Is Brad Rutter better than Ken Jennings?

[Ian Wallis]

I believe Jeopardy's best known player is probably Ken Jennings.  In setting the record 74-game winning streak, he made national news and celebrity status.  He racked up an impressive $2.5 million during those 74 games, and I always though was the game's best player ever.

Brad Rutter was a champ when there was a 5-day limit, but he was won every tournament he's ever been in and only once did a human (rather than a computer) finish ahead of him at the end of a game.

Still, Brad probably hasn't won more than 20 games (give or take) but has racked up more money at Jeopardy than anyone else. 

You wonder how long a winning streak Brad could have gone on if the rules were the same when he played?

Do you think Brad's better than Ken, or just extremely lucky?  In reality, Ken had that tournament if he could have answered just one of the final jeopardy's correct.  Still, it's hard to think of the game's longest-winning player isn't the highest money winner.

Thoughts?

[Jimmy Owen]

What was KJ's total up to his fifth day?

[Bryce L.]

Per the J! Archive, Ken's total after Day 5 was $156,000.

Though in fairness, Brad's original 5 days were under the pre-doubled scoring system, with a grand total of $55,102. Which means, comparing apples to apples...

Brad, Day 5: $55,102
Ken, Day 5: $78,000 (under 1984-2001 scoring system)

[MrBuddwing]

Ken Jennings is an extremely smart and learned fellow, no doubt about it. But during his legendary 74-game run, someone who was  keeping track noted that he was hitting Final Jeopardy!, on average, two out of three times - I found that surprisingly mediocre for a supposed juggernaut. Of course, KJ was racking up such high scores that it didn't matter whether he got FJ! right or not.

(President James Buchanan, America's only bachelor president to date, was also U.S. Secretary of State? Wish I'd known that. I knew Condoleezza Rice never married.)

[Dbacksfan12]

Per the J! Archive, Ken's total after Day 5 was $156,000.

Though in fairness, Brad's original 5 days were under the pre-doubled scoring system, with a grand total of $55,102. Which means, comparing apples to apples...

Brad, Day 5: $55,102
Ken, Day 5: $78,000 (under 1984-2001 scoring system)

I don't think the comparison is as apt as you'd like.  Ken had more money available to him in daily doubles, which skews the results.

[Unrealtor]

Per the J! Archive, Ken's total after Day 5 was $156,000.

Though in fairness, Brad's original 5 days were under the pre-doubled scoring system, with a grand total of $55,102. Which means, comparing apples to apples...

Brad, Day 5: $55,102
Ken, Day 5: $78,000 (under 1984-2001 scoring system)

I don't think the comparison is as apt as you'd like.  Ken had more money available to him in daily doubles, which skews the results.

I don't think that it does skew things. You're still wagering relative to the values of the clues on the board and your opponents' scores.

The J-Archive stats for Season 17, when Brad played, say that the average DD wager in the first round was $731 and $1,365 in the second round. For season 20, which is the season that Ken's run started during, it was $1,375 and $2,760 (or $687.50 and $1,380 in old money.) If anything, it seems like doubling the clue values pushed the wagering down relative to clue value, at least in the first round.

[Kevin Prather]

In the poker world, world champion poker players are often categorized into Tournament Players, Cash Game Players, and Online Players. Applied here, Brad may be the best tournament Jeopardy player, while Ken might be the best regulation player.

[Mr. Armadillo]

In reality, Ken had that tournament if he could have answered just one of the final jeopardy's correct.

And, if he wins one fewer buzzer race, Brad doesn't even get out of the preliminaries.  So?

[Kevin Prather]

In reality, Ken had that tournament if he could have answered just one of the final jeopardy's correct.

And, if he wins one fewer buzzer race, Brad doesn't even get out of the preliminaries.  So?

One five letter word makes Roger the champ too. Plenty of what-ifs to go around.

[PYLdude]

In reality, Ken had that tournament if he could have answered just one of the final jeopardy's correct.

And, if he wins one fewer buzzer race, Brad doesn't even get out of the preliminaries.  So?

Brad won his prelim, quarter, and semi in runaway fashion. Don't see it.

[Kevin Prather]

Brad won his prelim, quarter, and semi in runaway fashion. Don't see it.

Brad secured the prelim runaway on the final clue of DJ. He then got FJ wrong when second place got it right. He'd have lost had it not been for that last clue.

[Unrealtor]

In the poker world, world champion poker players are often categorized into Tournament Players, Cash Game Players, and Online Players. Applied here, Brad may be the best tournament Jeopardy player, while Ken might be the best regulation player.

I don't know that you can compare Ken to Brad in regular play, given that Brad was limited to five games and nobody knows how many more games he could have won after that.

[Kevin Prather]

I don't know that you can compare Ken to Brad in regular play, given that Brad was limited to five games and nobody knows how many more games he could have won after that.

Hence why I said might. The only thing you can even reasonably conclude with these mega-tournaments like the UToC and the BotD is who the best tournament player is. You just take it for granted that they're all damn good in regulation.

[Johnissoevil]

Although Brad defeated Ken twice, in my view, either of the two could win, I don't think either is better than the other.  It's a matter of the right timing when it comes to Daily Doubles, how much each player wagers in FJ, and if the category is something one or both of them know about.  Either way, both are great players, and seeing those two go against each other is always fun.  Think a showdown between Thom McKee and Kit Salisbury on Tic Tac Dough, only difference being the higher difficulty level of the questions.