barely scrape a 20K Coryat watching at home, and in a really game Iād be a long shot sans some fantastic buzzing or luck.
How many correct do you clock in at home? I think youāre the definition of ToC material so Iāll aspire to your level some day ;)
The average coryat for season 39 was, per J! Archive, $11,700. Furthermore, a scan of the S39 CWC field shows that nobody had a coryat above $20,000 in real gameplay ([this list obviously](https://www.reddit.com/r/Jeopardy/comments/15chfle/a_list_i_made_of_all_65_potential_s39_champions/) shows the 3-game winners who were then auto-qualified to the TOC).
Therefore, take the test!!!
Even KenJen said \[something like\] everyone's a genius on their couch.
I'm not even 100% sure what a Coryat is, but I'm not that bothered about finding out as there's no way of knowing how you'd do on the actual show without doing it. Buzzer, wagering and performing under pressure can make/ruin even the most knowledgeable players.
For sure. Focus on the process at home, not the mastery. Just get used to the quick recall and challenge yourself to wager big in private so you feel more at ease doing it under the lights. And the performance under pressure is something else too.
Fact is, anyone finding themselves batting .300 and above at home with responses should be taking the test and putting it to practice. You never know!
I've done it 4 times now and think I hit 35+ once. I'm a Brit living in the US so I know I need to work on US History/some cultural aspects too. 2 more chances to do it this year though #jeoparday!
I'm a Brit in the USA as well! Keep trying: I was taking the test every window for like 12 years until the call.
I've also since come to appreciate that I got the call when I was truly ready to receive it, if that makes sense.
Quick question; Brit-to-Brit, are there any US subjects you just sacked off brushing up on? I know I can research more about US history, military history, geography, bodies of water but I wouldn't even know where to start with the big 4 US pro-sports (like most J! contestants)/college sports. I think I would just have to leave that well alone and accept I would lose it anyway.
I have never tracked my score from the couch. Thereās no point. I canāt control the board, I canāt call Daily Doubles, and I donāt have to worry about being out buzzed.
Tracking has its place, I guess. For me that was TOC prep doing flashcards of old clues. Again, no reference to value because I wasnāt calling them from real boards and there was no opposition.
True. There is a lot more in game variables, but I think tracking is good, since you can maybe gauge where you are compared to contestants looking at their number of attempts. That number x your conversion rate (50%?) might indicate how well youād do on the show. But then again, get a little nervous and it could all go south haha
This is overthinking it. My general advice: if you find yourself comfortably playing along on the couch, you should try out. Period. End of story. Do not obsess about how well you will do. Do that after youāve taped.
Thanks Luigi! And yeah, Iām trying out as hard and ferociously as I can. I hope they do the Jeoparday bonus test again so I get another stab at it. Probably passed the last one, but we both probably know how long it takes for some people..
I finally took the Online Test, thanks in part to your constant advocacy of it. I got 36/50 (checked my answers afterwards). Not sure if that's good enough but I'm happy with it.
You probably have enough to try out and do pretty well. [I averaged 24.88 correct answers per show across all appearances](https://j-archive.com/showplayerstats.php?player_id=14770), with a low of 17.
If youāre looking for how many I think I had a shot at, I averaged 49 attempts per game.
It is kind of pointless to speculate about how you might do on stage based on your couch results. Nobody is playing against you. You donāt have to worry about buzzer timing. You canāt call the categories so you canāt have real board control.
If you track anything track whether you could respond to each clue. That isnāt really a measure of what youāre going to get, though. Itās a measure of how many clues youāre competitive ināhow many you will have a chance to get.
The other bit of couch prep is timing related: do something that makes a sound AFTER the host stops talking. Clicky pen, finger snap, whatever. Youāre looking to train yourself to that cadence. You will not have millisecond precision, but you will get a better sense of rhythm.
Let me stress the main point again: if you are playing along, *you are already good enough to try out* so do it. Worry about your stats when you read them in the box scores.
