Jeopardy! Season 39 has taken a break for a few weeks and given its slot to the franchise’s post-season event, the Second Chance Tournament.
The official synopsis of the Second Chance Tournament reads:
“Second Chance, brought to you by Moderna, features 18 select contestants who didn’t become JEOPARDY! champions in their initial appearances returning to the stage for an unprecedented opportunity to change history.”
It continues:
“The competition will air over the course of two weeks; each week will feature three semifinal games and a two-day final. The winner of each week’s mini-tournament will earn a spot in the upcoming Tournament of Champions, which begins Monday, October 31.”
The latest episode welcomed two players from Season 38 — Renée Russell (first appeared on April 28, 2022), a branch office administrator from Baltimore, Md., and Pam Schoenberg (November 30, 2021), a dentist and entrepreneur from South Salem, N.Y.
They were joined by one player from Season 37, James Fraser (March 10, 2021), a Naval aviator from Newport Beach, California.
Today’s Jeopardy! winner, James Fraser
The latest episode, which aired on October 19, 2022, saw the three players trying their best to score big for their second time on the show.
The first round’s categories included “A Place In History, Tv, Writers’ Middle Names, Holidays & Observances, Home Computing, Devouring Eating Idioms.”
James Fraser was leading in the first round after picking his first Daily Double. With 13 correct answers, he banked $8,800. Pam Schoenberg delivered nine correct answers and scored $4,600, while Renée Russell banked $1,000 by correctly answering four questions.
In the second round, the categories were “What A Butte!, The Parent Company, Science & Nature, Adjectives, Faith Hope & Charity, Second Chance Songs.”
James found the Daily Double once again and took the lead in this round as well. He scored $20,800, while Pam was also not far behind as she banked $15,400. Unfortunately, Renée failed to keep up with her scores against her competitors after she lost her first Daily Double. Her score in the Double Jeopardy round was -$800, and due to her negative score, she was not allowed to participate in the final round.
The Final Jeopardy went to James as he was the only one who gave the correct answer to the final question. As Renée couldn’t participate and Pam lost her wagering money, James’ total was the highest in the October 19 episode.
Hence, James Fraser won Jeopardy! today.
Final Jeopardy! results today
In the latest episode, the category for the final round was “American History,” and the final clue read:
“Ben Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay succeeded as a trio in this city, though Adams wrote of fearing the other two would gang up on him.”
The correct answer was “Paris.”
While James correctly answered the final question, Pam wrote “Philadelphia.” Take a look at the final results of Wednesday’s episode:
James Fraser: $20,899 + $10,902 = $31,801 (What is Paris?) (Finalist)
Pam Schoenberg: $15,400 – $5,500 = $9,900 (What is Philadelphia)
Renée Russell: -$800 (By rule, she did not participate in the final round)
With today’s win, James will advance to the finale, which will air on Thursday and Friday. He will compete against previous episodes’ winners — Jessica Stephens and Molly Karol. Players who win the finale will be qualified to participate in the Tournament of Champions.
Hosted by Ken Jennings, the next episode, which will be the first finale game, will air on Thursday, October 20, 2022.
