‘Jeopardy!’ Champ Says He ‘Ran Out of Steam’ & Explains Mistake to ‘Surprised’ Fans

Greg Jolin has been dominating Jeopardy! this week, but fans were stunned by the end of his five-day winning streak. Known for a perfect Final Jeopardy record, the professional-level Magic: The Gathering player shocked viewers by folding on what some called an “easy” clue.

On Thursday, November 7, the system specialist and accountant from Raymond, New Hampshire, entered with a five-day total of $135,002 and a guaranteed slot in the next Tournament of Champions. He faced Sammy Sanchez, a bartender and private tutor from Kansas City, Missouri, and Susan Stumme, a journalist from Arlington, Virginia.

In the Jeopardy! round, Jolin was more shaky than usual and, after multiple incorrect responses, clawed to the lead with $5,800. Sanchez (who shared that his friends once faked his death on Facebook and got a $1,000 Daily Double) had $3,200, while Stumme (who showcased her Jeopardy! dance ritual) trailed with $600.

In Double Jeopardy, Jolin continued to appear on the ropes, as Sanchez got the second Daily Double, gaining $2000 by knowing the “Tough Rhyming Pairs” clue was “medium and tedium.” Stumme snatched the remaining Daily Double, gaining $3,000 on the “Pure Bed-lam” clue seeking “Divan.” In the same category, Jolin mixed up “melanin” with “melatonin,” which hurt to see.

The lead see-sawed between Sanchez and Jolin, with the former managing to come out very narrowly on top into Final Jeopardy with $12,400, while Jolin had $12,200, and Stumme $9,600. “Great game from all three of you,” Ken Jennings remarked. On what promised to be a neck-and-neck third act, he added, “We’ll see what Final Jeopardy category will settle this thing.”

The nail-biter game hinged on “1960s INVENTIONS” and the clue, “Poly-paraphenylene terephthalamide was 1st invented to reinforce radial tires but the lifesaving polymer aka this would have many uses.”

Stumme revealed she correctly responded “Kevlar” to a slightly surprised Jennings, bringing her to $12,600. Now she had the “narrowest of leads,” he remarked. Jolin was incorrect with “styrofoam” bringing his streak to a screeching halt with $5,199. Sanchez was also incorrect with “WD40” dropping to $399. In a big twist, Stumme emerged the new champ from third place and was beaming as the crowd erupted. “What a great game,” Jennings closed. “As I say, anything can happen on Jeopardy!”

Fans flooded the Reddit thread of the episode, thrilled for Strumme and her come-from-behind win in an extremely competitive game, but saddened by Jolin’s defeat, especially on a Final Jeopardy miss.

“Rip Greg, fatigue must’ve set in,” one Redditor wrote, theorizing what went wrong.

“Yeah he got more wrong than usual, and I’m really surprised he missed that FJ, seemed obvious to me. Great run though,” wrote another.

“Surprised that FJ was not a triple get,” wrote a third.

“Really thought at least two of the contestants would get FJ right. But I’m pleasantly surprised, congrats to Susan on her come-from-behind victory!” echoed a fourth.

“Yaaaaaaaaaas Susan!” wrote a fifth. “A come-from-behind win and smart wager. I love to see it.”

“God damn man, what a game! Wow! Insanely close game and crazy FJ! Sad to see Greg go!” wrote a sixth.

“Miss you, Greg. See you on the Tournament of Champions,” wrote a seventh.

Jolin chimed in on the thread to give his thoughts on the game, sharing he “ran out of steam” and where he stumbled with Final Jeopardy.

“As for me, yeah, I kind of ran out of steam here. The bad guesses finally came out, and then my mouth said ‘melanin’ even though my brain said ‘melatonin’. Then on Final Jeopardy, I overly fixated on the long science word, rather than catching the ‘lifesaving’ hint. To be fair, I’m not sure I would have gotten to Kevlar regardless,” he wrote in part.

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One fan replied, “Congrats on making it that far, Greg! Sad to see you go but you should be proud.”

Jolin, who arrived on his 40th birthday, does have plenty to be proud of, and plenty of cash to count with his wife at home. He nabbed a $10,000 Daily Double earlier on, boasts the second-highest average Coryat of the past year, and will be back for the 2025 ToC in late January, along with the likes of Adriana Harmeyer and Isaac Hirsch.

What did you think of the dramatic streak-ending game? Were you surprised Greg Jolin didn’t get Final Jeopardy? Did you know “Kevlar?” Let us know in the comment section below!
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