Government Professor Tom Nichols' winning streak on the game show Jeopardy continued with last night's win of $7,500, for a three day total of $31,700.
Last night was also the first time Dartmouth was finally mentioned on national television, when host Alex Trebek asked Nichols where he teaches.
Though it took Trebek three days to prompt Nichols to mention the College, it did not take the defending champion long at all to set the tone of last night's game.
The strategy that wins games, according to Nichols, is not necessarily getting the right category, or betting big, but mastering the clicker.
"The buzzer is the key to winning Jeopardy," Nichols said. Most of the contestants know the answers, so big winners are separated from average players by their mastery of the buzzer, which is not as easy as it looks, he said.
"There is a two-tenths of a second delay on the clicker. The minute that Alex stops speaking, you can start buzzing in. You can be smart as hell, but if you're one-tenth of a second behind, you don't get a chance." Nichols said.
After Monday's game, Nichols perfected his clicking technique, holding it against the desk with one hand and clicking in with the other. It becomes automatic as the hectic pace of the game takes control, Nichols said.
In tonight's game, Nichols faced the Final Jeopardy category, Organizations, with $8300, only $3800 ahead of his closest competitor.
The answer was "As a declaration of faith, a solider of this organization signs the articles of war."
Nichols explained his strategy for Final Jeopardy was to bet enough to exceed the maximum amount his closest opponent could possibly win.
In this Final Jeopardy, this strategy was vital. Nichols did not get the right question, which was "What is the Salvation Army?" but he only bet $800 and will be able to defend his title once again tonight.
