This ‘Jeopardy!’ Rule for Players With Negative Scores Might Surprise You
Losing is the new winning. Well, not entirely. When you are a part of a game show, the whole point is to win. Aside from an appearance fee, perhaps you might walk away with some sort of consolation prize as a way of saying “thanks for playing.” But for game shows that are based around the accumulation of money, there will always be a risk of losing money in the game. But what if your final total is in the negative?
On Jeopardy!, the main point is to walk away with the largest sum of money. But in a game where you can lose cash for incorrect responses and costly wagers, does that mean you leave without anything? Even worse, are you in debt to the show? What may surprise you is this unique fact: even if your final score is negative, you still leave Jeopardy! with money! It’s time to figure out if playing risky is a worthwhile Jeopardy! strategy.
A Negative Score Still Means Leaving ‘Jeopardy!’ With Money
Nothing is worse than losing, but ending your run on Jeopardy! in the negative can be heartbreaking. While it does mean your time on the show, for now, is over, you’re not leaving that studio empty-handed. Fortunately, if you are in the negative, you won’t spend your life in debt to your favorite game show. Instead, according to Bustle, you are compensated for your time. Prior to 1984, each player would walk away with their total earnings, regardless if they won the game. Between 1984 and 2002, second and third place contestants walked away with non-cash prizes, including sponsored merchandise and vacation getaways. Now, it’s changed. Second place will leave with $2,000, and third place will walk away with $1,000. Not too bad, especially if you risk your game into the negative! Though monetary earnings are meant to go toward travel and hotel expenses, contestants are not compensated for such expenses.
Though no one wants to make history for losing, there always has to be one person to hold the record for the lowest score in Jeopardy! history. That honor currently belongs to Patrick Pearce. In 2021, he ended his game with a score of -$7,400. Then hosted by temporary guest host LeVar Burton, the product specialist from Fountain Valley, California, sadly found himself in personal jeopardy. While being deep down in the red, Pearce continued to buzz in and buzz in, failing to earn any correct answers. His flaw-filled strategy became a warning to future players of how NOT to play Jeopardy!
Negative Scores are Historic on ‘Jeopardy!’
Prior to Pearce’s record game, the lowest score belonged to Stephanie Hull. In 2015, she made history with a score of -$6,800. Virtually remaining silent for years, Hull finally broke her silence ahead of Ken Jennings‘s victory during 2020’s Jeopardy! Greatest of All Time tournament. While Jennings became the GOAT, and future host, Hull held on to the moniker of WOAT, or “worst of all time,” for six years. Speaking to Slate, she revealed that she hadn’t watched her performance on the episode until preparing for the interview. She said her strategy was earning the Daily Doubles, but her failure to do so caused her to explore a different strategy. “I was trying to focus on the bottom of the board, which is typically where they’re found, but that is not where they all were in this particular Double Jeopardy! board. And the other thing was I buzzed in and answered incorrectly on every $2,000 question. I was trying to get myself out of the hole with high-value questions. They were very difficult questions, and I couldn’t get myself out of the hole. If you’ve ever seen that GIF of Kermit flapping his arms, doing that Kermit flail, that’s kind of what it was.” She was so terrified of her time on the show, Hull revealed that she had deleted her Twitter the day of her episode airing.
Hull’s terrible score was paired with one of the overall worst games in show history. Alongside Hull, Brad King landed in the negative after Double Jeopardy, meaning they were ineligible to play Final Jeopardy, thus making Kristin Sausville the automatic winner. Sausville played Final Jeopardy, and answered incorrectly. But to make matters worse, she actually wagered something. Perhaps bad game play was still in the air! Thankfully, Hull is no longer in second place in this abysmal record book. Last year, Erin Buker, a mother from San Pedro, California, missed Pearce’s record with a final score of -$7,200. She had served as an alternate a week before her appearance, but nevertheless, her time in the spotlight proved historic. Good thing everyone walks away with something at the end. Their dignity though? Not for everyone.
