SHOW PREPARATION

If you are going to take a crack at Jeopardy!, why not prepare in a way that gives you a shot at being a repeat champion? To do so will require a regimented study plan that turns you into a walking encyclopedia.  What follows assumes you are somewhat familiar with the show...

PRE ANYTIME TEST

◉  Use a tool to track your progress
◉  Take a phased approach to knowledge gathering
◉  Acquire enough Level 1 knowledge
◉  Pass the Anytime Test

POST ANYTIME TEST

◉  Prepare your Level 2 learning roadmap
◉  Acquire enough Level 2 knowledge
◉  Strategize your endgame

Studying for something with this much breadth requires taking a phased approach.  Create a list of categories and record your progress as you acquire the knowledge.  Do your best to dedicate regular daily study time, even if it's only ten or fifteen minutes.

Use a tool to track your progress. Your tool should allow you to score each category so you can see your weaknesses, and track your overall readiness with visual indicators.  We recommend using our free JeopPrep! Tracker tool.  It comes with a pre-defined Level 1 roadmap, and is easily modified for Level 2. It is also flexible enough to use for other kinds of study material.

Level 1 knowledge is what it takes to ace the Anytime Test and tackle the regular Jeopardy! round.  Reading the JeopPrep! book will cover all the material needed for this, and a fair amount of Level 2 knowledge, which is what you'll need to tackle Double Jeopardy!.

pie chart example

By now you have read the entire JeopPrep! book.  If you used the JeopPrep! Tracker, the dashboard gauges will be revealing those area's where you need a little more work.  Once you have gotten all gauges close to 100%, you should now be well prepared to take the Jeopardy! Anytime Test and get a good score.
        
Note: You can also gauge your readiness by watching the show and keeping tally of all the questions you got correct in the Jeopardy round.  A score of around 70% is generally accepted as being ready. That’s 21 out of the 30 questions.

Note: At this point we recommend beginning your Level 2 prep to ensure you are not in panic mode should you be called-up in short order.   Using the JeopPrep! Tracker, prepare your Level 2 roadmap by defining the categories and subtopics you need to round-out your L2 knowledge.  Only you know your strengths and weaknesses so tailor it to those.

The sooner you create your roadmap, the sooner you will be ready to take on the final round of study.

So you passed the Anytime test, and got selected out of the Candidate Pool by the show Producers, Congratulations!.  It's now time for more study, but you might not have much time.  

If you followed our recommendations, you already have JeopPrep! Tracker prepared with your L2 categories and subtopics.  Begin studying immediately on your weakest areas and work your way up to the the categories you are already comfortable with.  Your aim of course is to get the gauges as close to 100% as you can...  

Tackling Double and Final Jeopardy require a deeper level of knowledge.  The JeopPrep! book provides L2 depth in a variety of categories, but many will require additional resources to adequately prepare.  

Start by regularly spending time on the J Archive website.  Search each category in JeopPrep! Tracker and scroll through the clues.  Specifically target the Double Jeopardy clues to get a feel for the level of depth.   You should see patterns emerge.  Use this knowledge to build your L2 roadmap of learning.  Store your notes and track your progress in the tracker.  

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES & STRATEGY

◉  Create flashcards for the areas that require rote memorization (U.S. Presidents, World Capitals, Flags & Geography,  Literary Authors & their works,  Opera, Musicals, TV shows, Composers, Periodic Table Elements etc).  Sites like Quizlet ,  Anki and Knowt  can help.

◉  Regularly check the NY Times Bestseller List.  See if you can identify long runners, pop culture events that tie-in with current events, well-known authors etc.

◉  Stay on top of world news.  Pay attention to popular trends and pop-culture events.

◉  Do challenging crossword puzzles to facilitate fast recall and word association.

◉   Reddit/Jeopardy! has lots of great posts from former contestants that may provide inspiration and the occasional titbit of useful info.

WAGERING
If you are a regular viewer of the tv show you know wagering is important. Many champions have won and lost their crowns due to a poor bet. An entire discussion on wagering strategy is beyond the scope of this section but you will find plenty of good discussions by searching the web.

Throughout the game, three Daily Double opportunities can be won.  Just winning these removes them as opportunities for your opponents, so that is a big advantage.  Make a mental note of how many remain and make your board choices with this in mind.  Again there are many discussions online about this strategy.

If you are not very comfortable with the category, don’t wager much money. If you are comfortable, history shows us that aggressive wagering is generally a good ploy.  In Final Jeopardy, don’t make an ostentatious wager just to make more money, it’s not good to rub your imminent win in the face of the runners up.

Here's an example of simple wagering for Final Jeopardy based on these scores:

Leader: $15000 Second: $8000 Third: $5000

Leader minimum bet: $8000 x 2 + $1 that would be a $1001 wager (15000+1001 = 16001) to ensure you win if both you and and the second place players get the correct answer, and you lose the least money if you get it wrong and second gets it right. Third place is not a factor.

Second place should do the same if the leader has a runaway score so they can ensure third place does not finish in second.

BUZZZER PRACTICE
Many former contestants have stated that having buzzer readiness was crucial to their victories.  It would be tough to genuinely get an accurate measure of how quick you are but be aware there are practice buzzer toys you can purchase that may help.  

JeopPrep! Tracker


To make your learning as efficient as possible, we have created an interactive Excel spreadsheet to help track your learning journey. 


Watch our     videos to learn more.
 

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