There are very few things that will surprise an avid Jeopardy! fan anymore, but on Tuesday night something happened for the first time in 24 years and stunned the audience and contestants alike.
Two contestants entered Final Jeopardy! tied at $12,300, with the third contestant having just $1,000. The two tied on top, in an effort to ensure they didn’t answer correctly but still lose, bet their entire totals on the final question. Both missed, bringing their totals to $0, while returning champion Manny Abell with $1,000 also missed the question but only bid $999, meaning he won with $1.
Sometimes a dollar goes a long way! 💵 Head over to #JBuzz for more on this moment: https://t.co/91ZLtoYmpI pic.twitter.com/5CbxtielYF
— Jeopardy! (@Jeopardy) October 18, 2017
Naturally, there were many that questioned whether this had ever happened before, because it certainly seemed rare — even Alex Trebek seemed surprised, which is very rare. The folks at Jeopardy!, ever the vigilant researchers, dug into the archives and found video of the one other time someone won Jeopardy! with a final total of $1. That happened back in 1993 when Air Force Lieutenant Colonel Darryl Scott wagered all but $1 from the lead and won.
Abell didn’t add much to his total winnings on his current run, which stands at $42,799 after his dollar win, but he does still get to come back for another round and try to add to that tally.