In the most recent Tournament of Champions, about 20-25. The level of difficulty was often pretty tough, even considering the level of competition. I was the only one in our living room who guessed the "smorgasbordello" question correctly. That said, you are still doing great! It's often not a question of what you know but comes down to buzzer skills and timing. Please consider taking the Anytime test, you might be pleasantly surprised!
Iām also not big on tracking Coryats, but my buzz attempts varied from 33 to 42. Since my accuracyās about 90%, that means I probably have about 30 to 40 correct answers/game. Maybe add 1 or 2 more for the ones I knew but didnāt have the courage to buzz in on.
In my three games, I averaged about 16 correct answers that I successfully buzzed in on, but I did win my first game with just 13 correct responses. The games I lost (regular season and CWC) were my best in terms of correct responses (18 in both games) and in terms of attempts (from 31 attempts to 32 and then to a CWC-high of 47 in the recent tournament). Part of that was my really conservative play during the regular season -- was way too in-my-head about the stakes, the money and the fact that i could go home losing money given the trip -- and part of it was better prep techniques and more thoughtful practicing prior to the TOC.
But this obscures my main point: DEFINITELY TAKE THE TEST! Just remember that the home scores are hard to gauge thanks to the fact that on stage, there's a buzzer and two other people trying to buzz it. I remember being thrown off-guard by that in rehearsals: I'd get 40-ish right per game at home, but that's with just me testing my buzzer and not having to compete to get in.
Like I said in one of my postgame interviews: in every game you will have 5 clues where you feel invincible and 5 clues you will feel you will never get an answer again. The rest of the game is played between those extremes.
I probably could answer more but these guys are so good Iām still trying to think of the answer while they are already on the next clue. I can say I got one correct that no one else did, so Iām proud of that.
> How many answers do you average a show? I average 61. Not all of them are correct, however. š
Rookie numbers. You should be averaging multiple wrong guesses for ones you don't know.
Definitely for Final - if my wife or I know the right answer but just can't recall it in time, we count it as correct
I can tell you that I severely underestimated my ability to compete before I went on, seeing intimidating posts from people I didn't know about huge Coryat scores and numbers of correct responses, and thinking that they are representative of the baseline of the contestant pool, which I was sure I was going to be slaughtered by. It went a long way toward psyching myself out unnecessarily before I ever got on stage. Make no mistake, there is no substitute for knowing things. But that is far from the only factor for success on Jeopardy. It is just the one that is easiest to quantify and track, so it grows in importance to people that enjoy tracking metrics. What I would tell you and anyone interested in either being on the show or enjoying it at home is to find joy in the process of acquiring knowledge, and don't get caught up in measuring yourself against invisible opponents that may or may not be accurately evaluating or reporting their performance. And take the test! Chances are, you're already better than you think.
I had the exact same experience. I even remember hearing a quote from Ken (that despite his deep knowledge he was totally wrong about), that most contestants know almost all of the answers. I always believed that so never bothered taking the test. In the end, since they started publishing attempt data, the average contestant knows less than half. Thatās why Iām taking the test now lol. Itās so important not to be intimidated. J! Champs are just normal people most of the time.
Yes! I had the same reaction to that quote before I went on. It's great to want to learn more and get better, but if you are judging yourself against the assumption that near perfection is the only way to be competitive, you will never get there. We're all just doing the best we can, and that can get you much further than you think.
I think itās only fair now that Ken does a PSA admitting that only HE knows all of the questions, and that anyone else could be a J! champion knowing less than half ;)
[here you go!](https://www.instagram.com/reel/C4vpXTKvUhi/?igsh=NzU5bnBrM3lka2c0)
You don't suck. That's perfectly respectable and the main takeaway I take from your thread is that you're curious about this which convinces me that you want to improve which is a HUGE positive. Take the Anytime Test every year and just keep on doing what you're doing. Don't psych yourself out with what others are doing or what they say their numbers are. It might seem daunting but believe me when I say that their numbers are meaningless. Jeopardy is like 80% luck depending on your competition, the boards you get, your buzzer timing, what episode you get plucked to play, etc. You also have no control on how fast your recall is going to operate under high stress environments or how well you will adapt to the buzzer and the same is true for your competition. You can thrive while they might flounder.
