A recent article in Business Insider discusses how the current champion has employed game theory in his 3-game winning streak.  Arthur Chu has used an unorthodox strategy in his game play, and in his final round betting that has raised the ire of viewers and possibly Jeopardy! itself.

Screen shot via youtube/Business Insider

Using his knowledge of the typical location for the Daily Doubles, Arthur actively hunts for them in the lower half of the game board, jumping from category to category, instead of working his way down a column like many past players.  While the column approach allows players, and the audience, to ease into the harder questions, Arthur’s methods allow him to find the Daily Doubles and either take full advantage of them by betting heavy, or nullify them by betting a measly $5 in categories he doesn’t know.

In the final round, he takes the approach of not playing to beat the other players, but playing to get in to the next round.  This means he doesn’t bet the usual $1 more than the next player strategy.  Instead, his bets allow him to bring at least one player with him to the next round.  A wise strategy, especially if he feels the odds are in his favor of beating that player at some point down the stretch.

What do you think?  Is Arthur gaming the system, and, as a result, putting Jeopardy! in …. jeopardy?

 

Ouch.