âJeopardy!â: Jamie Ding Hits Big Trouble â Did He Survive Final Jeopardy?
Spoiler Alert
Being a super champion on Jeopardy! has its downfalls. Some days, champions hit big trouble. With 27 wins under his belt so far, has Jamie Dingâs streak come to an end?
Ding, a law student and bureaucrat from Lawrenceville, New Jersey, entered his 28th game with a total of $753,000. He is now in the top five regular game-play winners, above Cris Pannullo, whom he surpassed on Monday.
On April 21, Ding played against Max Ernst, from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and Lydia Sekscenski, from Wallingford, Connecticut. Warning: Spoilers for the April 21 episode of Jeopardy! ahead.
By the first 15 clues, Ding was in the lead, but not by much, with $4,800. Sekscenski, a sales consultant, had $3,000. Ernst, a software engineer, was in third place with $2,000.
Ding found the Daily Double on clue 21. He had $6,600 and wagered $3,200. In âFrom Fluff to Gesundheit,â the clue read, âA musical composition, or a state of activity without full awareness.â
âWhat is a fugue?â he answered correctly. This gave him a wider lead of $9,800.
He ended the round with $10,800. Ernst had $3,200. Sekscenski was in third place with $3,000.
In Double Jeopardy, Sekscenski found the first DD on clue seven. She was in second place with $6,200 and wagered $3,400.
The clue in âThe Tale Endâ read: âNear the end of a 1947 tale from this author, we learn that âthe plague bacillus never dies or disappears for good.ââ
âWho is Sinclair?â she answered incorrectly. The correct response was Albert Camus. Sekscenski dropped down to third place with $2,800.
By the time she found the second DD on clue 16, Sekscenski had $800. She wagered the maximum of $2,000.
The âBio 201â clue was âChapters in a bio of this president include âThe Heat in the Kitchenâ & âThe Moon, the Stars, and All the Planets.ââ
âWho is Jefferson?â Sekscenski answered incorrectly once again. The correct response was Harry Truman, so she dropped to -$1,200.
Ding ended the round in the lead with $17,600. Ernst had $10,800. Sekscenski was in third place with $400.
The category for Final Jeopardy was â18th Century Works.â The clue was âIronically, it was the mayor of Strasbourg, a victim of the guillotine, who requested the composition of this.â The correct response was La Marseillaise, which all three game show contestants wrote.
Sekscenski, however, began her response with âLe,â but it was still accepted. It didnât matter, though, since she wagered $0 and ended with $400.
Ernst wagered $9,000, ending him with $19,800. This put him in the lead before Dingâs final wager. Ding wagered $4,001, making his final total $21,601.
Dingâs 28-day total was $774,601. He jumped two spots and is in eighth place on the Highest-Winnings of All-Time Including Tournaments. Victoria Groce is slightly behind him with $772,801.
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