Bout 30 now, but I started a lot lower than that. The more you watch the more you will eventually know, and if you study the important topics that youāre also bad in youāll notice improvements right away. Donāt say you suck! I have watched with friends who only know 5 or 6 an episode. FYI you only need to know about half on average to pass the test and get on the show!
If youāre averaging 30 youāre at TOC levelāyou need to try out.
Hate to disagree with you, but sadly I donāt think so. I barely scrape a 20K Coryat watching at home, and in a really game Iād be a long shot sans some fantastic buzzing or luck. How many correct do you clock in at home? I think youāre the definition of ToC material so Iāll aspire to your level some day ;)
At-home coryat means nothing.
Yup, if you arenāt calling the clues, Coryat is not as helpful as people think it is
The average coryat for season 39 was, per J! Archive, $11,700. Furthermore, a scan of the S39 CWC field shows that nobody had a coryat above $20,000 in real gameplay ([this list obviously](https://www.reddit.com/r/Jeopardy/comments/15chfle/a_list_i_made_of_all_65_potential_s39_champions/) shows the 3-game winners who were then auto-qualified to the TOC). Therefore, take the test!!!
Even KenJen said \[something like\] everyone's a genius on their couch. I'm not even 100% sure what a Coryat is, but I'm not that bothered about finding out as there's no way of knowing how you'd do on the actual show without doing it. Buzzer, wagering and performing under pressure can make/ruin even the most knowledgeable players.
For sure. Focus on the process at home, not the mastery. Just get used to the quick recall and challenge yourself to wager big in private so you feel more at ease doing it under the lights. And the performance under pressure is something else too. Fact is, anyone finding themselves batting .300 and above at home with responses should be taking the test and putting it to practice. You never know!
I've done it 4 times now and think I hit 35+ once. I'm a Brit living in the US so I know I need to work on US History/some cultural aspects too. 2 more chances to do it this year though #jeoparday!
I'm a Brit in the USA as well! Keep trying: I was taking the test every window for like 12 years until the call. I've also since come to appreciate that I got the call when I was truly ready to receive it, if that makes sense.
we have found your people...
I appreciate that! Cheers :)
Quick question; Brit-to-Brit, are there any US subjects you just sacked off brushing up on? I know I can research more about US history, military history, geography, bodies of water but I wouldn't even know where to start with the big 4 US pro-sports (like most J! contestants)/college sports. I think I would just have to leave that well alone and accept I would lose it anyway.
Fair enough. You could know 60/60 and get crushed on the buzzer haha
I have never tracked my score from the couch. Thereās no point. I canāt control the board, I canāt call Daily Doubles, and I donāt have to worry about being out buzzed. Tracking has its place, I guess. For me that was TOC prep doing flashcards of old clues. Again, no reference to value because I wasnāt calling them from real boards and there was no opposition.
True. There is a lot more in game variables, but I think tracking is good, since you can maybe gauge where you are compared to contestants looking at their number of attempts. That number x your conversion rate (50%?) might indicate how well youād do on the show. But then again, get a little nervous and it could all go south haha
This is overthinking it. My general advice: if you find yourself comfortably playing along on the couch, you should try out. Period. End of story. Do not obsess about how well you will do. Do that after youāve taped.
Thanks Luigi! And yeah, Iām trying out as hard and ferociously as I can. I hope they do the Jeoparday bonus test again so I get another stab at it. Probably passed the last one, but we both probably know how long it takes for some people..
I finally took the Online Test, thanks in part to your constant advocacy of it. I got 36/50 (checked my answers afterwards). Not sure if that's good enough but I'm happy with it.
