JEOPARDY! champ Ian Morrison has lost to a newcomer in a runaway game after his winning strategy failed him.
Ian, an Airline ramp agent from Colorado, went into his second Jeopardy! game with previous winnings of $22,009.
Jeopardy! newcomer Paolo Pasco won Wednesday night’s game[/caption]
Paolo beat out Ian Morrison, who was vying for a two-game winning streak[/caption]
Their other opponent was Leslie Oakerson, who came in third in the competition[/caption]
But he was forced to put down his buzzer for good on Wednesday night’s episode when he was defeated in a landslide victory.
Ian went up against Paolo Pasco, a puzzle writer from California and Leslie Oakerson, a financial services manager from New Jersey.
Host Ken Jennings introduced the categories for the first round.
Ian led entering Double Jeopardy! with $4,000, while Paolo trailed behind with $2,400 and Leslie with $3,600.
Paolo came back strong in Double Jeopardy! in the beginning of the round and took the lead with $14,800.
Ian got hot towards the end and went into Final Jeopardy with $10,000.
Leslie came in third with $1,200.
During Final Jeopardy!, the category was Historic Phrases.
Paolo was correct and finished the game with $20,001.
Leslie also answered the question correctly and finished at $2,200.
Ian unfortunately answered incorrectly, coming in third with $2,009.
Ian took to Reddit to explain his loss and how his strategy failed to secure a second win.
He wrote, “Paolo is a buzzsaw, simple as that. My Final wager was an attempt to cover his wager in case he got it wrong, plus a little extra to round out my 2 game total. But even though Iron Curtain was the first thing I thought of for the clue, it seemed too easy/obvious.
“Paolo wagered enough to cover me anyway, so even if I had responded correctly, I still would have lost.”
He then explained how nerve-wracking it is to play on stage in front of a live audience.
He said, “You can scream all the answers through the TV or win a round of drinks at pub trivia, but being on mic takes away 10 IQ points. I’m proud that I finally made it on and even happier and more surprised that I beat Jonathan!
“This was a dream came true and I hope I’m in the running for Champions Wildcard.”
Contestant Ian Morrison won Tuesday’s show after a comeback[/caption]
TAKING THE WIN
The Jeopardy! season premiere aired on Monday, September 8 with returning champion Jonathan Hugendubler.
The adjunct professor had won the last two consecutive games.
Jonathan had the lead as he entered Double Jeopardy! with $4,000, compared to Stacy Shelly’s $2,800 and Ian’s $3,200.
He upped his earnings in the Daily Double rounds with massive leads ahead of the others with $21,200 versus Ian’s $14,600 and Stacy’s $10,800.
He went into Final Jeopardy! with $21,200 versus Ian’s $14,600 and Stacy’s $10,800.
Jeopardy! Contestant Rules
Passing Jeopardy!’s online Anytime Test is hard enough, but there are also many rules players must follow once they make it to the stage:
- The returning champion is always at the leftmost podium and keeps playing until they lose.
- Contestants don’t have to say “who is” or “what is” in the first round but must do so in Double Jeopardy! and Final Jeopardy.
- Contestants can change their responses as long as Ken Jennings or the judges haven’t made a ruling.
- The minimum wager for a Daily Double is $5. The minimum wager for Final Jeopardy! is $0.
- Written responses in Final Jeopardy! do not have to be spelled correctly, but they must be phonetically correct (the judges decide this).
- If there’s a tie after Final Jeopardy, the tied players enter a bonus clue shootout, and whoever buzzes in first correctly wins.
- If all three contestants wager everything in Final Jeopardy! and are incorrect, leaving them with $0, there will be no returning champion (it’s happened before—six times).
But Jonathan failed to get the Final Jeopardy! answer correct.
Ian was the only one who knew the answer, adding $7,409 to his earnings, bringing his total to $22,009 by the end of the game.
This was impossible to match for two-time champ Jonathan, whose final score was $13,199.
Stacy finished in third with $8,399.
Jonathan had previously beaten Scott Riccardi after a 16-game winning streak.
Ian ended Jonathan Hugendubler’s two-game winning streak on September 9[/caption]
Host Ken Jennings on the new season of Jeopardy![/caption]
