‘Jeopardy!’: Did Jamie Ding Reach $500,000 in Winnings?

Jeopardy! Question Mark Umbrella

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He’s almost at half a million dollars! Jamie Ding goes into his 17th Jeopardy! game with the pressure to reach a total of $500,000. Can the super champion do it?

Ding, a law student and bureaucrat, won his 16th game on Friday with a total of $462,401, tying for 10th place on the all-time Jeopardy! winnings. Can the Lawrenceville, New Jersey resident reach $500,000? Did his reign come to an end? Read on to find out.

On April 6, Ding played against Maggie Faucher, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, and Mikey Hlebasko, from Marietta, Georgia. Warning: Spoilers for the April 6 episode of Jeopardy! ahead!

Ding was in the lead with $4,000 when Faucher, a research assistant, found the Daily Double on clue 14. She had $600 but was allowed to wager up to $1,000, and that’s what she did.

In “The 7 Seas,” the clue read, “Somalia, Pakistan & India all surround this sea, the northwest part of the Indian Ocean.” “What is the Bengal Sea?” she answered incorrectly. Faucher dropped down to -$400 since the correct response was The Arabian Sea.

During the interviews, Faucher revealed that her dad was on the game show in the ’90s, and they used to have trivia nights at their kitchen table when she was a kid.

By the end of the round, Faucher got on the board with $600. Hlebasko, a sales operations director, had $2,200. Ding already had a wide lead with $10,200.

In Double Jeopardy, Ding found the first DD on clue two. He had $11,200 and wagered $4,800 in “Astronomy & Space Science.” The clue was “Scientists once thought the Milky Way was the whole universe — then Edwin Hubble proved this nearby galaxy was far beyond ours.”

He answered “What is Andromeda?” which was correct. This gave him $16,000.

Ding found the second DD on clue four. With $18,00 in his bank, he wagered $9,000. In “Historical Hodgepodge,” the clue read, “The Peace of Utrecht marked the end of this 18th-century war fought after Charles II died without a direct heir.”

“What was the War of the Spanish Succession?” he answered correctly. Ding had a huge lead of $27,000.

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Although Faucher and Hlebasko put up a good fight, there was no defeating Ding, who ended the round with $44,200. Faucher had $7,400. Hlebasko ended with $3,000.

The category for Final Jeopardy was “Geographic Missing Links.” The clue read, “At least since 1890, plans have existed to link these 2 islands across the North Channel; a 2021 estimate ranged around $450 billion.” The clue was a Triple Stumper for the game show contestants, as none of them got Great Britain and Ireland.

Hlebasko’s response was “What are Iceland and Greenland?” He wagered $2,316, ending with $684. Faucher’s answer was “What are Australia and Tasmania?” She wagered $1,400, making her final total $6,000. Ding’s response of “What are Big and Little Diomede?” was incorrect. He wagered $12,589, giving him $31,611.

This gave Din a 17-day total of $494,012. Although he didn’t crack $500,00 yet, he did move up on the Leaderboard of Legends. He moved to tenth place for Most Consecutive Games Won with 17. Ding remains in eighth place for the highest winnings in regular gameplay.

Find out if Ding wins game 18 and brings his total to $500,000 on Tuesday.