‘Jeopardy!’: Poker Player Gives Jamie Ding Toughest Challenge of Week

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Did another Jeopardy! contestant play their cards right and take down super champion Jamie Ding? Ding took on his toughest challenger of the week against a poker player.

Ding, a law student and bureaucrat from Lawrenceville, New Jersey, tried to crack the top 10 players of all-time during his 16th game on April 3. He went into the game with a 15-day total of $428,000.

The super champion, who beat Harrison Whitaker for the most games this season on Thursday, played against Emmett Laurie, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Robyn Horn, from Seattle, Washington, on Friday. Did his streak end? Warning: Spoilers for the April 3 episode of Jeopardy! ahead!

Ding took the lead by the first 15 clues with $6,200. He found the Daily Double on clue 21.

With $7,000 in his bank, Ding wagered $5,000. In “American History,” the clue read, “The Battle of San Juan Hill was the bloodiest for U.S. forces in this war; our foe had half as many casualties.”

“What was the Spanish-American war?” he answered correctly. This gave him $12,000.

Ding ended with $13,400. Horn, a commercial real estate broker, was in second place with $2,200. Laurie, a poker player, had $1,000.

In Double Jeopardy, Ding had a huge lead of $21,800 when he found the first DD on clue 14. He wagered $3,200 in “Alliterative Animals.” The clue was “With a wingspan nearing 10 feet, this magnificent bird once ranged across most of the Western United States.”

“What is the California condor?” he answered correctly. This gave him $25,000.

On clue 16, Laurie threatened Ding’s lead. He had $7,000 and made it a true Daily Double. In “10-Letter World Capitals,” the clue read, “A port city on the Rio de la Plata, it’s the southernmost capital in South America.”

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Laurie thought before he answered, “What is Montevideo?” This gave him $14,000, which was only $11,000 away from Ding.

Despite Laurie ending with $17,200, he couldn’t quite catch up to Ding, who ended with $29,400. Horn had $5,400.

The category for Final Jeopardy was “90s Television.” The clue was “Northwest Passage was a working title of this series that was renamed for mountains.”

Horn had the correct response of “What is Twin Peaks?” She wagered $4,600, giving her a final total of $10,000. Laurie did not have the correct response. He wrote, “What is… hi Zoe?” and wagered all of his money, ending him with $0. Ding also had the correct response. He wagered $5,001, making his final total $34,401.

Ding’s 16-day total was $462,401. This put the game show contestant in the top 10 highest winnings in regular season play at number eight. He jumped three spots, passing Julia Collins, David Madden, and Scott Riccardi, according to the Leaderboard of Legends. He also tied Riccardi and Ryan Long for consecutive games won with 16.