On Monday, reigning Jeopardy! champion Megan Wachspress was the personification of the old adage, “Sometimes it is better to be lucky than good.” While incredibly smart, the attorney from Berkeley, California has benefited from other contestants’ stumbles and bad luck throughout her five-day run.
On Friday, contestant Sadie Goldberger appeared to correctly answer the Final Jeopardy! clue correctly and win the game. But due to a questionable call by judges, her answer was deemed illegible and Wachspress was announced the winner.
Wachspress’s win on Monday wasn’t controversial, but it could easily be described as fortuitous. Contestant Ketty Pan made a big gamble near the end of the game on a Daily Double she answered incorrectly, which all but eliminated her from contention. Going into the Final Jeopardy!, contestant Tory Leviton had a slight lead over Wachspress. Despite both of them answering the question incorrectly, Wachspress won because Leviton wagered too much money.
Fans were surprised by Wachspress continued luck.
Talk about pure luck… Megan loses on Friday after Sadie got screwed and backs into winning today. Right into the Tournament of Champions. #jeopardy
— Al Quint (he/him) (@SuburbanVoice) June 21, 2022
Wachspress’s five wins qualified her for the Tournament of Champions, but with only $52,002 in total winnings, she has less than half as much as any other five-day champion this year.
Wachspress also only took home $401, while the 2nd and 3rd place winners received the larger $2,000 and $1,000 constellation prizes.
Jeopardy! is a syndicated program; visit Jeopardy.com or check your local listings for the TV schedule.
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