A “Jeopardy!” contestant is going viral this week after making what many fans are considering one of the biggest blunders in the show’s history.
On Wednesday’s episode, a woman named Karen had a huge lead over the other two contestants as they neared the end of the second round – she had earned $21,800, while her competitors had earned $7,100 and $6,400.
When there were only a few clues left on the Double Jeopardy board, Karen found a Daily Double in the “Hans, Solo” category. If she had made a modest bet, she would have been sure to win the entire game after Final Jeopardy, as the other players couldn’t possibly catch up to her lead.
Instead, she bet $10k.
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Ken Jennings has been one of the hosts of “Jeopardy!” since 2021. (Ron Batzdorff)
Host Ken Jennings read out her clue, which was “This artist the younger was working on yet another portrait of Henry VIII when he died in 1543.”
It was immediately apparent that Karen didn’t know the answer. As the timer ran out, she stayed silent and began shaking her head.
“I’m sorry, Hans Holbein the younger, that painter,” Jennings told her as she quietly said, “OK.”
“Jeopardy!” fans were not pleased with a recent contestant’s choices. (Sony Pictures Television Jeopardy Productions)
The Final Jeopardy category was “American Novelists,” and the other two contestants gave the correct answer to the clue, Joseph Heller.
Karen went into the final round with $11,400, and she was the last to reveal her answer.
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Jennings specifically mentioned, “She had a big lead before tangling with that last Daily Double, she needs to get Heller here,” but it was clear by her facial expression that she did not have the right response.
Instead, she guessed Hunter S. Thompson and ended the show in third place with $5,399.
Fans of the long-running game show were not impressed by her strategy.
“Good GOD!” one person wrote on Twitter. “Don’t believe I’ve ever seen a contestant go so high and fall so fast as Karen did today.”
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“Welcome to 3rd place and Jeopardy infamy,” another viewer stated.
One person decided to make their own “Jeopardy!” clue out of the situation, tweeting, “This person made worst daily double bet of all time – costing her sure win and putting her in third place. Who is Karen.”
Karen missed the Final Jeopardy clue, causing her to fall to third place. (Sony Pictures Television Jeopardy Productions)
“Karen may be smart but she has zero common sense,” yet another fan claimed.
One viewer even said “Karen is such a buffoon. Rare to see someone lose like that.”
There were plenty of comments that got downright cruel, but Karen seems to be taking her 15 minutes of fame in stride, interacting with her fans and critics alike on a Twitter account she had created ahead of her “Jeopardy!” appearance.
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As she explained, “Making an appropriate wager requires considering the likelihood of knowing the correct response, which requires assessing your competency in the category, which requires awareness of what the category is, which, at that moment, I DID NOT HAVE.”
These were the final results of Karen’s viral “Jeopardy!” episode. (Sony Pictures Television Jeopardy Productions)
About the Final Jeopardy clue, she joked “Heller? I hardly even know ‘er!”
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She summarized her experience with, “Ultimately, I did what I did, and I had THE MOST FUN, and at the end of the day (I’m sorry Mom, I know you hate that phrase) it’s a game, and it’s a show, and it’s a game show.”