Internal Danger! Champions’ Secret Trivia ‘Fight Club’ LearnedLeague with alumni like Mattea Roach and Troy Meyer

DANGER! Stars Troy Meyer, Amy Schneider, Yogesh Raut and Mattea Roach all have one thing in common aside from making it big on stage.

They — and at one point even host Ken Jennings — are members of the LearnedLeague, its founder said at the trivia “fight club,” which is as difficult to get invited to as its questions.

8th

8th

8th

Seattle resident Shayne Bushfield founded LearnedLeague, writes, and is LearnedLeague’s sole full-time employee.

Unlike Jeopardy! there’s no money on the board – but ridiculously tough questions, braggart rights, and a custom scarf bestowed on the annual champion since 2014 do.

Only three players have “won the scarf,” and Troy, who recently won $214,000 on the game show, has four of them.

It’s no wonder the player who defeated him blogged that his “eyes widened” when he saw Troy on set – he recognized his skill from LearnedLeague.

Three-Day Champion Yogesh Raut, the Jeopardy! as “not important” in a now infamous Facebook rant is also one of the highest-ranked players (despite not beating Troy).

Some fans were disappointed when the two big quizzers missed to even the score by just six episodes.

Shayne – who runs the hilariously appropriate alter ego Thorsten A. Integrity – sat down exclusively with The US Sun in the quiet courtyard of the Washington DC Hilton to talk about what’s become a quiet phenomenon and a lead into Jeopardy! Fame.

“Don’t Lose, Don’t Cheat”

The LearnedLeague website is beautifully stripped down, a plain white page with six text-based questions per game.

It is by invitation only and players must be referred by someone who is already in.

Once you’re in, play as you please (within a 24-hour window) and each competition lasts 25 days.

Every day a user – the author of this story is one too – faces another stranger to see which of them can do it better.

There are just two key rules, and they’re written in huge text below each day’s questions: “Don’t Forfeit, Don’t Cheat” – members are in the code of honor.

“I definitely had to kick people out. A note [of cheating] is a perfect score,” Shayne told The US Sun of his creation.

8th

8th

Founded in late 1997, Shayne revealed, “I worked at this law firm in New York.”

“We had a lot of free time, so I just started making games for the group to do during the day.

“Eventually, little things would happen, something I’ve always been interested in.”

“We were about 25 and I made it into a league where we were neck and neck.

“It wasn’t online, it wasn’t even via email — it was all on paper.

“I left that company and then went to business school in Columbia and learned to code, the website was made in 2000” – which he called “primitive”.

“It has grown from there into what it is today” – there are 27,000 active members.

LEAGUE OF LEGENDS

Current members include Mattea, 24, who has won 23 games and $560,000 on Jeopardy! last year.

According to a tweet from The ringtone“Mattea” found out about LearnedLeague in the middle of the winning streak and [was] STILL WAITING TO PLAY.”

40-time Amy Schneider plays in the top league known as “Rundle A” – per Them, but they’re both better known for playing on Jeopardy! first – which is not necessarily the case with Yogesh or Troy.

Host Ken, 48, was an active member (he played under JenningsK) but resigned for obvious reasons.

For those lost in the jargon, there are five divisions or “rundles” based on rank in the league.

And while the Jeopardy! Most of the above stars play in the A division, stretching all the way down to the E where politician Mick Mulvaney has played with more losses than wins.

The author of this article can proudly say that they play in the D league, not the lowest.

In each game, a user wins by choosing how much the questions will be scored from 1-3 points, but not for him, but for his opponent.

In Jeopardy!-speak, this would mean you have to choose how much your rivals have to bet on Final Jeopardy, but they would also decide for you.

The average correct answer for first-time players is 47%.

In other words, it’s like bar trivia, but online, difficult, and an absolute secret.

FAVORITE QUESTION

Shayne said, “I write all the questions — peak season is 150 questions — I write these.”

“My favorite questions are often less popular; one was about a waltz.

“The question was postmodern, written to the beat of a waltz”

It read: “Social dance, German word to turn around, appropriate.”

It’s in ¾ time, and he described it as a “meta” cue – “a lot of people hated it, but I loved it.”

‘OTHER THAN DANGER!’

“I’m actually friends with Ken. I am deeply biased [about my host preference].”

“We both live in Seattle so we met locally and I can tell you he’s a great guy, I like him a lot.”

“We connect in the sense that we have similar interests.

Shayne didn’t like being asked if he ever went to Ken’s house, and joked, “That’s enough Ken.”

“People aren’t in touch with it until you join. I hear people say it’s the ‘fight club’ of the little things – it never comes from me, but it’s such a thing.

“You must be advertised, use your real name and I don’t advertise.”

“You can’t get to the site to log in.

“Learned League and Jeopardy! differ in many ways. Danger! It’s fun and entertaining, but for players it’s not about having fun, it’s about making money. “

“You make money by winning games. So that takes work. This is exactly the opposite.

“There is no money. No entertainment factor. Entertainment comes from playing. Everyone gets the same questions, although there are different levels.”

This is a competition for fun, bring whatever wits you have.”

Shayne has no interest in Jeopardy! himself since this is his full-time job – membership is $35 for those who can make it.

If so, a danger! A fan could potentially go from picking up clues on their couch to confronting Troy Meyer or Amy Schneider — well, even from their couch.

A Facebook user wrote when more LearnedLeague stars joined Jeopardy! come:

“It’s becoming increasingly clear that more of the Jeopardy contestants are almost ‘professional’ trivia people. I don’t think that was always the case.”

Another tweeted: “Oh snap! I just noticed that Jeopardy! Champion Troy Meyer is the legendary MeyerT who has 4 LearnedLeague Championship Scarves as well as the 2nd highest Career Win % and 6th highest Correct Answer % in history.”

8th

8th

8th