A new Jeopardy! contestant took a major gamble on Thursday’s new episode, one that shocked host Ken Jennings and the studio audience.

Aaron Brown, an entrepreneur and trivia host from Ontario was one of the new contestants, alongside Angel Poe, taking on two-day champ Rishabh Wuppalapati, who had amassed $42,402.

The back-and-forth battle found Aaron and Rishabh swapping leads throughout the game, until a crucial moment towards the end of Double Jeopardy.

Aaron held a $200 lead with $10,400 over Rishabh’s $10,200, when Aaron found the final Daily Double in the category The Books of Mormons, focusing on books written by Mormon authors.

He decided to make it a ‘true Daily Double,’ risking it all while holding a $200 lead… and he couldn’t come up with the correct response, which both cost him the game and resulted in Jeopardy! fans bashing his bold move on social media.

A new Jeopardy! contestant took a major gamble on Thursday’s new episode, one that shocked host Ken Jennings and the studio audience

Aaron held a $200 lead with $10,400 over Rishabh’s $10,200, when Aaron found the final Daily Double in the category The Books of Mormons, focusing on books written by Mormon authors

Just moments earlier, Brown found the first Double Jeopardy Daily Double with $10,800, but he wagered just $2,000 in the category Women’s Organizations.

He failed to identify The Daughters of Penelope, but got the next $1,600 question right before finding the last Daily Double.

Since he briefly lost the lead to Rishabh with his first Daily Double miscue, host Jennings asked, ‘What do you want to wager his time?’

‘Let’s get this money, honey. All of it,’ Brown said, as the studio audience was stunned, along with Jennings.

‘Whoa! I didn’t see that coming!’ Jennings said, before reading the clue: ‘One heck of a labyrinth is the only way out in this 2009 James Dashner novel.’

Brown clearly didn’t have the answer right away, though his answer was actually close… but not close enough.

He answered, ‘What is The Maze?’ Jennings could not accept that, as the correct response was The Maze Runner.

Brown would never recover, amassing just $1,600 before Final Jeopardy, with Rishabh winning, adding another $10,400 to his three-day tally of $52,802.

Brown clearly didn’t have the answer right away, though his answer was actually close… but not close enough

He answered, ‘What is The Maze?’ Jennings could not accept that, as the correct response was The Maze Runner

@MartySande34622 tweeted, ‘Wow! Really wow! You’re leading a close game, and you bet all of it, surprising even Ken. Aaron Brown lost his head, and lost his chance at a #Jeopardy win vs a mid champ.’

@museummermaid commented, ‘When Ken is surprised you know it was a poor choice.’

@FaiselSoren added, ‘collective shaking of the head. what was he thinking. he’ll never forget this.’

@VIGOCHAofficial said, ‘Oh, dear, what a pity, never mind…’

@say_naja added, ‘Ouuuuccchhhhhh Aaron!!!!!’

@OzzieR89 insisted, ‘Nooooo Aaron we needed you.’

@Jay_3085 added, ‘Oof, new contestant Aaron Brown making the biggest true DAILY DOUBLE bet so far this season ($10,400) that unfortunately didn’t pay off….’

@_thejeopardyfan added, ‘I could be 100% wrong with this #Jeopardy take, but just by what happened during the games themselves, I think Aaron Brown is potentially more likely to receive a Second Chance invite than Rachel Cassidy is.’

@MartySande34622 tweeted, ‘Wow! Really wow! You’re leading a close game, and you bet all of it, surprising even Ken. Aaron Brown lost his head, and lost his chance at a #Jeopardy win vs a mid champ’

@FaiselSoren added, ‘collective shaking of the head. what was he thinking. he’ll never forget this’

@VIGOCHAofficial said, ‘Oh, dear, what a pity, never mind…’

@say_naja added, ‘Ouuuuccchhhhhh Aaron!!!!!’

@OzzieR89 insisted, ‘Nooooo Aaron we needed you.’

@Jay_3085 added, ‘Oof, new contestant Aaron Brown making the biggest true DAILY DOUBLE bet so far this season ($10,400) that unfortunately didn’t pay off….’

@_thejeopardyfan added, ‘I could be 100% wrong with this #Jeopardy take, but just by what happened during the games themselves, I think Aaron Brown is potentially more likely to receive a Second Chance invite than Rachel Cassidy is’

Before the Thursday episode of Jeopardy! aired, Toronto Life posted a profile on Brown, where he revealed he had applied for a decade before getting on the show.

He revealed he first moved on to the next round in 2021 but he wasn’t selected for the show until this past August.

Brown added that his ‘training mode’ consisted of watching six old episodes of Jeopardy per day and answering over 10K questions.

‘It’s a surreal feeling to have finally achieved my dream. It may seem like an ending, but I think it’s actually the beginning of an incredible new chapter in my life,’ he said.

‘I’m going to need a new challenge and somewhere else to direct my passion and energy. I still love trivia, but I’ll looking forward to finding a new dream to chase,’ he added.