AJeopardy!fan called out three-day champion Matt Massie for his Final Jeopardy! wager in his third game, which could’ve cost him the win and ended his impressive streak. Duringthe June 12Jeopardy!episode,Matt, an attorney originally from South Charleston, West Virginia, won against Josh Prohofsky, a marketer from Jacksonville, Florida, and Sean Addie, an attorney originally from Cannon Falls, Minnesota. During a Daily Double question, Sean wagered $2,929, which made his score very different from the usual even numbers.
AJeopardy!fan called out three-day champion Matt Massie for his Final Jeopardy! wager in his third game, which could’ve cost him the win and ended his impressive streak.
During Final Jeopardy!,Matt’s score was $18,800, while Josh had $8,200 and Sean had $9,871. The Final Jeopardy! category was"Broadway Cast Albums.“The clue was,“In 2024, 21 years after it was first released, the original cast album for this show made the top 40 for the first time.“The answer wasWicked.
Matt wagered $3,000, but he really should’ve only bet $943 in order to beat Sean by $1 if he doubled. He also risked Josh passing him if he doubled and Matt got the question wrong. Sean did bet it all, but he got the question wrong, and ended up with $0. Josh got the question right, and added $3,000 to his score to make it $11,200. Matt also answered correctly, and ended up with $21,800.
In a Reddit thread,Pretty-Heat-7310questioned Matt’s Final Jeopardy! strategy, writing,“Matt is a very strong player!!! I’m really liking him so far, hope he makes the TOC [Tournament of Champions]. What happened with his wager tho??He seemed to overbet from the lead.“Redditorjustk-woodresponded,“Maybe Sean’s unconventional score threw him off, and he wanted to make sure he covered?”
Interestingly,Sean also posted in the Reddit thread and admitted that his untraditional wager was part of his strategy. He wrote,“When I made my daily double wager, my rationale was it would make it hard to calculate an appropriate wager for final jeopardy. Those taping days are long days and for us three coming from the east coast, even longer. Matt and Josh were great competitors and I knew that to stand a chance I would have to think and play outside the box.”
What Matt Massie’s Near-Miss Means For Jeopardy!
Sean’s Strategy Could Be A New Idea For Jeopardy! Players
While mostJeopardy!contestants' wagersare numbers that are easy to add and subtract fast, Sean’s seemingly random bet made it much harder to do the math quickly for Final Jeopardy!. Although it’s unclear why Matt made such a risky wager that could have cost him the game, especially after host Ken Jennings noticed that he was unhappy with the category,it’s very possible that Sean’s plan worked, and he was thrown off by his wager. Creating confusion with numbers could now be a new strategy forJeopardy!players, as long as they don’t bewilder themselves when making their wagers.
Our Take On Matt Massie Almost Losing The Game
Matt Should Be More Careful Moving Forward
Even though Matt ended upgetting the Final Jeopardy! question right,it was surprising that he made such an unnecessarily risky bet at such a crucial moment in the game. Whether it was a mistake or intentional, he needs to be more careful in his next game with his wager, especially if he’s uncomfortable with the Final Jeopardy! category. This near-miss shouldn’t be repeated.
Although Matt made a mistake in his thirdJeopardy!game, he still won, andhe’s on his way to winning a spot in the Tournament of Champions if he can extend his streak to five days. I hope he does because I’ve enjoyed watching him play. I think that, even if Matt doesn’t make it to the Tournament of Champions, there’s a great chance we’ll see him again in theJeopardy!Champions Wildcard tournament, especially because of his impressive three-day total winnings of $79,800.
Jeopardy!airs weeknights. Please check your local listings for time and channel.
