‘Jeopardy!’ Fans Shocked by Player’s Final Wager That Ruined Wildcard Chances

[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the January 17 episode of Jeopardy!]

Well, that was an unexpected bet. The Jeopardy! Champions Wildcard Tournament is unique in that losing players have a chance to play again if their cumulative score is high enough. Because of that, it’s wise (and common) for players in this tournament bet low in Final Jeopardy or wager nothing at all so they can keep their scores as high as possible no matter if their answer is right or wrong. But one player didn’t protect their final score at all in the game that aired on Friday, January 17, the last before the semifinals. They bet it all and lost it all, and now they won’t be back in this tournament.

Adam Hersh, a lawyer from Brooklyn, New York, was in the lead for the first two rounds of the game, but Marko Saric, a math professor from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, took the lead in round three and was in first place heading into Final Jeopardy with a score of 24,400. Hersh was in second place with 18,600, so it wouldn’t have taken a massive bet to win if he got the final answer correct. Will Weiss, a technical program manager from Islip, New York, remained in third place throughout the game but didn’t trail too far behind for the most part. He fell behind in round three, however, with his score going into Final Jeopardy being 5,400.

It was safest for Saric’s tournament long game to bet nothing in the final round, and he predictably bet nothing. Weiss was wise to make a big bet to try and catch up, and he only stood to gain a better chance at securing a wildcard spot later on if he answered Final Jeopardy correctly. He bet everything he had, but he answered incorrectly just like both of his competitors did, so he ended up with zero.

Hersh, however, bet everything he had when it would’ve been much wiser to bet nothing. A score of 18,600 would’ve left Hersh as the losing player with the second-highest score, thus guaranteeing him a wildcard spot in the semifinals. Melal Shah has the highest score of the non-winners at 19,600, and the next highest score behind Hersh’s would-be 18,600 is Jay Fisher with 15,400. Hersh’s bet ruined what would’ve been a guaranteed wildcard spot in the semifinals. With this game now complete, the wildcard spots now go to Shah, Fisher, Jen Feldman, and Paul Clauson. Here are the current tournament standings:

Jeopardy! Champions Wildcard Tournament Winners So Far

Monday, January 13: Will Yancey, 13,800
Tuesday, January 14: Evan Dorey, 20,600
Wednesday, January 15: Drew Goins, 23,400
Thursday, January 16: Joey DeSena, 24,000
Friday, January 17: Marko Saric, 24,400

Jeopardy! Champions Wildcard Tournament Wildcard Standings

1. Mehal Shah, 19,600 — Wildcard
2. Jay Fisher, 15,400 — Wildcard
3. Jen Feldman, 8,200 — Wildcard
4. Paul Clauson, 8,000 — Wildcard
5. Stevie Ruiz, 5,199
6. Adam Hersh, 0 (18,600)
7. Eamonn Campbell, 0 (9,600)
8. Davey Morrison, 0 (8,800)
9. Will Weiss, 0 (5,400)
10. Aiden Orzech, -2,400

Fans on Reddit are shocked by Hersh’s move, explained only by the fact that the players don’t know the final scores of the previous contestants when heading into their games.

“Why bet anything Adam, let alone EVERYTHING????” one viewer asked on the Jeopardy! Reddit discussion board. “I can’t help but wonder why Adam made the all in FJ wager,” said another. “I feel like a score of 18600 almost guarantees you a wildcard spot so going for the W at such a risk was quite confusing. I’d imagine Paul must have been surprised after he found out his score of 8000 was enough to move on.”

One user simply commented “ADAM!!!!!!!!” in disbelief. One fan wondered if he Hersh might’ve thought he needed a higher score than he did, as he didn’t have access to the scores of the previous non-winners. “I was so sad to see Adam bet so much and lose it all,” they said. “I know he didn’t know the previous scores going in but did he really think he would need over $30k to get through?!?!?!”

“Yeah Adam’s wager made no sense at all,” another fan commented. “If 18600 still fell uncomfortable for whatever reason to Adam, I would have bet 2000 because in that case, he could potentially have 20600 at the end which is a guaranteed wildcard spot no matter what. And if he had gotten it wrong, 16800 is also a shoo in for a wildcard as well.”

One fan said he pulled a Cliff Clavin (the Cheers-inspired joke for when a player risks too much money in Final Jeopardy and loses), but another fan disagreed.

“I checked….Adam was guaranteed a spot in a wildcard with 18.6K. Guy did a Cliff Clavin,” the comment said, as the disagreeing fan replied, “Not really a Cliff Clavin given he didn’t know the scores from the other games prior. However, he probably should have known his 18k would be good or close.”

Was this a Cliff Clavin move? Sound off in the comments below.