Michael George Dupee

Mike Dupée
Born Michael George Dupée
(1966-10-23) October 23, 1966
Lawrence, Massachusetts, U.S.
Residence Gainesville, Florida, U.S.
Nationality American
Alma mater Emory University
University of Florida College of Law
Occupation Environmental Lawyer
Author
Physicist
Computer Programmer
Webmaster
Employer U.S. Courts
Known for 10-time Jeopardy! champion
Author of definitive book on competing on Jeopardy!
Religion United Methodist Church
Spouse(s) Zana Holley Dupée
Children Zadia Dupée
Spencer Dupée
Charlie Dupée

Michael George "Mike" Dupée (born October 23, 1966) is an American game show contestant and author who played on the U.S. syndicated game show Jeopardy! At the time that he won the 1996 Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions, he was the 4th biggest winner in Jeopardy! history. Between 1996 and 2005, Dupée was one of only 2 players who competed on Jeopardy! without ever losing a game.

In 2005, the undefeated Dupée was invited to participate in the Jeopardy! Ultimate Tournament of Champions, where he was defeated for the first time by Robert Slaven in his 2nd game of the tournament. He was defeated a second time in the 2014 where he lost by $2300 to Brad Rutter. His total earnings on Jeopardy! are $203,901, consisting of $66,401 from his original 5-day run, $100,000 prize in the 1996 Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions, $32,500 from the Jeopardy! Ultimate Tournament of Champions, and $5,000 from the Battle of the Decades.

Following his success on Jeopardy!, Dupée wrote about his experience and provided practice questions in his book How to Get on Jeopardy! and Win!,[1] which was praised by 75-time Jeopardy! winner Ken Jennings as the best preparation for competing on Jeopardy![2] In 2000, Dupée wrote How to Be a TV Quiz Show Millionaire detailing how contestant wanna-bes could try out for various U.S. TV game shows, including Jeopardy! and Who Wants to be a Millionaire.[3]

Early life

Born in Lawrence, Massachusetts, Dupée grew up in Hokkaido, Japan (1969-1971), where his father worked on military projects.

Dupée attended Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, where he majored in Physics. He chose Physics as his major because his father told him to pick the hardest major that he found fun.[4] Then, he attended the University of Florida College of Law in Gainesville, Florida, where he served as Editor-in-Chief of the Florida Law Review. The Florida Law Review is the most prestigious legal journal at the University.[4] They take in articles from legal scholars and edit them and publish them in a book. During college and law school, Dupee represented both schools in College Bowl Academic Tournaments around the country.[1]

Jeopardy!

In May 1995, Michael Dupée was one of only 28 people to pass the Jeopardy! try-out exam out of the 300 who took it at a contestant-search in Cleveland, Ohio.[1]

Using game theory analysis, Michael Dupée discovered a new Final Jeopardy! betting strategy called the "Two-Thirds" scenario. According to Dupée, if the 2nd place score is more than 2/3 of the leader's score, then the 2nd place player should only bet enough that if he misses, he will still have more than the leader would have if he also misses the question. This scenario assumes the leader will make the usual bet of betting enough to have $1.00 more than the 2nd place player if the 2nd place player doubles his money. Dupee used this betting strategy to win his semi-final game in the 1996 Tournament of Champions against Shane Whitlock, who was leading going into Final Jeopardy![1]

Professional life

During 1994-96, Dupée had a two-year judicial clerkship with the Honorable Robert Krupansky in Cleveland, Ohio.[1]

During the summer of 1996, Dupée worked as the Assistant Head Counselor at Camp Canadensis, in Canadensis, Pennsylvania.[1]

From the fall of 1996 until the present, Dupee has worked as an attorney in Gainesville, Florida. He has also been a contributing writer to the American Law Reports Fifth.[1]

Personal life

Dupée’s grandmother, "Memere", who lived until 101, played Scrabble right up until age 100. She used to solve Wheel of Fortune puzzles with no letters showing.[4]

Dupée met his wife, Zana, at the University of Florida, which they both attended. His daughter Zadia is now a senior at the University of Florida, studying Biochemistry. She missed only 1 question when she took the SAT.[4]

Dupée likes sports. He has coached over 30 seasons of children’s soccer, football, and baseball.[4]

Dupée is also a big supporter of the Boy Scouts of America. His older son Spencer is 18 and is an Eagle Scout. His younger son Charlie is 13 and is a Tenderfoot in the Boy Scouts.[4]

In 2013, Dupée was serving as Cubmaster of a Cub Scout Pack and was named Alachua County Cubmaster of the Year.[4] In 2016, Dupée served as Director of the Alachua County Cub Scout Day Camp.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Dupee, Michael (1998). How to Get on Jeopardy and Win!. Citadel Press. ISBN 0806519916.
  2. Interview of Ken Jennings in Business Insider
  3. Dupée, Michael (2000). How to Be a TV Quiz Show Millionaire. Consumer Guide. ISBN 0785340467.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Dupee, Mike. "Gameshow Bio". YouTube. Retrieved June 9, 2015.

External links

Preceded by
Ryan Holznagel
Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions winner
1996
Succeeded by
Dan Melia
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 7/29/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.