How to Get on Jeopardy!... and Win: Valuable Information from a Champion

Rating:
Summary: Worth the purchase, but could have been better...
Review: I had very high hopes when I first purchased this book and Dupee's concept is great. He has some very good strategies and some good tips in re the show. If he'd have stuck to this for the entire book I'd have given four to five stars. However the second half of the book focuses on trivia and gives an idea of what to brush up on before you become a contestant. This is where I was the most disappointed. The editing is haphazard and it seems like the book jumps back and forth between chapters. Also a section which listed Famous African-americans in alphabetical order stops at H - seemingly an editorial glitch that wasn't picked up. If you're going to be on the show I recommend it although it is not a "must".

Rating:
Summary: Error in review below
Review: I haven't actually ready the book, but Ronald Reagan was the first president born in the 20th century, in 1911.

Rating:
Summary: Worth a read but not the definitive Jeopardy book
Review: I just appeared on Jeopardy earlier this week - actually, I taped this week and will appear the week of March 13-17, 2000. I read the book before I went onto the show (but after I had been to the tryout, passed the test, and received 'the call' to appear on the show).

I definitely recommend that you read the first half of the book about tryouts, betting strategy etc. His betting strategy is excellent (although another reviewer pointed out some math errors), and he seems to be ahead of the curve. After I read his advice on betting and before I went on the show, I watched several weeks worth of games and noticed many - MANY - times where the person who placed second or third would have actually won the game using Dupee's strategy.

However, the second half of the book (trivia) is useless for at least two reasons. First, if you memorized every piece of trivia in this book it would not help you on an actual game very much if at all and it probably would not help you on a tryout. He also skips over a major category - religion - which surprised me, and he spends far too much time on food. Second, the book is typeset in such a way that the answer to each question appears immediately after the question but NOT on a separate line. Therefore if you are trying to read the question and formulate an answer before you see the actual answer, it is almost impossible to do so, rendering this section of the book almost useless for solo studying (although you could have someone read you the questions and then respond aloud). And, as other reviewers have noted, there are numerous factual errors in the book. For example, the first President born in the 20th century - in 1917 - was not Jimmy Carter, it was JFK.

I did study a lot for Jeopardy and there was only one question in my game that my studying prepared me for, and I couldn't recall the information fast enough to ring in and get credit. Several former Jeopardy contestants whom I've met, includng a 5 time champion, advised me not to study. I ignored their advice, but I think it turned out that they were right.

In this book there is one mis-statement so huge I must comment about it, and pardon me for shouting - YOU DO NOT HAVE A FEW EXTRA SECONDS IN THE ACTUAL GAME TO ANSWER EACH QUESTION AS HE STATES - the actual game is as fast-paced in the studio as it seems at home, in fact it seems faster. It is taped in real time so you also have very short commercial breaks.

Finally, if I can give any advice to those of you who are trying out for Jeopardy! (and why would you read this book if you weren't?), I would say that in order to get a tryout, you can take your chances with getting a slot at a regional tryout - which is very iffy - or you can make an appointment and travel to LA where you will be CERTAIN to get a tryout. In order to stand out at the tryout, first you have to pass the test (35 out of 50 right on a written test at the $800 question level), then have a funny story ready for the interview portion, be relaxed, look like you're having fun, and keep the pace moving when you play a mock game. The contestant coordinators like that (BTW, they are VERY nice). Don't appear too intense, either! My impression is that they would love to move away from the professional white male contestant from Southern California - although they don't ever say that - so I'm guessing it would help to be blue-collar, ethnic, female, and not from California! Not that you can change any of those characteristics, so this is just an observation, not advice!

And finally, when you get on the show the single most important factor that will determine whether you win or not (aside from your knowledge of trivia and your ability to recall it instantly) is your signalling button technique. This is huge - HUGE - H-U-G-E! I have met a five time winner who practiced at home with a highlighter pen by pressing the end of it, and this person was killer on the signalling button and not only won 5 games but won them all as runaway games - had them all locked up by final jeopardy.

Because instant recall and signalling button technique are so important, I'd almost recommend that you not cram for Jeopardy - unless you're going to do so now, before you even get a tryout. It's one thing to know something, it's another thing to be able to recall it in a nanosecond, as you must on Jeopardy. If you can't cram trivia to where you can recall it instantly, don't bother to study! (Dupee seems to credit his victory on his studying techniques but I think - as he says people remarked in the book - he was just killer on the signalling button). And one final thing - on the signalling button it's not speed, it's TIMING! Like Goldilocks and the porridge, you can't be too early, or too late, you have to ring in just right. Which I'm here to tell you, is harder than it seems!

