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Comment by jamesbritt | Hacker News Reader

I'm surprised more contestants don't use more strategy. It seems foolish.

It seems obvious that if you want a Daily Double don't pick the first row. Yet so few players ump right to the higher valued questions.

I caught a bit of an NPR show which had some interview snippets from Arthur Chu. He's clearly thought this out.

In particular was the realization that making decisions under pressure would be sub-optimal, so he worked out in advance what to do under various circumstances (tight game or big lead, early/late in the game, etc) and sticks to the plan.

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It is plausible that picking the first row can be optimal to understand an unclear category's "style." Since not all categories are obviously understood (double entendres, etc.) I could see an optimal strategy being to go first row followed by fourth row in categories that are non-obvious.

If he picks the first row, it also allows his opponents to understand the category. By going after the Daily Doubles, he is insuring that his opponents do not get them.

There are some plausible reasons to delay, at least a little, especially if you think (as is likely with a challenger) you may need a little time to acclimate to the game's buzz-in rhythm and get the gist of categories. Also, the daily-doubles are worth more later: when you've got more to wager, and know more about relative standings.

In addition to the reasons you've stated, an additional one is that there are fewer questions for your opponents to use to reach over half of your total. Hitting the two daily doubles with most of the board left in play in round two means you'll still likely need to outplay your opponents on the buzzer that round.

Also if you manage to find the daily double in the jeopardy round too early, you can only wager up to $1000.

I haven't run the numbers, but I think I would prefer that vs my opponents finding the daily double later in the game.

> Also, the daily-doubles are worth more later: when you've got more to wager, and know more about relative standings.

You can always wager the max value for the round for any daily double, even if you have no money. Plus answering the highest value questions early boosts your standings faster, so searching for them right off is generally win/win.

Here's the NPR interview: http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2014/02/04/jeopardy-arthur-chu

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