[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the Tuesday, March 4 episode of Jeopardy!]
The last semifinals of the Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament came down to a gutsy wager. It all came down to Final Jeopardy! to determine who was moving on to the finals.
Juveria Zaheer, from Whitby, Ontario, Canada, played against fellow Canadian, Ray Lalonde, from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and Raymond Goslow, from Marietta, Georgia.
The game started with a battle between Zaheer and Goslow, with one answering a handful of questions then the other. Meanwhile, Lalonde, a scenic artist, was in the hole with -$800. However, he did know a question about cigars, bringing his total up to $0.
Goslow, a library technology consultant, was in the lead until he found the first Daily Double. He wagered all of his money and plummeted to $0 when he answered incorrectly. However, he quickly turned his game around to tie Zaheer, a psychiatrist, by the end of the first round. Lalonde was in last with $1,400.
In Double Jeopardy!, Goslow, 2022 College Championship runner-up, found the DD again. He was currently in the lead by $400 at the time, so he had to make a wise decision with his wager. In the “On Tour” category, the question read: “This 16-year-old’s diary entry for October 18, 2006: ‘Oh my God, I am on the Rascal Flatts tour. I’m opening up for the last nine dates.’” With a huge smile on his face, Goslow answered, “Who is Taylor Swift?” He was correct and added $5,000 to his bank, bringing his total to $17,800.
Zaheer, the Jeopardy! Second Chance Winner, found the second Daily Double, wagering $4,000. She got it wrong, and her bank went down to $12,800. The round ended with Goslow in first with $21,000, Zaheer in second with $14,000, and Lalonde in last place with $4,200. But, everything came down to Final Jeopardy!.
The category for the final round was “Historic Scientists.” The clue read: “A pair of discoveries by him in 1787 are named for stage characters, a new practice in this field.”
Lalonde answered with “Who is Herschel?” which was correct. He wagered $4,200, ending with $8,400. Zaheer also answered with Herschel but decided to wager no money, keeping her at $14,000. Goslow wrote “Idk” and wagered $7,801. He ended with $13,199. That meant Zaheer was the night’s winner. She looked shocked when she realized that she would be advancing. Both of her opponents gave her huge hugs.
Zaheer advances to Wednesday night’s finals against Roger Craig and Matt Amodio. The first to win two games will win $150,000 and a spot in the 2025 Masters.
She spoke about her shocking win on Reddit. “What a game!” Zaheer began. She complimented her opponents and then talked about the game.
“I don’t remember a ton. I had a friend who did a tarot reading for me before I flew out – the top of the deck was strength (a woman clasping a lion’s jaws), and the bottom of the deck was the hanged man. I was alarmed by the hanged man, but my friend said, ‘when paired with Strength, I would interpret it as patience to make the right move, not rushing in and betting everything but making really wise and timely decisions.’” the game show contestant wrote.
“I thought about this during my daily double and final wagers. I also thought about Ben Goldstein’s FJ wagering video, which everyone should watch – for someone who wants to bet all her money all the time in every situation, it was very illuminating,” she continued.
Goslow also commented on the thread. “To jump briefly to the end of the story – I don’t think there’s any more thrilling way to go out on Jeopardy! than being poised to claim the last spot in a tournament final right until the last wager is revealed! The feeling of having tens of thousands of potential dollars melt away across the course of 30 seconds of Think! music is definitely a unique one and I suppose I can at least take some consolation in knowing I’ve experienced something very few other people have,” he wrote.
What do you think of the finals match-up? Let us know in the comments section below.
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