Hope this helps!

Rating:
Summary: Worth a read but not the definitive Jeopardy book
Review: I just appeared on Jeopardy earlier this week - actually, I taped this week and will appear the week of March 13-17, 2000. I read the book before I went onto the show (but after I had been to the tryout, passed the test, and received 'the call' to appear on the show).

I definitely recommend that you read the first half of the book about tryouts, betting strategy etc. His betting strategy is excellent (although another reviewer pointed out some math errors), and he seems to be ahead of the curve. After I read his advice on betting and before I went on the show, I watched several weeks worth of games and noticed many - MANY - times where the person who placed second or third would have actually won the game using Dupee's strategy.

However, the second half of the book (trivia) is useless for at least two reasons. First, if you memorized every piece of trivia in this book it would not help you on an actual game very much if at all and it probably would not help you on a tryout. He also skips over a major category - religion - which surprised me, and he spends far too much time on food. Second, the book is typeset in such a way that the answer to each question appears immediately after the question but NOT on a separate line. Therefore if you are trying to read the question and formulate an answer before you see the actual answer, it is almost impossible to do so, rendering this section of the book almost useless for solo studying (although you could have someone read you the questions and then respond aloud). And, as other reviewers have noted, there are numerous factual errors in the book. For example, the first President born in the 20th century - in 1917 - was not Jimmy Carter, it was JFK.

I did study a lot for Jeopardy and there was only one question in my game that my studying prepared me for, and I couldn't recall the information fast enough to ring in and get credit. Several former Jeopardy contestants whom I've met, includng a 5 time champion, advised me not to study. I ignored their advice, but I think it turned out that they were right.

In this book there is one mis-statement so huge I must comment about it, and pardon me for shouting - YOU DO NOT HAVE A FEW EXTRA SECONDS IN THE ACTUAL GAME TO ANSWER EACH QUESTION AS HE STATES - the actual game is as fast-paced in the studio as it seems at home, in fact it seems faster. It is taped in real time so you also have very short commercial breaks.

Finally, if I can give any advice to those of you who are trying out for Jeopardy! (and why would you read this book if you weren't?), I would say that in order to get a tryout, you can take your chances with getting a slot at a regional tryout - which is very iffy - or you can make an appointment and travel to LA where you will be CERTAIN to get a tryout. In order to stand out at the tryout, first you have to pass the test (35 out of 50 right on a written test at the $800 question level), then have a funny story ready for the interview portion, be relaxed, look like you're having fun, and keep the pace moving when you play a mock game. The contestant coordinators like that (BTW, they are VERY nice). Don't appear too intense, either! My impression is that they would love to move away from the professional white male contestant from Southern California - although they don't ever say that - so I'm guessing it would help to be blue-collar, ethnic, female, and not from California! Not that you can change any of those characteristics, so this is just an observation, not advice!

And finally, when you get on the show the single most important factor that will determine whether you win or not (aside from your knowledge of trivia and your ability to recall it instantly) is your signalling button technique. This is huge - HUGE - H-U-G-E! I have met a five time winner who practiced at home with a highlighter pen by pressing the end of it, and this person was killer on the signalling button and not only won 5 games but won them all as runaway games - had them all locked up by final jeopardy.

Because instant recall and signalling button technique are so important, I'd almost recommend that you not cram for Jeopardy - unless you're going to do so now, before you even get a tryout. It's one thing to know something, it's another thing to be able to recall it in a nanosecond, as you must on Jeopardy. If you can't cram trivia to where you can recall it instantly, don't bother to study! (Dupee seems to credit his victory on his studying techniques but I think - as he says people remarked in the book - he was just killer on the signalling button). And one final thing - on the signalling button it's not speed, it's TIMING! Like Goldilocks and the porridge, you can't be too early, or too late, you have to ring in just right. Which I'm here to tell you, is harder than it seems!

Hope this helps!

