Jeopardy! fans floored by player’s ‘dicier’ game that nearly cost him Tournament seat

A four-day Jeopardy! champion, who finished out with over $110k in earnings and made a record on the buzzer this week, almost didn’t secure his spot on the Tournament of Champions

View 4 Images

Jeopardy! fans were floored by a player’s ‘dicier’ game that nearly cost him a Tournament seat

Jeopardy! fans were shocked by a contestant’s “dicier” game that nearly cost him his spot on the Tournament of Champions.

During the November 14 episode of the hit NBC game show, four-day champion Harrison Whitaker, a researcher originally from Terre Haute, Indiana, was challenged by Sarah Khan, a graduate student originally from Toronto, Ontario, and Brent Steele, an environmental engineer from Sellersburg, Indiana.

Early on in the first round of Jeopardy!, Harrison, who entered with $91,801, faced big trouble, as his opponents seemed to click the buzzer faster than him, which was impressive, as the player already held a record for his speed. Host Ken Jennings revealed at the start of the episode that Harrison averaged 83 percent accuracy on the buzzer, the highest the show has seen all season, during yesterday’s game.

After a rocky start, Harrison managed to beat his challengers and closed out the week with $116,600. Friday’s game marked the cutoff for the 2026 tournaments, according to Jennings. Since Harrison won, he qualified for an upcoming Tournament of Champions, which won’t take place until about 2027. However, he will compete again on Monday.

Taking to the subReddit discussion board for the episode, one shocked viewer wrote, “slightly dicier than we’ve come to expect from Harrison but Sarah and Brent were great challengers and frustrated him on the buzzer lol. yay win #4.”

View 4 Images

Jeopardy! viewers were shocked by Harrison Whitaker’s ‘dicier’ game on November 14

Curate your news feed.

Choose The Mirror US as a “Preferred Source” on Google News for quick access to the news you value.

A second fan excitedly replied, “Also he’s only not found one DD, finding 11 out of 12 DD’s in just four games is unbelievable,” as a third commended, “Another runaway for Harrison! Brent and Sarah played well but Harrison was too far ahead.”

Another fan pointed out that it would’ve been interesting to see Harrison battle the player he beat earlier in the week, four-day champ, Allegra.

The fan penned, “It’s kind of a shame we won’t see a potential Allegra/Harrison rematch in this TOC, but happy to see Harrison’s run continue! and congrats Aaron for qualifying.”

View 4 Images

Jeopardy! four-day champ Harrison Whitaker made it to the Tournament of Champions, but won’t compete until 2027

Still, Harrison had to step up his game during the November 14 episode. He found the Daily Double on clue three. He had $1,000 and made it a true Daily Double. However, he had a hard time with a clue in Sources, which read, “Warren Buffett said it changed his life to read this biographical dictionary of notables ‘in America.'”

“I have no idea. Sorry,” he responded. The correct response was “Who’s Who?” He lost $1,000 and dropped down to $0. By the first commercial break, Sarah had the lead and maintained it by the end of the round with $5,800. Harrison trailed behind with $4,600.

In Double Jeopardy, Harrison took back the lead and found the first DD early on. He had $13,800 and wagered $4,800 in “Western Europe.” The clue was “The cities of Paris, Brussels & Cologne form a triangle around this great forest area.” “What is Ardennes?” he answered correctly. It gave him a massive push to $18,600.

View 4 Images

Jeopardy’s Harrison Whitaker was challenged on the buzzer during the November 14 episode

Harrison also found the last Daily Double, but even after getting it wrong, he still led the trio. By the end of the round, he was no longer in trouble, having accumulated $21,800, while Sarah had $9,400.

Final Jeopardy was 21st Century Novels. The clue was “Part 1 of this novel is Toronto & Pondicherry; Part 2 is the Pacific Ocean,” which Harrison and Sarah answered correctly as Life of Pi. Harrison wagered $2,999, bringing his final total to $24,799.

Harrison became a four-day champion with a total of $116,600 and is set to return for his fifth game on Monday. He is now eligible for the 2027 ToC.