‘Jeopardy!’ Fans Shocked By ‘Appalling’ Final Jeopardy Wagers

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the January 22 episode of Jeopardy!]

The Champions Wildcard competition continued on Jeopardy!, with this week aiming to figure out the five quarterfinalists who will advance to join last week’s four in the semifinals.

Economics professor Ron Cheung (from Lakewood, Ohio), contract compliance analyst Daniel Moore (from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania), and English professor Holly Hassel (from Calumet, Michigan) faced off in the January 22 game, and it was their wagers in Final Jeopardy that had fans talking after — and that demonstrated how the outcome of the game can all come down to that.

Daniel was leading with $4,200 after the first commercial break in the middle of the Jeopardy! round, with Holly in second with $2,600 and Ron in third with $200. Daniel had a larger lead over the other two ($9,600 to Holly’s $3,200 and Ron’s $1,200) heading into the Double Jeopardy! round.

But that was when Ron was able to get a lead, finding both Daily Doubles and getting them correct (adding a total of $8,000 to his score with his wagers). At the time he’d picked the first, he’d made enough of a comeback he could’ve moved into the lead; he instead brought himself closer to the other two ($8,200, with Daniel leading at the time with $9,200). With the second, he moved into second with $12,400 (to Daniel’s $12,800). Ron was in the lead going into Final Jeopardy! with $14,000, over Daniel’s $13,200 and Holly’s $8,800.

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In Presidents & Vice Presidents, the clue read, “The first Vice President & the first President not born in one of the original 13 states were both born in this state.” The answer was Kentucky, but no one got it correct. It all came down to their wagers — Ron’s $12,401, Daniel’s $13,200, and Holly’s $8,700. Ron won with $1,599 and advanced to the semifinals.

Those wagers understandably had fans talking on the Jeopardy! subreddit. As one put it, Holly and Daniel’s were “larger … than they probably should have” been. Two noted that what made these wagers head-scratchers (using words like being “flabbergasted” and finding them “appalling”) were that these are returning players — and former champions at that.

For one viewer, it was a matter of “poor wagering in FJ by both Daniel and Holly letting Ron get the win,” with another noting that Holly should have been thinking about the possibility of a victory if she’d wagered nothing. “Had Daniel wagered to cover Holly, Holly would have won by…. $1, aka a dollar!” that person wrote, adding, “Ron made the standard cover wager. Absolutely nothing wrong on his part.”

But what did you think of the Final Jeopardy! wagers? Let us know in the comments below.

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