Rating:
Summary: Speaking from Experience - This Book Helps!
Review: I recently had the pleasure of becoming a five-time Jeopardy champion, and Mike Dupee's book helped in getting me to that position. I would echo many sentiments expressed by other reviewers. The "Learning the Facts" portion is not as useful as the rest of the book, as it gets bogged down in details and contains a few errors. However, it does have some useful tables, such as those for prominent dancers, artists and their identifiers, and major inventors/discoverers.

The real value of the book is in its discussion of the background information about the show. Mike's descriptions of the testing process and the day of taping are on target.

The book's analysis of the buzzer mechanism proved to be helpful. Although I found I couldn't prepare in advance for my buzzer technique, it was helpful to read about how you have to wait until someone offstage "opens the lines" for you to ring in and answer. At the same time, Mike was absolutely correct in saying you can't wait to see the lights around the board before you buzz. Keeping these ideas in mind, I came up with a method of timing the buzzer which worked more often than not.

Ultimately the section on betting strategy may have been the most valuable for me (although there is a math error noted by other reviewers). In my second game, I was in second place heading into Final Jeopardy and missed the question, yet I still won. Mike's discussion of the "two thirds rule" was foremost in my mind as I made my wager. Rather than betting everything, as so many 2nd and 3rd place players needlessly do, I made a smart wager which maximized my chances to win, and fortune was on my side.

Another reviewer felt that studying did not help her when she competed. However, I would agree with Mike in advising contestants to study. In each of my five games, I had at least one occasion when I buzzed in and responded based on something I learned in my studying process. This happened four times in my fifth game. "The Dictionary of Cultural Literacy," by E.D. Hirsch, Joseph Kett, and James Trefil, was a godsend for me. The New York Public Library's Desk Reference Book was also very helpful.

In conclusion, "How to Get on Jeopardy!... and Win" is a valuable resource for any potential contestants. It is best used in conjunction with other books which are better study material sources.

Rating:
Summary: Generally good but poorly edited
Review: I recently passed the Jeopardy! tryout test and am now waiting for "The Call." I figured it would be good to read up on what I could expect if I head out to California. This book did have a lot of good information, but there were some things that left me scratching my head.

The tax advice section in my book was so poorly edited that it was almost useless. In several places there appeared to be entire lines of text missing. I would get to the end of one line and the beginning of the next line would be in the middle of a totally different sentence! A very helpful section has been rendered considerably less useful by very sloppy editing.

Another section that gave me pause was the chapter explaining how to bet on Daily Doubles and Final Jeopardy!. But one of the scenarios is based upon the incorrect assumption that $7,100 minus $2,900 equals $4,500. This is not merely a typo, because the author's strategy is based upon this math mistake. Another scenario shows a chart twice, but in the second instance one of the figures is incorrectly repeated. It was of no consequence to the scenario, but it made me question the editing once again.

I have not read through the trivia section yet. With these errors, I am reluctant to for fear of what other mistakes may exist.

There is a lot of good strategy in this, the only Jeopardy! book I've ever read, but some blatant mistakes and sloppy editing make me a little wary.

Rating:
Summary: President error
Review: There seems to be a lot of discrepancy regarding the 1st president born in the twentieth century. Even the other reviewers were sort of inaccurate and nonspecific. JFK was the first man to become president who was born in the 20th century (1917). However, the president who was FIRST BORN in the 20th century was LBJ (NOT REAGAN)in 1908. It depends on how the question is asked. This is a lot like the question "Who was the youngest president?" Most people think it is JFK, but it is actually Teddy Roosevelt who took office (after McKinley's assassination) at the age of 42. JFK was the youngest man to take office who was ELECTED president.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing, Quiz Bowl Rules "G"
Review: This book demonstrates step by step what it takes to be a Jeopardy contestant. The book tells what happens at the Jeopardy audition. The book gives hundreds of questions and answers to help a prospective Jeopardy player prepare for an appearance on the show. It also tells what happens behind the scenes at Jeopardy and of course it answers, "What is Alex Really Like?"

Rating:
Summary: Exhaustive, Obsessive, Entertaining-- and Useful
Review: Well, this was fun. As a person who already got onto Jeopardy and won some money and two cars, I knew quite a bit about the whole process, but I must admit I learned a lot from Dupee's book. Well worth the price-- and I think he saved me some dough, because there's even a tax guide for money won on the show, so I'll follow his tips to get a refund on the bite the California revenooers' took out of my winnings. In sum, I think it can safely be said that this is the last word on the subject of Jeopardy: informative and amusing.