Jeopardy!’s ongoing winner Stephen Webb went against policy director Jessica Ashooh and Long Nguyen, a retired engineer, during the March 14 episode of the trivia show. But could he increase his total winnings of $139,281 in his sixth game tonight?
The three went into Double Jeopardy, with Stephen leading with $9,600, Long following up with $5,800, and Jessica alongside $3,400.
Jessica immediately gets a Daily Double when the round begins in the category Literary London: “This 1881 Mark Twain novel takes place in London’s poorer areas as well as in some of its ritzier locales.” She, unfortunately, got it wrong and lost all of her earnings, betting it all.
Loing gets the second Daily Double during Double Jeopardy in the category Scrambled U.S. History: “1820s announcement: No credo on merit,” then betting it all when he proclaims he’s from Vegas. Unfortunately, his answer was wrong; it was, in fact, the Monroe Doctrine.
As a result of each contestant’s blunders, Stephen had the lead into Final Jeopardy with $18,000, ahead of Jessica’s $6,000 and Long’s low $400.
The question for Final Jeopardy under the Countries of the World category: Part of the largest contiguous land empire during the 1200s & 1300s, today it’s the world’s second-largest landlocked country.
Stephen had the correct answer written but crossed it out with an incorrect answer. Long and Jessica both got it correct, but since Stephen only ended up betting $2,000, he eked out a win.
Either contestant could have won the game if Jessica and Long got their Daily Doubles correct. Instead, Stephen has increased his overall earnings in the competition to $155,281.
I was rooting so hard for Long tonight. That daily double was sooo painful. Long, you’re still amazing #jeopardy pic.twitter.com/rgks8QHMS0
— Laura Huang (@ProfLauraHuang) March 14, 2023
“Yeah, I had too much time to think about a relatively obvious clue that didn’t actually matter on the scale of winning the game and talked myself into the less obvious, and therefore wrong, answer,” Stephen said on Reddit.
Although the reigning champion secured another victory, fans online were dismayed that Long lost. “Aww I feel bad for the vegas guy! He literally got every other question in that category correct,” one user said.
Jessica also had something to say about the moment on Reddit: “We were all STUNNED when Long went all-in so late in DJ, but props to him, because you have to play big to win big.”
See what else fans had to say below, and don’t miss Webb during his seventh game tomorrow.
Man in the middle played so well until he put it all on the line #Jeopardy
— LinestandingNYC℠ (@linestandingnyc) March 14, 2023
long could have won it #Jeopardy
— mike ???????? (@tradesbymike) March 14, 2023
I wanted Long to win. He would have been fun. #Jeopardy
— KittyHawk (@EdsMyDad1919) March 14, 2023
Dammit Long. Too risky. #Jeopardy
— Jimco (@jimco915) March 14, 2023
Aww I feel bad for the vegas guy! He literally got every other question in that category correct! I dont blame him for betting it all. Right decision. #Jeopardy
— bigboss2020 (@bigboss202011) March 14, 2023
LONG NOOOOOOOOO
— i love jeopardy (@jeopardyfan69) March 14, 2023
Dude bet it all 12k on a daily double saying he’s from
Vegas
He could have beaten this Stephen guy on jeopardy but he ended the round with 400— jim thomas (@jmt15444) March 14, 2023
long played valiantly ????????
— i love jeopardy (@jeopardyfan69) March 14, 2023
Long ride home #jeopardy
— Ga.rednk (@13mills13) March 14, 2023