TheSunWillComeOut wrote:I've been rambling all over Twitter about the last two weeks of games, but let me just say here: The coolest thing about omgwheelhouse's epic performance is knowing how much work it took. He would have been a fearsome player even at his regular level of play, but since then, he's taken it to a stratospheric level of skill. He's clearly used the last few months very, very wisely.
For those who are still trying to get on the show, if you're truly ambitious, if your dream isn't just to get on Jeopardy! but to become a Jeopardy! champ, to potentially become one of the greats, know that your J! talent is something that you have the power within you to improve. Read as much as you can, play as much trivia as you can, write trivia questions to get a feel for what it's like from the writers' side. You can say, "Well, I don't want to get crazy about it," but know that the obsessives who love it, breathe it, live it, will always have the advantage.
To that I would add, think very carefully about the strategic elements of the game long before you get The Call -- including making a detailed study of the tutorials on The Final Wager website (taking into account that wagering for a tie is generally no longer a good strategy, so some of the optimal wagers will be a little different, albeit only by a dollar in many cases). And when you watch the show, each time a contestant has to wager on a DD or FJ, try to think about how much you would wager if you were that player. By the time you get The Call, you should have a game plan that covers scenarios for DD and FJ wagering, and you should know the basic principles cold -- so that when you're standing at that lectern, you'll be prepared when a particular situation comes up and you'll be less likely to make a critical mistake. And get as many lock games as possible so that you won't even have to try to answer the FJ's.
I would also add that writing trivia questions is a great way to increase your knowledge because you not only learn and reinforce the fact you're asking about, but along the way when you research the clues that you're writing you often come across related facts that you also didn't know before.