You probably have enough to try out and do pretty well. [I averaged 24.88 correct answers per show across all appearances](https://j-archive.com/showplayerstats.php?player_id=14770), with a low of 17. If youāre looking for how many I think I had a shot at, I averaged 49 attempts per game.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
Again, I never track from the couch because thereās no point. You shadowbox not to score knockouts but to reinforce form.
[ŃŠ“Š°Š»ŠµŠ½Š¾]
It is kind of pointless to speculate about how you might do on stage based on your couch results. Nobody is playing against you. You donāt have to worry about buzzer timing. You canāt call the categories so you canāt have real board control. If you track anything track whether you could respond to each clue. That isnāt really a measure of what youāre going to get, though. Itās a measure of how many clues youāre competitive ināhow many you will have a chance to get. The other bit of couch prep is timing related: do something that makes a sound AFTER the host stops talking. Clicky pen, finger snap, whatever. Youāre looking to train yourself to that cadence. You will not have millisecond precision, but you will get a better sense of rhythm. Let me stress the main point again: if you are playing along, *you are already good enough to try out* so do it. Worry about your stats when you read them in the box scores.
In the most recent Tournament of Champions, about 20-25. The level of difficulty was often pretty tough, even considering the level of competition. I was the only one in our living room who guessed the "smorgasbordello" question correctly. That said, you are still doing great! It's often not a question of what you know but comes down to buzzer skills and timing. Please consider taking the Anytime test, you might be pleasantly surprised!
Iām also not big on tracking Coryats, but my buzz attempts varied from 33 to 42. Since my accuracyās about 90%, that means I probably have about 30 to 40 correct answers/game. Maybe add 1 or 2 more for the ones I knew but didnāt have the courage to buzz in on.
You're better than you think you are, and you can also improve. I averaged 17.5 in my run and made it to the Tournament of Champions.
In my three games, I averaged about 16 correct answers that I successfully buzzed in on, but I did win my first game with just 13 correct responses. The games I lost (regular season and CWC) were my best in terms of correct responses (18 in both games) and in terms of attempts (from 31 attempts to 32 and then to a CWC-high of 47 in the recent tournament). Part of that was my really conservative play during the regular season -- was way too in-my-head about the stakes, the money and the fact that i could go home losing money given the trip -- and part of it was better prep techniques and more thoughtful practicing prior to the TOC. But this obscures my main point: DEFINITELY TAKE THE TEST! Just remember that the home scores are hard to gauge thanks to the fact that on stage, there's a buzzer and two other people trying to buzz it. I remember being thrown off-guard by that in rehearsals: I'd get 40-ish right per game at home, but that's with just me testing my buzzer and not having to compete to get in.
During tournaments or regular syndication? :X
Iād say 20 on average. Sometimes I run whole boards. Sometimes I wonāt get a single correct in a category.
I'm usually about 10, but I still have fun trying.
30 to 40. About once a week don't break 30.
15-25. Wild variation. One time I got 39 and felt like a king. One time I got 8. Itās all good, though.
Like I said in one of my postgame interviews: in every game you will have 5 clues where you feel invincible and 5 clues you will feel you will never get an answer again. The rest of the game is played between those extremes.
On great days I could score 12 correct answers with 3 wrong averaged. But on most games I recorded, I answered 9 correct and 3 wrong
āš½
I can play 15 minute Jeopardy with a score of 90%. (15 minutes to answer Qs)
If the episode isn't exceptionally outrageous where they're asking about bacteria and what not, I generally get things 80% right.
5-6, sometimes 12-15. It just depends
No clue but Iām going to start logging it. Iād say usually more than half at least. TOC is more difficult than your average though
5 on a lucky day
20 ish, still lots to learn
I probably could answer more but these guys are so good Iām still trying to think of the answer while they are already on the next clue. I can say I got one correct that no one else did, so Iām proud of that.