‘Jeopardy!’ Fans React to Shocking Runaway Win in First TOC Finals Game

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[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for the Monday, February 2, episode of Jeopardy!]

The first game of Jeopardy! The Tournament of Champions final kicked off on February 2, and it did not end as fans thought it would.

The finals of the TOC come down to which contestant wins three games first. It can go up to seven, depending on how many games each contestant wins and when. So, it could come down to one champion sweeping in three games, or the finals could go on until next week.

The winner takes home $250,000 and an invitation to compete in Jeopardy! Masters. The second-place contestant receives $100,000, while the third-place contestant gets $50,000.

Throughout the games, Scott Riccardi, an engineer from Somerville, New Jersey, will play against TJ Fisher, a marketing specialist from San Francisco, California, and Paolo Pasco, a puzzle writer from San Diego, California.

Riccardi had the lead when he found the Daily Double on clue seven. Out of $1,600, he made it a true Daily Double. In “Literary Biographies,” the clue read, “Richard Lingeman subtitled his biography of Sinclair Lewis ‘Rebel from’ this title road.” “What is Main Street?” he answered correctly, giving him $3,200.

He maintained the lead throughout the rest of the round, but it was a tight game. By the end, Riccardi had $5,400. Pasco was in second place with $4,800. Fisher had $4,600.

In Double Jeopardy, Pasco took the lead by clue one. He found the first DD on clue four. With $7,200 in his bank, he made it a true Daily Double.

In “What a Word!,” the clue was “Plausible but misleading argument is called this, from thinkers whom Plato depicted as devious word-jugglers.” “What is sophistry?” Pasco answered correctly, giving him $14,400.

Pasco found the second DD on clue 17. He already had a major lead with $18,000 and decided to wager only $4,000. In “The 17th Century,” the clue read, “In this revolt of 1680, the village-dwelling Native Americans of the same name drove the Spanish out of New Mexico .” “What is the Pueblo Revolt?” he answered. That was correct, and he maintained the lead at $22,000.

Riccardi and Fisher couldn’t quite catch up to Pasco by the end. Pasco had $25,600. Riccardi had $8,200. Fisher was in third place with $7,800.

The category for Final Jeopardy was “Composers.” The clue read, “This composer, whose most famous work shows a Spanish influence, said, ‘my parents met in Madrid.'” Only one of the game show contestants got the right response.

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Fisher first responded with “Who is Ravel?” That was correct, but he crossed it out and put “Bizet” instead. This caused him to drop to $,7023, after wagering $777. Riccardi did have the right response of “Ravel.” He wagered $0, keeping his $8,200. Pasco answered, “Who is Rossini?” He was wrong and wagered $121, ending him with $25,479.

This meant that Pasco took game one. He is up one, while Riccardi and Fisher have zero wins. Tune in on Tuesday to find out who will win game two.

Fans reacted to the results and were shocked that Pasco won and Riccardi lost. “Paolo used his DDs and could not be caught. Hope for a shakeup tomorrow. I want to see all seven games!” a Reddit user said.

“I’m feeling less and less confident in Scott right now,” another commented.

“Well, out of all the 20 or so games he played on the show, he had two or three bad games. That’s still a lot better than most people, even amongst champions,” a fan replied.

“I thought Scott and Paolo would be pretty competitive with each other. At least two more games to find out. Hopefully it’s more!” another added.