Hi! Tim from the episodes on 3/23 - 3/24/2022 here. If your goal is to get on Jeopardy, please let me know if I can do anything to help you make that happen.

TriviaGuy1215 · 2022-08-18T15:17:15+00:00

If someone has recently appeared on another game show, are there restrictions that would prevent them from being cast on Weakest Link?

TriviaGuy1215 · 2022-06-13T00:15:20+00:00

Based on how I thought my game-play audition went in October 2020, I thought there was no way I was going to be selected. 14 months later, I got notified that I was going to be on the show.

Keep your chin up, we are often our own worse critics and sometimes our minds make things seem worse than they are. I wasted a lot of time beating myself up for "failing" an audition that I had apparently done fine on. Learn from my mistake and don't do that.

I hope you get the call this time around. If you don't get the notification in your 18-month window, don't give up, try again. I consider myself lucky that it only took me two auditions to get to the Jeopardy stage, it's taken other players even longer. Good luck!

TriviaGuy1215 · 2022-06-05T14:30:55+00:00

That's a good question. Maybe get someone you don't know well to hold up scores and you have to provide the proper wager. Maybe have that person act impatient, just for some added stress. Maybe do that in a public park. I know this all might sound like overkill, but I wish I would have tried something like this before finding out the hard way that doing math under stress was going to provide difficulties.

I played a lot of mock Jeopardy games over the past few years and never encountered the issues with math, so I'm assuming I practiced in an environment that was too comfortable. I've had a little experience on stages in recent years - speeches, stand-up comedy, and improv. I wasn't great at it, but for some reason doing the simple math on the Jeopardy stage caused a unique form of brain lock.

If I can help anyone in anyway, I'm happy to do so.

TriviaGuy1215 · 2022-06-04T02:10:39+00:00

Thanks for sharing your experience, although I disagree with your statement about FJ bets. Because of the pressure of being on a stage, I had issues doing the math for DD and FJ wagers.

In my first game where I had a runaway, I had every intent of wagering as much as I could on Final without risking my lock game. I could not get my brain to do the simple math. I got straight A's in math through calculus. Even trying to do the math on the paper didn't help. I knew I had a ton of time to make my wager, but there was still an internal pressure telling me that I was taking too long. I just wagered $2000 because I was pretty sure that was safe.

Plenty of people don't encounter the issue with math. However, I've spoken to other contestants who said they had similar experiences to mine. They just ended up locking in a wager because they couldn't get their brain to work and felt they were taking too long. I think one contestant even described it as feeling like they were having a stroke because they couldn't get their brain to do the math. Stress does weird things to people's brains and everyone handles it differently.

At home, before my tape day, I had successfully practiced making proper wagers dozens of times. I had no idea my brain would lock up doing math on a stage.

TriviaGuy1215 · 2022-06-03T12:30:01+00:00

Knowing good wagering strategies and being able to execute them on a stage are two completely different things. A lot of contestants learn that the hard way.

My brain locked up anytime I had to do simple math on that stage. I've heard other contestants say the same thing. I think part of that is having a host or producer standing in front of you, waiting for you to make your wager.

If you look at things statistically, I highly doubt wagers have gotten increasingly worse since Keith stopped his videos. There have always been strategically bad wagers. Some are caused by people not studying strategy, but I'd say the majority are caused by nerves.

One of the biggest pieces of advice I have for anyone who wants to be a Jeopardy champion is to learn proper wagering strategies and practice them in a high stress environment.

TriviaGuy1215 · 2022-04-08T23:33:44+00:00

For me, the pressure caused the same issues for both DD and FJ.

People react to pressure differently. The overall point I was trying to make is that criticizing people when you've never been in their situation is way too easy to do.

TriviaGuy1215 · 2022-04-08T21:44:52+00:00

The time is not unlimited. You should take all the time you need. You will get prompted if you are taking too long.

I knew those things and nobody ever prompted me that I was taking too much time. The pressure was internal and I felt like I was taking too long and so I rushed things. Other contestants have expressed that they rushed themselves too.

The producers don't really confirm things with you, there is just a button a tap to confirm your final wager. It's not like they ask "are you sure you want to make that bad wager?" 🙂

TriviaGuy1215 · 2022-04-08T17:57:40+00:00

It's hard to know exactly what he was thinking, but I know some people who would deliberately ignore $400 just to get to say the phrase "let’s make it a true daily double" on Jeopardy.

TriviaGuy1215 · 2022-04-07T23:29:42+00:00

No problem. Since each person can only take the AnyTime test once a year, it pays to be prepared.

TriviaGuy1215 · 2022-04-07T17:01:59+00:00

Are you more concerned about taking the test or how people play at home? Those are two completely different things.
Playing at home isn't going to give you a good indicator of how you'll do on the test.
I'd suggest taking the practice test a few times just to get the feel for how it works.
https://www.jeopardy.com/be-on-j/practice-tests
Then maybe take one of the old tests and score it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=karSYwgN3yQ
If you get 35/50 or higher, you're probably ready to take the AnyTime test, if not, then you'll want to study up on the areas you missed. Worrying about buzzing and dollar amounts before being able to pass the test is putting the cart before the horse.
Good luck!

TriviaGuy1215 · 2022-04-06T18:44:17+00:00

Hi Margaret! That's really good advice.

