Recognize, suckas. There's a new champion on Jeopardy!, and he's not messing around. Arthur Chu is gangster, and he's causing quite a stir amongst fans of the popular game show for his unorthodox methods. But haters can hate. He's winning. Since Tuesday, Chu has won thousands of dollars by using game theory.
Jeopardy's Controversial New Champion Is Using Game Theory To Win Big
Sure, any old fool can win Jeopardy! by just knowing a lot of stuff. But Arthur is taking it to the next level by using some pretty effective game theory strategies -- searching for Daily Doubles, aggressive buzzing and playing for the tie, among other tactics -- much to the frustration of staunch traditionalist at-home viewers.
Mental Floss breaks down the 6 Elements of Arthur Chu's Jeopardy! Strategy.
To casual watchers of the game, his moves might seem gutsy and reckless, but I love it. My favorite part was Arthur's simple, prompt response to a sports trivia Daily Double: "I don't know." Hey, the dude admits he doesn't know much about sports. But he only wagered and lost five bucks and nobody else got to answer that question.
Oh, and this guy's got some swagger.
Arthur's maddening tactics (and awesome DGAF confidence) have attracted the ire of Twitter critics, to which he has opted for a "come at me, bro" attitude, responding and slaying haters with snark. And generally dropping braggadocious gems like this:
On top of that, Arthur's lady got in on the Twitter jam by retweeting all the haters:
It's worth noting that Arthur is not the first guy to apply these strategies on Jeopardy! What's with the hate? Perhaps frustration over the Asian guy using his wits and winning? The racist Twitter shit seems to indicate as much. Jealous, all of them. Jealous that Arthur Chu is winning, both at Jeopardy! and at life.
I guess it's all the closest thing you can call "controversy" when talking about Jeopardy! If you ask me, this guy's gaming is exactly what the show could use every now and then. Hell, I'm going to tune in.
The show's taking a break from the usual proceedings this week for a tournament of past champions, but Arthur will be back on Jeopardy! on February 24. Play on, player.
