After years and years of watching Jeopardy! on TV, you must be wondering, are these people really that smart? Could it be rigged? Is Jeopardy! scripted? Do they edit it to make folks look smarter? Is it even possible to defeat the winningest contestants? Realistically, there has never been a time when I was able to answer all the questions in one episode. It simply seems impossible. Do the contestants on Jeopardy! really just know a lot of random information? Do some just get lucky because the questions are easier? Are there Jeopardy! questions that come up more than once? Is there even a way to get good at trivia?
If you’re thinking about this, you’re not the first person! Many people wonder how it’s possible to answer so many random questions that have nothing to do with each other. At least in school, when you were preparing for a quiz, you knew exactly what to study for. Some teachers even prepared study guides for their students. Is there something like a study guide for Jeopardy! contestants? Are they told what to study for before the show just to make the viewing experience more pleasant? Let’s find out together!
Do They Really Know ~Everything~?
Probably not! After all, we’ve all seen players answer incorrectly. Even players that have gone on to win their game have given wrong answers during the show. There is no way to know everything, especially when it comes to Jeopardy!. Each game is so different from the previous when it comes to categories. The only way to prepare is to watch old Jeopardy! episodes, keep an open mind, and hope for the best!
Popular Jeopardy! contestants and lucky winners have admitted to using some tricks that helped them become successful in the Jeopardy! universe. We will discuss those tips and tricks in this article!
Are They Given a Study Guide or Something Beforehand?
Well, not exactly. There is no official study guide for each game, but the contestants do get some study materials before the game. These are referred to as the Prep Center and practice guides. Those don’t necessarily contain any clues regarding the upcoming game. Rather, they should be treated as general practice. Because each game has a variety of topics, some of which are new, it is almost impossible to prepare for the game.
They Watch the Show Religiously
Something you will hear almost every Jeopardy! contestant say is that they don’t miss an episode of the game show! By watching the show, you can not only prepare for the kind of questions you’d be getting as a contestant but also learn all the ins and outs of the game. For instance, your answer won’t be accepted unless it’s presented in the form of a question. This is an important detail that many contestants miss. There is truly nothing worse than giving the right answer and still losing because you didn’t say “What is…” in the beginning.
Jeopardy! contestant Simone Chavoor spent a lot of time watching Jeopardy! before going on the show. “I stood up in front of the TV every night with a ballpoint pen in my hand. I practiced the entire process, from ringing into saying the answer out loud in the form of a question—it’s a lot different than sitting on the couch and muttering the answer under your breath.”
Jeopardy! champion Jared Hall shared a similar statement and recommended watching the show as much as possible before going on it. “You’ll begin to notice recurring themes, repeated phrases, and subtle clues all over the board. Once you start to get inside the minds of the people who write the clues, coming up with your responses will be much easier.”
Practice Makes Perfect
Trivia is nothing like a school quiz. There is no way to study the material because there is no material to study. A good trivia game won’t have repeating questions. If you’re lucky, you’ll never have to answer the same question twice in your trivia career. If you do, you know that you’ve probably gone full circle and should find other places to play!
Nevertheless, practice really does make perfect, and that applies to trivia too. Even though you probably won’t have to answer the same question twice, you can get a feel for what trivia games are like by actually playing, joining in competitions like quiz bowls, and familiarizing yourself with the most common categories. Simone Chavoor wrote an article about her experience on the show. She said that she didn’t study for the game in advance. “I’ve done trivia contests all my life, from the National Geographic Bee in school, to making spending money competing in radio trivia contests in college, to being on a championship pub quiz team. So I just kept on doing those things…”
You heard it here first! The best way to prepare for your Jeopardy! game is to answer more trivia questions. There are many different formats you can explore. Play games with friends, research interesting topics, and ask questions.
