Jeopardy! Masters fans have reacted to Andrew He‘s shocking wager that lost him the game on the Tuesday, September 1, episode of the show.
After the previous game eight, Victoria Groce topped the leaderboard with nine match points. Yogesh Raut follows her with eight points. Paolo Pasco was in third place with six points. Long Nguyen had five. Juveria Zaheer had three points. He was in last place with one point.
He, from San Francisco, California, Zaheer, from Whitby, Ontario, Canada, and Raut, from Vancouver, Washington, played in game nine.
He, a stay-at-home dad, had 2,200 points when he found the Daily Double on clue five. He wagered all of his money in “The Business World.”
The clue read, “Founded in 1974 & a towering industrial presence, that natl. oil company says it ‘was established to unlock Malaysia’s energy potential.’” “What is Patronus?” he answered correctly. This gave him the lead with 4,400 points.
He maintained the lead throughout the round, ending with 9,600. Zaheer, a psychologist, had 3,800 points. Raut, a specialist in applied cognition, was in third place with 1,600.
In Double Jeopardy, Raut found the first DD on clue one. He wagered all of his money in “Code Switching.” The clue was “Code Talkers used in WWI were from this Oklahoma-based ‘first tribe over the trail of tears’ — Navajo code talkers came later.”
“Who are the Cherokee?” Raut answered incorrectly. He dropped down to zero points since the correct answer was Choctaw.
He quickly climbed back onto the board. The next DD was found on clue 13. Raut found it again with 2,400 points.
Raut wagered all of his points in “Urban Traditions.” The clue was “New Orleans radio station WWOZ keeps track of therese ordinal-named parades put on by groups like the Westbank Steppers.”
“What is Second Line?” he answered correctly. This gave him 4,800 points. He remained in third place.
By the end of the round, Raut moved to second place with 12,400. Zaheer had 11,400. He was on top with 18,000.
The category for Final Jeopardy was “Coins.” The clue read, “Coins minted by Constantine I in 327 had these 2 Greek letters, a monogram belonging to one other than the ruler.”
Zaheer’s response was “What are chi and rho?” She wagered 200 points, giving her 11,600. Raut also had the correct answer. He wagered 10,001.
He’s response was the same. He wagered just 300 points, leaving him with 18,300. Raut won the game and earned three match points. He received one. Zaheer got zero.
Fans reacted to He’s shocking wager. “WHY DID ANDREW BET SO LITTLE???” a Reddit user said.
“I know, that’s what I wondered. He had such a great game, and he has always bet to win,” a fan replied.
“Must’ve thought it’d be a hard category and figured he’d win if they all whiffed,” another said.
“If they all whiffed, he still can bet enough to secure the win. Bad money management,” a fan wrote.
“Yes, he was clearly banking on a triple stumper. Game theory can be a risky thing to play around with,” a Reddit user said.
“I think I understand a low bet from Andrew in a vacuum, but in his current position in the tournament, didn’t he need to bet to cover double 2nd place?” another wrote.
“Andrew, whhhhhy??? You could have taken that one!!” one fan asked.
“Always play to win. Awful mistake by Andrew. Woof,” one last fan said.
Disney/Christopher Willard
Game 10 had Nguyen, from Las Vegas, Nevada, Pasco, from San Diego, California, and Groce, from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, facing off against each other.
The DD was found on clue 15. She had 1,400 points and wagered all of them.
The clue in “Civics” was “This type of Latin-named law that punishes people retroactively is prohibited by the Constitution.” “What is ex post facto?” she answered correctly. This gave the writer and speaker 2,800 points.
By the end of the round, Pasco, a puzzle writer, was in the lead with 5,200. Groce had 3,800. Nguyen was in the negatives with -2,000 points.
In Double Jeopardy, Groce found the first DD on clue two. She moved into the lead with 5,400 points and wagered 200 in “Latin-English Overlaps.”
The clue was “This half-man, half-bull appears in the Northern Lights.” “What is the minotaur?” she answered. That was incorrect, and she dropped down to 5,200 points, tying with Pasco. The correct response was the minotaur Aurora Borealis.
She quickly took the lead again. Groce found the next DD. She had 9,600 and wagered 4,400 in “Professors.”
The clue was “An English prof at Cornell, he would grasp his own lapels, lean forward & tell his class: ‘rule 17, omit needless words!’” She responded, “Who is Nabokholv?” William Strunk Jr. was the correct response. This dropped her down to 5,200, tying with Pasco again.
Groce took the lead when she ran “Foreign TV.” She ended the round with 18,800 points. Pasco had 9,600. Nguyen, a retired engineer, ended with zero points and was not able to participate in Final Jeopardy.
The Final Jeopardy category was “Italian Opera.” The clue read, “In the first scene of this opera, the title character is mentioned as he ‘whose song rises at night from the gardens.’”
Pasco wrote, “Who is Don Giovannai?” He was incorrect and wagered 9,599 points, giving him one point. Groce didn’t answer anything. She wagered 401 points, giving her 18,399. She won the game and received three points. Pasco got one. Nguyen got zero.
Disney/Christopher Willard
Groce was in the lead with 12. Raut was very close with 11 points. Pasco had seven. Nguyen was next with five points. Zaheer had three. He was in last place with two points.
Wednesday night will be the last two Quarterfinal games before three contestants are eliminated. Who will win it all?
Jeopardy! Masters, Tuesdays through Fridays, until September 8, 8/7c, ABC