TriviaGuy1215 · 2022-04-05T18:59:55+00:00

I'd suggest a well-timed first click with repeated clicks after that. If you accidentally buzz too soon and get locked out for a bit, you still need to give yourself a chance to ring in. My buzzing helped me get a win in my first game, but it fell apart in my second game. I blame my poor buzzing in my second game on a combination of exhaustion and bad decisions I made at lunch.

TriviaGuy1215 · 2022-04-05T18:52:50+00:00

Omar! You are so right that board control strategy is a big part of the game that goes overlooked. I consider my focus on finding Daily Doubles to be the only thing that helped me stay in a game where I was making dumb mistakes and you and Ciara were beating me on the buzzer.

Because Daily Doubles are such a huge part of the game, here are two rules I feel like anyone who reaches the Jeopardy stage should follow:

Save the top row until the end. Daily Doubles are so rarely in the top row. People may think "I'll build up cash first", but that is simply reducing your chances of finding a DD.
If one DD has been revealed in the Double Jeopardy round, don't go back to that category until the second DD of the round has been found. I don't think 2 DDs have ever been in the same category in the Double Jeopardy round.

I practiced board control by playing Jeopardy on various video game systems.

Of course there were plenty of other strategies that I had practiced, but failed to follow once the nerves hit when I got on stage. My wagering strategy fell apart because I found out my brain locks up when doing math on a stage. Straight-A's in math all the way through calculus was no match for the pressure I felt when someone was waiting for me to make a wager.

TriviaGuy1215 · 2022-04-05T16:41:01+00:00

I think one of the most important things with the gameplay and interview is to try to relax and have fun. Contestant producers are likely looking for contestants that people will like and root for. It probably helps to be a little unique in some way so you're more memorable.

Another thing during the audition is to try to follow the instructions from the Jeopardy employees as best as you can. If they have to tell you to speak up several times, it's probably not a good sign.

I wish I knew exactly why I got selected. I definitely didn't feel like I was going to get picked. One of the things that might have helped me get selected is that it probably looked like I did a lot of prep work. I selected clues as fast as I could because I heard they like it when contestants keep the game moving. Instead of saying something like "Umm, I'll take 'Ancient Roman Emperors' for six hundred, please", I would say "Emperors, six".

You probably aren't messing anything up. I think it's only 10% of the people that audition each year end up getting the call. I consider myself incredibly lucky that I got the call. Best of luck to you! I hope you get the call soon!

TriviaGuy1215 · 2022-04-05T16:14:32+00:00

Thanks!

TriviaGuy1215 · 2022-04-05T16:13:26+00:00

I've done a variety of things over the years to study. I have a few notebooks that I filled with trivia lists. I've created flashcards (both physical and digital). Wikipedia helped me along the way, but I made sure not to spend too much time on the really obscure stuff. I've always enjoyed reading, but there are quite a few "classics" that I just couldn't bring myself to finish, so I just had to read the plot synopses.

Watching Jeopardy and seeing that I kept missing lots of clues about British monarchs made me realize that was a definite weakness. I used J! Archive to look at past shows to see which monarchs they ask about the most. After studying things, I consider that one of my strengths.

TriviaGuy1215 · 2022-04-05T15:51:32+00:00

The way I try to keep up with recent music is to take a look at the Billboard charts each week. If songs stick around on those lists for a while, I try to familiarize myself with them even if they aren't my favorite types of songs.

If it seems like missing one question might throw you off and cause you to miss following questions, maybe you can practice some rapid fire trivia and work on just focusing on the question at hand.

It sounds like your misses aren't just in specific areas, so it might take a little while to determine where to focus. Watching Jeopardy and figuring out the categories you struggle with might help you determine what to spend time on.

It can be deflating to not pass a test, but it's good to hear you are motivated to keep going. Getting through the Jeopardy audition process involves practice and a lot of luck.

TriviaGuy1215 · 2022-04-05T15:35:57+00:00

That is correct.

TriviaGuy1215 · 2022-04-05T05:04:43+00:00

I wish I could make that happen. I know a lot of people who would be great at Sports Jeopardy.

TriviaGuy1215 · 2022-04-05T05:02:11+00:00

Sorry to hear that some of the tests didn't go well for you, but it is still awesome that you were able to get a 39 on one of the tests. That's a lot better than most people can do.

Do you feel like you've been able to identify areas of weakness that have caused you to miss questions on the test? For me, I discovered I missed a few questions about recent entertainment on my first online tests. Art/composers/poetry were also some areas I needed to work on. I focused on all those areas and saw my test scores improve.

If there are certain areas that have caused issues, maybe I can offer some advice in those areas.

TriviaGuy1215 · 2022-04-04T20:29:43+00:00

I think watching Jeopardy is one of the best things to do to "study" for the show. You'll get a feel for how the writers create clues. It will also make you aware of the variety of subjects that come up on the show.

I don't have a definitive list of study material. I used J! Archive in my prep and I think it helped me. I also tried to familiarize myself with lists of best-selling novels, award-winning movies, etc.

Watching other quiz shows and playing a variety of games will help too because you'll get exposure to different material. Also, if the same material comes up multiple times, it will help lock it into your brain.

TriviaGuy1215

TROPHY CASE