Outlook’s Rian Robertson eyes fifth Jeopardy! win

Daily Double: This four-time Jeopardy! champion grew up in Outlook, known as the Irrigation Capital of Saskatchewan.

If you answered, “Who is Rian Robertson?” you’d be right.

Although that could soon change into a five-time champion. On Wednesday evening, Robertson’s fifth appearance on Jeopardy! airs, giving him another chance to add to that total.

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In a way, he’s been preparing for this moment for the past 30 years, since a young Robertson began watching the show with his dad in the evenings.

“You get one clue right, and that kind of makes you feel good about yourself, and you want to kind of keep going down the rabbit hole of getting more clues right,” he said about that time.

As a kid, he created what he calls his “Book of Knowledge.”

“It was like anything I would learn, I would kind of like write down there and go and review that at some point,” Robertson said.

Over time, the book was digitized. Now, Robertson, a software developer living in Ontario, has built an app that lets him bookmark things he sees online and prompts him to review them later.

Knowledge aside, when it comes to preparing to play the game, he said, “you just kind of get that by watching the game religiously.”

Although, he admitted, it’s not quite the same.

“It’s obviously a very different experience than being a sort of armchair player at home, right? Where it’s like, oh, you think you know all these things, but can you really handle the heat when you’re in the moment,” Robertson said.

So far, Robertson has shown he clearly can, despite some learning curves.

After four wins, Robertson’s earnings totalled $64,101. (Courtesy of Jeopardy!/Sony Pictures Television)

For one, he said he had to practice his buzzing skills between his second and third episodes.

Then there’s also the intensity of filming, with five episodes taped a day.

According to Robertson, those lucky enough to be returning champions have about five to 10 minutes to change their shirts and get back out there for their next taping.

“It’s kind of mentally gruelling in that regard,” he said.

Going through it himself has given the software developer a better understanding of what contestants face.

“If you’re an avid watcher, like I was obviously, you see these contestants like, ‘oh, they’re really good,’ and then you watch them a couple games down the road, and they just kind of fall off the rails, and you’re like, ‘Oh man, what happened?’ It’s like, yeah, well, it’s definitely tiring,” Robertson explained.

Regardless of Wednesday night’s outcome, he’s already pocketed $64,101 from his four wins, although he won’t necessarily be the one spending it.

He said his wife and eldest son are travelling in Japan right now, so he suspects they’re putting that money to good use.

— with files from WestCentralOnline