JEOPARDY! contestant Sam Cameron has admitted to being ‘super jealous’ of opponent Greg Jolin after suffering a brutal loss.
Returning champ Greg was met with a tough hill to climb as he was looking to extend his one-day earnings of $24,001.
The accountant from New Hampshire went up against Sam, a finance manager from North Dakota as well as Julie Phillips, an attorney from Virginia.
Greg came to play on his second game – jumping off to a quick lead of $4,800 by the first break – over $2,000 more than his next opponent.
Heading into Double Jeopardy!, he had acquired $7,800 while Sam was behind in second with $4,400.
Throughout the game, Greg snagged most of the higher-ticketed clues and continued to increase his lead.
One clue in particular was a pain point for Sam though – who shared his regrets about the moment post-game.
In the Jeopardy! Round under the category “Only Murders In Buildings,” Ken Jennings read off the clue.
“In an Agatha Christie work from 1926, this title character is killed in his home study,” the host read.
Greg was able to buzz in first and correctly answered the $1,000 question.
While reflecting on the game, Sam expressed his envy for not being able to buzz in quick enough for that clue.
“Oh man, I’m super jealous that Greg got to the buzzer first on the Agatha Christie question, haha!
“She’s my all-time favorite author and I’ve got a collection of her books from thrift stores and garage sales,” he wrote.
Sam’s envy may have only worsened as Greg’s lead continued to increase.
Going into Final Jeopardy!, Greg maintained his lead with $23,000 while Sam was in a distant second with $13,000.
Julie was in third most of the game and had $6,600 going into the last round.
“History & The Movies” was the Final Jeopardy! category and Ken read off the clue: “This 1935 Best Picture Oscar winner tells of a 1789 event near the isolated Pacific volcano of Tofua.”
Only Greg correctly wrote down “What is Mutiny on the Bounty?” – securing his second win.
He ended the game with $26,001 while Sam dropped to $2,999 and Julie was left with just $2.
Following his game show debut, Sam reflected more about his experience on the Alex Trebek stage.
“Things may not have shaken out quite how I’d hoped, but I’m endlessly grateful to have had the opportunity to appear on my favorite show,” he humbly wrote.
Jeopardy! Contestant Rules
Passing Jeopardy!’s online Anytime Test is hard enough, but there are also many rules players must follow once they make it to the stage:
- The returning champion is always at the leftmost podium and keeps playing until they lose.
- Contestants don’t have to say “who is” or “what is” in the first round but must do so in Double Jeopardy! and Final Jeopardy.
- Contestants can change their responses as long as Ken Jennings or the judges haven’t made a ruling.
- The minimum wager for a Daily Double is $5. The minimum wager for Final Jeopardy! is $0.
- Written responses in Final Jeopardy! do not have to be spelled correctly, but they must be phonetically correct (the judges decide this).
- If there’s a tie after Final Jeopardy, the tied players enter a bonus clue shootout, and whoever buzzes in first correctly wins.
- If all three contestants wager everything in Final Jeopardy! and are incorrect, leaving them with $0, there will be no returning champion (it’s happened before—six times).
Sam then explained how his nerves impacted his performance: “I was really nervous to tape and I felt like it showed, so sorry about that!
“Please excuse any gameplay mistakes. I was also worried about slowing down the game, so I think I was sort of just picking random clues as quickly as I could when it was my turn, hot potato-style.
“At the beginning of the morning I felt okay, but as the day went on I could feel a sense of dread build and build. By the time it came to finally shoot the last game of the day, I was feeling pretty darn shaky. (And sleepy!)”
Although he didn’t walk away with a win, Sam gained friendships that will last him a lifetime.
“Everyone I met that day was just the best. It was honestly the most positive part of the experience, just getting to interact with so many brilliant, passionate people.
“I especially wanted to shout out my green room buddy for most of the day and fellow long-hair-club member Greg.
“He was a real cool dude and the kind of person that I feel like I’d be IRL friends with if we lived closer.”
