[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the January 22 episode of Jeopardy!]
The Jeopardy! Champions Wildcard 2025 event has its finalists after one wildcard participant maintained the lead all through the January 25 semifinals showdown. One other participant noticed their finals hopes dashed by a loss on a real Every day Double wager. Tonight’s winner now joins fan-favorite Drew Goins and Will Yancey, who gained the January 21 recreation that followers are calling probably the greatest episodes ever. A wildcard winner, a fan-favorite returning champ, and a high-scoring, risk-taking winner is an thrilling forged for the two-day finals.
Taking part in within the January 22 semifinals have been Paul Clauson, a tax analyst from Madison Heights, Michigan; Mehal Shah, a software program engineer from Seattle, Washington; and Marko Saric, a math professor from Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Followers will recall that Saric gained final week in a recreation the place Adam Hersh inexplicably wager all of it in Remaining Jeopardy. Excessive scores show you how to safe wildcard spots on this event, so betting all of it isn’t definitely worth the danger, however Yancey was assured in his remaining reply within the January 21 episode; he wager all of it and answered accurately within the remaining immediate, leading to a large remaining rating of 52,000. Goins gained in one other runaway victory, however his episode was preempted by Donald Trump’s inauguration for followers in sure timezones, angering many viewers.
Who made it into the Jeopardy! Champions Wildcard 2025 finals?
They’ll get the possibility to see Goins and Yancey play once more when Shah joins them within the first spherical of the Champions Wildcard Finals on Thursday, January 23. Saric was the one non-wildcard participant within the final semifinal recreation. Shah and Clauson have been each wildcard entries (Clauson made it right into a wildcard spot after Hersh’s unhealthy wager). Shah held a robust lead for the whole recreation, however it wasn’t a runaway victory. He answered his first Every day Double accurately, and Clauson answered his first incorrectly, shedding 2,000 from his rating in a real Every day Double. He discovered the third Every day Double and added 4,800 to his rating with an accurate reply, however he nonetheless didn’t catch as much as Shah by the ultimate spherical.
The scores have been Shah with 19,800, Clauson with 12,400, and Saric with 5,800 heading into Remaining Jeopardy. Solely Saric was right together with his remaining reply, doubling his remaining winnings to 11,600 after betting all of it. But it surely wasn’t sufficient to beat Shah’s profitable rating of 13,799 after a wager of 6,001. Clauson resulted in third place with 9,900 after wagering 2,500.
When are the Jeopardy! Champions Wildcard finals?
Goins, Shah, and Yancey will compete in two video games set to air on Thursday, January 23 and Friday, January 24 (verify your native listings for air occasions). The participant with the very best cumulative greenback quantity on the finish of the second recreation wins the event.
The 2025 Event of Champions begins subsequent week on Monday, January 27. See the total forged and schedule right here.
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