It seems strange that a 50-year-old game could still be full of surprises, but that’s what "Jeopardy!" winner Arthur Chu has been showing the world the past few weeks. With his unconventional game strategy, Chu brought in his fifth win Monday night and raised his total winnings to $123,600.
While most players start with the easiest, low-paying questions on the board, Chu specifically headhunts the lucrative Daily Doubles -- which are typically located at the higher values -- by going for questions randomly all over the board, according to ABC.
Rather than gradually get into the subject in the category with questions that get progressively more difficult, the insurance compliance worker and voice actor starts out with the toughest questions and ends up building a big bankroll early on.
Chu’s strategy, which involves what's being called "game theory," has been utilized by a handful of players in the game's long history, the Guardian notes. It is known in the "Jeopardy!" world as "the Forrest Bounce" after Chuck Forrest, who first used the technique back in 1985. It is effective but has upset many fans that consider it unsportsmanlike and say it makes for bad television.
“I can understand it’s less pleasant to watch,” Chu told ABC News. “But the producers weren’t paying me to make the show pleasant to watch. If you were playing for fun, you could talk about poor sportsmanship, but within the rules, it’s about winning. If you don’t like it, change the rules.”
Plenty of people seem to have negative opinions about Chu's gaming strategy. (As The Daily Mail points out, one Twitter user even went as far as to call Chu “the face of a Jeopardy villain.”) But Chu tries to keep in mind that anonymous haters aren't worth putting the brakes on a money-winning strategy.
"I think some people actually are offended and my response to them would just be - it's a game and we're playing for real money," Chu told CNN during an interview. "I understand if you find me an unpleasant person or find me unpleasant to watch. My feelings are a little hurt by that, but ultimately its $10,000 or more every time you win a game of Jeopardy! and my primary concern up there was taking home the money for me and my wife."