How Do You Play Along?

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triviawayne
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How Do You Play Along?

Post by triviawayne »

In the game recap & discussion threads, and in the coryat threads, it seems everyone knows their performance from the games, but I'm sure we all do it different. So as the title of this thread says, "how do you play along"?

I have a pen and paper, but keep score with my fingers as the game goes along. I keep track of my "straight score" (coryat, but I called it a straight score since season 1 when I began watching) and my score "with the bet" (that's what the pen & paper are for, so I can add/subtract wagers from my straight score). As far as DD wagering, I only allow myself to wager if I got the previous answer correct prior to the DD coming up. If I am betting on the DD, I allow myself to pause the show, but I don't feel I give myself an unreasonable time to come up with the question. I also keep track of how well I do in the $1600 & $2000 questions. I don't know why I do this, but I guess I just wondered one day how I did at the toughest of the tough.

Most shows I seem to run one or two categories, but I don't keep track of each category performance as many here seem to do. Then of course I bet on the final and assume others are "betting smart", but I guess betting smart depends on what any individual feels is the proper betting strategy.

This season my average straight score is $17308.57, but $16,775.05 with the betting. The champion average has been $11620.05 with the others averaging $11,620.05. These scores are prior to FJ. I have gotten 32.97% of the high dollar questions correct and 45.71% of the FJ correct (same percentage as the champions this season, other players are at 40.32%). Somehow, I did manage to go 5/5 on FJ this week!
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ihavejeoprosy
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Re: How Do You Play Along?

Post by ihavejeoprosy »

I cant remember right now, but theres someone who has a coryat calculator in thir sig. Ive found that to be very useful in calculating coryat scores. The only difference from classic coryat is that i neg myself wrong dds as i feel it gives a more comprehensive picture of my performance.

I answer dds even if i dont get the question before them as imo, the coryat is suposed to give you a picture of your cumulative score and is not necessary a game simulation.

Im usually in the 30-35,000 range.
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MinnesotaMyron
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Re: How Do You Play Along?

Post by MinnesotaMyron »

Hey, a chance to plug my infrequently-updated blog! This is the system I devised back when I was prepping for the show. If I play along, like for the ToC or something, I still use it.

http://theycallittrivia.blogspot.com/20 ... ecard.html

The system actually dates back to my first year of college, but I don't have any of those scorecards anymore, and I never went through and wrote down what I got wrong.
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hscer
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Re: How Do You Play Along?

Post by hscer »

Poorly.
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TheyCallMeMrKid
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Re: How Do You Play Along?

Post by TheyCallMeMrKid »

I have a piece of paper that I write all of the category names and all of the answer values arranged like the board. When I answer correctly, I put a check mark next to that $ value. When I answer incorrectly, I put an "X". When I clam, I put a dash. I treat the daily doubles like a regular question; I don't try to think of what I would wager. For FJ, I don't do any wagering calculations. At most, after seeing the category, I might say to myself that I would play this category aggressively or conservatively. I write down a FJ question.

If I have done this, I will go back and calculate my coryat score, but I don't necessarily do this every day. Some days I will just sit and watch the show, taking no notes.
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grindcore
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Re: How Do You Play Along?

Post by grindcore »

I play along with an excel sheet. correct responses I put in bold, incorrect in italics. DDs I just take at face value.

Don't really do FJ betting, although I suppose I should.
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Re: How Do You Play Along?

Post by Bamaman »

I have kept score a few times, but I found I did not enjoy the game as much because I was busy keeping score.

I do play along on DDs by stopping the video and pretending I am that person and betting as if I am in their spot. I then stop it again after Alex reads the answer so I have time to ponder it like the player does.

On FJ I figure out what each player should bet.
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JayK33
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Re: How Do You Play Along?

Post by JayK33 »

I just guess out loud. I don't keep track of my score.

However, me and a friend would go on the J-archive and play head-to-head with some of the older games, Daily Doubles and all included.
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Volante
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Re: How Do You Play Along?

Post by Volante »

Got a PHP + javascript scorer that does all the grunt work and gives me a record of my game.
Haven't been posting in the scores thread recently, but here's my box score for Friday for an example:

0222222221222211122211121121111122211222112111221222221111111 $22400 (31/0)

(0 = wrong, 1 = clam, 2 = right. Position 0 as the programmer counts is FJ!, 1-30 are J! starting with the 200s left to right, then 400s, 31-60 are DJ!)
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barandall800
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Re: How Do You Play Along?

Post by barandall800 »

I use an iPhone app to keep score as I go (Coryat). It's not quite accurate for recording how many R/W I got per round or anything, but it records my total score (I don't do any FJ wagers, I just give a response) each day, along with my score per round, which gives me an idea of how I'm progressing over time.
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dhkendall
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Re: How Do You Play Along?

Post by dhkendall »

Like a few others here, I use an Excel file that I record my daily stats on to judge my worthiness over the years, as well as where my strengths and weaknesses are. I also use a strict Coryat method as laid out by Karl Coryat himself - I have been assuming that's what everyone has been posting when they post their Coryat scores, as that's what several other champs use for their practice, as well as the method how Coryats are calculated on the Archive, so it's a bit disconcerting to see a few people posting "modified Coryats" with different modifications per person, as it doesn't give me much to compare to. But my ultimate goal is to compare my Coryats against what Karl says is good - I've been between $20,000 and $25,000 in my monthly averages lately (towards the higher end of that) which gives me a good shot at the test according to Karl, which is good.

