LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: Winning is all about beating all odds and that makes it a great success. But what if you start out on a negative but still ace it till the end? The same happened with Mattea Roach on 'Jeopardy! Masters' as she left the audience stunned after her 'out of nowhere' win. The best part isn't the win, however, but it's about how she beat a beloved 'Jeopardy! Masters' competitor. Tuesday's episode was on fire when Mattea Roach won by going against all odds.
During the latest episode of 'Jeopardy! Masters', Mattea faced off against Sam Buttrey and Amy Schneider. The coach from Canada was struggling to keep her head above water, while her competitors Sam and Amy were clearly having the best luck. However, the episode wasn't going to end that way, as by the second half the tables turned, and going into Final Jeopardy, Mattea was within striking distance of Sam in second place.
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A cut-throat competition
The question that led to Mattea's win was, "Once a journalist himself, he began his first novel with his hero being fined 150,000 Kronor for aggravated libel." To this, Mattea was the first to answer, and it turned out to be correct. The answer shot her to lead, while Amy, who also gave out the right answer, didn't manage to get the lead, although it gave her earnings a little boost.
On the other hand, Sam's luck wasn't with him as he got his answer wrong. He wagered more than $15,000, dropping his $17,600 winnings to just over $2,000. So, in the end, Mattea was deemed the champion.
James Holzhauer put up a massive final wage
While Mattea Roach won the game and came out as champion, another player on Tuesday's episode had an unbelievable defeat. James Holzhauer put up a massive final wager that, unfortunately, did not quite work out for him like he planned to. The champion entered the game with $28,400 and let it all go in a brave yet stupid moment. The question asked was under the category 'Western Hemisphere History' and read, "In 1915 the assassination of President Sam brought Uncle Sam to this country, beginning a 19-year military occupation."
Panicking, James wrote his first answer, "What is Haiti?" but then canceled it out and instead wrote, "What is Nicaragua?" James' previous guess was correct and could have led to big winnings if he had just gone with it, but the last-minute change led him to have a drastic fall.
James Holzhauer and Mattea Roach are examples of different approaches with different results. While Mattea's luck turned around at the last minute, Sam's luck started out as great but left him far away from being the winner.