Check Out J! Archive
J! Archive is a website that offers a log of all questions and answers that have ever been on the show. The website is not an official Jeopardy! source, but rather a helpful tool created by fans of the show for fans of the show. If you want to know what you’re up against, visit the website and try to answer random questions from old Jeopardy! episodes. This is the best way to get a feel for the type of questions you’ll be getting on the show. It is also a great alternative to watching the show.
Play Trivia Games On Your Phone
Trivia Crack is the most popular option, though there are many more. Trivia Crack is basically Trivial Pursuit in a digital format. There are six general knowledge categories. You can battle friends or strangers on the internet in real-time. The questions are not too difficult at first, but they get harder with time. Test your limits and see how good you actually are at trivia.
Play Board Games
Kill two birds with one stone, and spend some time with your loved ones while playing a game of Trivial Pursuit. Your parents probably have a copy of the game somewhere in their garage! If you’re a real trivia whiz, you must have some board games at home too (maybe even some Jeopardy!-like ones!). Spend a pleasant afternoon playing trivia board games with your friends or family members. Make an evening of it with food and drinks, and even prizes if you want! There’s no better way to practice than to put yourself in a competitive environment with real opponents.
Attend Pub Quizzes
Take the competitive environment to the next level and practice actually competing against strangers in real life. There is nothing that can prepare you for a game of trivia better than, well, a real game of trivia! Find some pub quizzes that are happening in your area and register with your team. Sure, it’s not the same as a game of Jeopardy!. However, it’s as close as you can get to a real trivia game with an element of competition.
Time Your Buzz
If you don’t know the answer, then you don’t know the answer. There is not much you can do about that. However, if you do know the answer, you also need to deliver it at the right time. Essentially, you want to be the first one to buzz in with the answer, but you don’t want to do it too early. “So much of the game comes down to buzzer speed and skill,” shared David Walter, winner of the 2007 Teen Tournament.
Even if you are not sure you know the correct answer, you might as well try! You want to buzz in exactly at the right time. First, you need to let the host finish the question. As soon as you see the flashing light on the side of the board, you need to buzz your answer in! If you go too late, you’ll miss your turn and your opponent might answer correctly, leaving you with nothing.
Bet!
Oftentimes, winning and losing comes down to the bets the contestants made. You can answer most questions correctly and still get overpassed by your opponent who is doing a better job at betting the right amounts in the right rounds. Arthur Chu, a Jeopardy! champion (though not necessarily a favorite among viewers), shared his tactic regarding betting: “Because I had this scripted play, I wasn’t making the big decisions, I was just doing the math.”
This part of playing may seem unimportant to some. After all, you need to focus on getting the questions right, right? As practice shows, once you’ve got the questions, you can still lose because you didn’t do the math.
Have Fun and Be Confident
Honestly, just relax. This might sound like terrible advice, but that’s what you’ll hear from most Jeopardy! contestants. If you have stage fright, then you will probably have a pretty bad time on the show. Jared Hall recommends being confident and even arrogant. “No one likes a timid, tentative player, and players who don’t seem self-assured rarely win.” You can’t argue with that!
In order to reach that level of confidence, you need to realize that it is just a game. What’s the worst thing that could happen? You went on national TV and didn’t win thousands of dollars. Oh, boohoo! Be confident in your game and try to have fun. After all, it’s not every day that you get the opportunity to participate in an iconic trivia game show.
Final Words
Getting good at trivia takes a lot longer than a day or even a week. Most Jeopardy! champions have been into trivia since a very young age. If you’re planning on going on Jeopardy! and you’ve never played a game of trivia before, you need to get into trivia fast! Remember that watching Jeopardy! while you’re sitting on the couch and answering the questions in your head is not the same as practicing. Check out this article if you need additional tips on getting good at trivia, as well as this article which tells you everything you need to know about getting on Jeopardy!
What’s your experience with Jeopardy!? Have you ever wanted to go on the show? Have you tried taking the quiz in Jeopardy!’s Prep Center? Do you have any winning tips of your own? Let us know what you think about our tips in the comments!
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