I suggest that you try just strict Coryat as well, why mess with a good thing? Feel free to download the first file linked in this message, use row 1 to put the category names in (or an abbreviation thereof) in each round (after deleting the information already there, of course), put a 1 in the space if you got it, 0 if you didn't, and leave blank if clam. On DDs, simply put a 1 if you got it and leave blank if not (DD guessing is encouraged that way, since you can't clam a DD in real life). For Final, merely put a 0 or a 1 in cell I1 of the Final Scores tab depending on if you got it or not (it isn't going to change any of your money stats depending on if you got it or not, this is purely for just keeping track on if you got it or not, helps for Mark's poll), change the episode number in cell A1, copy and paste into your results spreadsheet, and you've just started tracking your Coryats by the method Karl Coryat meant it to be! Good luck!
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mxc_takeshi
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Re: How Do You Play Along?

Post by mxc_takeshi »

At first, I just counted the number of right answers on the left column and the number of wrong answers on the right column. I later modified it to where I write down the name of each category as they are revealed. From there, I tally up 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 (or 0) to the right of them, depending on how many I got right in that category. For Lach Trash, I write the answer out to the side and "DD" to signify that it was a Daily Double. Mom usually works at night while the game is going on, and she wants to know how many I answered correctly. I've never utilized Coryat scores or dollar values. My threshold of what I consider a good showing is usually 30 on a regular game, 20 on a TOC, and 40 on a Kids/Teen game, and perhaps 35 for College.
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zakharov
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Re: How Do You Play Along?

Post by zakharov »

I use an online Coryat calculator, following the standard method.
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Vanya
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Re: How Do You Play Along?

Post by Vanya »

I just watch the show and yell out answers. Y'all are just a little obsessive.
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jeff6286
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Re: How Do You Play Along?

Post by jeff6286 »

Vanya wrote:I just watch the show and yell out answers. Y'all are just a little obsessive.
Hey, we all have our bugaboos. You seen obsessed with informing us that it doesn't matter what a person bets as long as they win, and there's no valuable information to be gained as far as possibly learning to make a better bet in a similar situation in the future.

If you're only watching the show for entertainment, then maybe none of this matters, the number of clues you get or how the contestants wager. But if you're hoping/trying to get on the show, as many people here are, it can be useful in identifying your strengths and weaknesses and knowing where you need to improve. I'm talking about keeping Coryats, as well as following the wagering discussions, when possible, as these could help you learn strategies so that if you get on the show, you can give yourself the best possible chance to win.
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billiej
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Re: How Do You Play Along?

Post by billiej »

Bamaman wrote:I have kept score a few times, but I found I did not enjoy the game as much because I was busy keeping score.
Ditto. I just watch and yell at the TV like a crazy old person.

Oh, wait.... :roll:
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dhkendall
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Re: How Do You Play Along?

Post by dhkendall »

jeff6286 wrote:
Vanya wrote:I just watch the show and yell out answers. Y'all are just a little obsessive.
Hey, we all have our bugaboos. You seen obsessed with informing us that it doesn't matter what a person bets as long as they win, and there's no valuable information to be gained as far as possibly learning to make a better bet in a similar situation in the future.

If you're only watching the show for entertainment, then maybe none of this matters, the number of clues you get or how the contestants wager. But if you're hoping/trying to get on the show, as many people here are, it can be useful in identifying your strengths and weaknesses and knowing where you need to improve. I'm talking about keeping Coryats, as well as following the wagering discussions, when possible, as these could help you learn strategies so that if you get on the show, you can give yourself the best possible chance to win.
I would definitely agree with all this and yet there are contestants (and sometimes champs) who openly say "I don't watch the show much but I figured I'd try out and here I am tee hee lol!" So that method *does* work but I'd rather put my money on a proven horse.
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zakharov
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Re: How Do You Play Along?

Post by zakharov »

Why would you care how anyone else enjoys the show? :?:

I keep score partly to see how I do and partly to see my weaknesses. It's also fun to compare myself to others here and see how I measure up. Yes, I'm in the pool right now but the odds of getting the call are still low, so "practice" isn't a huge part of why I keep score. Still, once a week or so, I put away the score sheet and just watch the old-fashioned way, yelling out answers and heckling the players.
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triviawayne
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Re: How Do You Play Along?

Post by triviawayne »

zakharov: I am interested because I do keep score, and I know others just track number of correct answers, and others do other things. I find it interesting how people report how they did while watching the show, and just wondered about the methods others use to get their numbers.

I also thought that if I would gain an understanding of what others are doing, I could either a) improve my game; or b) find a method other than what I've been doing that will give me information about my performance that might interest me. I also know that people's perception and reality can be two different things. Those that don't really keep track and report one score as their perceived average are probably over-reporting. I'm not saying lying, I'm not saying anything other than what many people in many situations would report as "normal" is really not normal. Such as at my work when people used to say how many more calls seem to come in on a full moon, but they don't say that anymore after I proved the moon cycle meant absolutely nothing.

Even in my OP on this thread, I mentioned that I tend to run one or two categories per show, but since I don't actually track category performance, I might be surprised to find out that I might not actually achieve that.

Finally, I was hoping to find a method of tracking performance per category while also keeping score as I've always been without slowing down my watching and enjoyment of the show.
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zakharov
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Re: How Do You Play Along?

Post by zakharov »

That wasn't meant as a rebuke to you, it was directed at Vanya and the ensuing conversation. Sorry for the confusion!
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