Preliminaries: Fitzgerald/Nelson/Wales
March 17
All the drama of a high stakes poker
match.
All the excitement of a big jackpot win.
All the tension of a blackjack double
down...
... and all for $250,000.
Fifteen of the year's best champions have
returned to face each other for bragging rights and the title of
Jeopardy! Grand Champion. The venue: a new high-def, high-tech battle
arena showcased at the International Consumer Electronics Show in Las
Vegas.
Only nine will be invited to return next
week to play for one of three slots in the two-day final. Those nine
will include the winners of the five prelims and the four highest
scorers among non-winners... the Wild Cards.
Another standard two-week affair awaits with an minimum guarantee of
$100,000 for second place and $50,000 for third.
Semifinalists are guaranteed at least $10,000, while quarterfinalists
are guaranteed $5000 for participation. As always, any and all winning
accrued depends on how far up the ladder a player goes.
By the end of today's match, we'll have
the final nine... Will we add one... two... or maybe all three of these
players to the roster?
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Deborah Fitzgerald
McLean, VA
retired government employee
Four days, $55,901 |
Erik Nelson
orig. Boston
grad student
Four days, $94,404 |
Mark Wales
Amherst, NY
substitute teacher
Five days, $141,804 |
And the game is on. Jeopardy!
round...
THE JOHN C. FREMONT
EXPERIENCE |
SHOWS BY SHOW TUNES |
BUGS |
SID & NANCY |
YOU'RE IN THE CABI-NOT! |
ADVERBIALLY YOURS |
Daily Double: $600 The John C. Fremont Experience.
Erik has $400 to Deborah's $1000 and Mark's $2000.
He bets the max of $1000 on this: beginning in 1842
this frontiersman would be a frequent guide for
Fremont on his expeditions. "Who is Daniel Boone?"
Nope, it's Kit Carson, leaving him $600 down.
At the end of the Jeopardy! round...
$2,600 |
$2,000 |
$5,000 |
Deborah |
Erik |
Mark |
Double Jeopardy! categories:
ROCKS & MINERALS |
MOVIE STUMPERS |
ART & ARTISTS |
USA TODAY |
BOOK REVIEW |
THE ANSWER LIES WITHIN |
Daily Double #1: $1600 Movie
Stumpers. Mark has $7400, the only player to make money this round. He bets
$4000 on this: then the star wasn't available, his brother Joe Estevez was
brought in to do voiceovers on this 1979 film. "What is 'Apocalypse Now'?"
Correct for $11,400!
Daily Double #2: $1600 Art &
Artists. Erik wants to keep his wild-card hopes alive with a $2000 wager on his
$6000 against Deborah's $4600 and Mark's $18,200. The clue: when he first game
to Hoboken from Holland, this abstract expressionist, who died at 93, painted
houses. "Who is Jackson Pollock?" Nope, it was Willem de Kooning, leaving him
with $4000.
Mark it sitting in the pimp-slot at
the end of the Double Jeopardy!
Round...
$3,400 |
$4,800 |
$19,400 |
Deborah |
Erik |
Mark |
Given the Wild Card scores, the
semifinals are all but set.
Final Jeopardy! category:
RIVERS
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THE NAME OF THIS RIVER WHOSE
LOWER REACHES RUN THROUGH GHANA IS FROM THE PORTUGUESE FOR "TURN" OR "BEND" |
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Correct response: what is the Volta
River?
Deborah's response: what is Niger? WRONG. Wager: $3399. Total: $1.
Erik's response: what is the? WRONG. Wager: $4797. Total: $3.
Mark's response: what is Volta? CORRECT. Wager doesn't matter.
SEMI-FINALIST:
Mark Wales
Just like Aaron from
yesterday, the key to Mark's victory was to never let up, especially in
the Double Jeopardy! round, where he kept his opponent's scoring to a
minimum while hoisting a giant pot to himself. If he plays in the next
couple of days like he played today, then all of a sudden, a sure thing
isn't and we've got ourselves a tournament.
Right now, though, we've got
ourselves a lineup for the next three days. Here are your Final Nine!
Ben Bishop
Game 3 Winner |
Larissa Kelly
Game 2 Winner |
Matt Kohlstedt
Wild Card |
Dan Pawson
Game 1 Winner |
Cora Peck
Wild Card |
Aaron Schroeder
Game 4 Winner |
Dave Simpson
Wild Card |
Donna Vogel
Wild Card |
Mark Wales
Game 5 Winner |
Next time, semi-final action
begins with one rule... you know it by now... Win or go home.
If you would like to
become a contestant on Jeopardy!, go to
jeopardy.com.
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