‘Jeopardy!’: Did Bartender Champ Bring Home the Beer After Huge Wagers?

Spoiler Alert

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The latest Jeopardy! win came down to a shocking wager during the final question. Did champion Brandon Monsman win his second game or did another player outsmart him?

Monsman, from Cleveland, Ohio, played against Neeraj Borle, from New York, New York, and Nick Marino, from San Francisco, California, on Thursday, May 15. Monsman, a bartender, had a one-day total of $16,400 after he almost lost Wednesday’s game over a rhyming question.

After 15 questions, Monsman and Marino, a mechanical engineer, were tied at $3,000, despite Marino answering six right and one wrong and Monsman answering four correctly. Borle, an investment first managing director, wasn’t too far behind with $2,600.

During the second half of the round, Marino found the first Daily Double on question 16. He wagered $1,000. In the category, “You put me on the Supreme Court,” in which the contestant’s response had to be a president’s name, the clue read, “Hot dogging it & appointing Felix Frankfurter; he wanted to add 6 more all at once, but it didn’t happen.” He answered with “Who is Franklin Delano Roosevelt?” which was correct, giving him the lead and a total of $4,000.

He maintained the lead by the end of the round with $5,600. Borle bumped up to second place with $3,600. The reigning champion was in last with $2,400.

In Double Jeopardy, Borle found the DD on clue 11. He wagered $2,000. In the category, “a Category Good,” where the response is a noun then the adjective, the clue read, “In French, it’s normal for the noun to come first, as in this 2-word term for a spy who incites others to engage in illegal acts.” Borle answered with an agent provocateur, which was correct. He had a score of $10,800, taking the lead as Marino had $8,000.

However, Marino quickly took back the lead when he found the last DD of the game seven questions before the end. He wagered $2,600 category “The Name on the Disease.” The clue read, “It’s the singular last name of Thomas, a doctor whose name is on the malignant disease of lymph tissue he described in 1832.” He also got his right with Hodgkin. He was tied with Borlo at $11,600, but his correct response brought him to first place with $14,200.

But, Marino shouldn’t have gotten too comfortable because the wagers changed everything in Final Jeopardy. Going into the last question, Marino had $14,200. Borle was in second with $12,400. The reigning champion, Monsman, was in third with $7,200.

The category for Final Jeopardy was “Women of History.” The clue was “Regarding the idea of ‘Women First,’ she queried, ‘Women demand equal rights on land – why not on sea?’” The correct answer was Molly Brown, which none of the contestants got right.

Marino answered “Who is Roosevelt?” and wagered $10,601, ending with $3,599. Borle answered with “Who is Phyllis Schafly?” He wagered $8,000, giving him a final score of $4,400. It all came down to Monsman. He answered, “Who is Aerhart?” The bartender wagered $0, giving him a final total of $7,200, making him the winner. He had a two-day total of $23,600. Monsman will be back on Friday, May 16 for his third game against two new opponents.

Reddit users reacted to the champions’ shocking win. “Wow, good match today and a nice win for Brandon again. Neeraj’s big FJ wager cost him the win. I wonder what his thought process was for making that big of a wager there,” one said.

“We had a Roadrunner win! YAY!” said another. “For those who don’t realize I use my own lexicon: a Roadrunner win is when third place gets the victory by wagering $0 on a Triple Stumper. Such moments usually require a second place to get overconfident, adding to the imagery of the third-place Roadrunner standing on the cliff watching two Wile E Coyotes plummet with wrong answers. MEEP MEEP!”

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