Danger! Champion Ben Chan presents a sacred family memento with a stunning price tag on stage before ‘dominating’ the seventh win.
The seemingly unstoppable reigning champion of JEOPARDY!, Ben Chan, won his seventh straight runaway game on Thursday’s episode.
Ben also shared a winning story during the game about the ’80s Rolex he inherited from his father — which Reddit pundits discovered is worth $5,000.
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Ben is a philosophy professor at St. Norbert College and is from Green Bay, Wisconsin.
Ben returned this week after abandoning his series after contracting Covid-19 in episodes that aired in April, which may have been the reason some fans were confused about seeing him again.
However, he has returned in good form and has become a potential Super Champion that no one has come close to beating yet.
He met Kristen Beck, a doctor from Seattle, Washington, and John Groves, a legislative engineering specialist originally from Labrador, Canada.
During the Q&A session, Ben revealed, “If I hold my buzzer, you can probably see my watch.”
“I inherited it from my father. I didn’t actually know much about it, but about a month after inheriting it, I watched the show Antiques Roadshow, which I’ve been watching for 20 years.
“And for the first time, an item I owned turned up and was rated!”
Ben said while showing off his gold Rolex watch that comedian Ronnie Cheing brought his father’s used hand to the art TV show and that they had “very similar stories.”
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“So it was really wonderful,” the contestant concluded sweetly.
“Well it is Time to return to the game,” said host Mayim Bialik.
“Homage to my father”
It wasn’t long before the knowledge-hungry Jeopardy! fans found that clip– The same Rolex model owned by the comedian’s father was reviewed at $5000.
Ben wrote on Reddit: Yes, it is. It also came from Hong Kong (as a gift from my mother’s family to my father).”
“A note about my father: he was the hardest-working person I’ve ever known (and possibly the hardest-working person I’ve ever heard of).
“He opened a takeout restaurant in Upper Manhattan in the early ’70s — a one-man operation — and literally worked 365 days a year, 12 hours a day, for about five years. *Five years without a day off. *”
PS I loved that the hugging buzzer pose meant there was always a part of my dad on display.”
Ben added on the internet forum: “I forgot one more funny note. *My* mom was like, “Of course you should wear it.” It’s not that special. Everyone in Hong Kong has one.”
Another fan on Reddit appreciated the story: “Ben’s anecdote about his watch is so good! I can’t believe you saved them until game 7, who knows if we would have ever heard them otherwise…”
“total dominion”
Meanwhile, Ben got back into the game and had $31,000 through Final Jeopardy versus Kristen’s $4,600 and John’s $4,400.
Last Danger! Under “Billboard No. 1 Hits” reads: “Billy Joel said, ‘I don’t think there was a time I wrote the music’ before the lyrics to this hit were from 1989, ‘and I think it shows.'”
Ben and John were right about “We Didn’t Start the Fire” on Final Jeopardy.
Ben bet $0 with a smiley face on it and easily won a total of $213,000 over seven days.
Chan is now the first Jeopardy! The best contender to ever exit with seven stunning wins or an unassailable lead from Final Jeopardy.
The success didn’t go unnoticed by other netizens, as one Redditor wrote: “Seven out of control games. Complete dominance.”
Another claimed: “I think his brief illness gave him super powers because he came back stronger than his first three gigs.”
A third wrote: “He’s soooo chilled out there. Most Superchamps are much more focused, stressed and/or serious. It’s really fascinating to see him play so casually, but he’s absolutely capable of dominating his opponents.”
And a fourth: “He’s so easygoing, friendly and laid back that it’s almost unsettling how dominating he is. Ben just has that same chilled vibe all the time, and then suddenly he’s winning by about 15,000 points.”
FROM THE BEN-CH
Ben had his first three straight wins going into Friday, April 11’s game.
However, he was mysteriously absent from the April 14 episode despite being the reigning champion.
On a rare occasion, three new contestants instead competed and Ben took a holiday – as he later clarified the real reason he didn’t come back as planned.
“Before yesterday’s episode was taped I had tested positive for Covid; It was a very mild case as you can see, I’m fine.
“Most importantly, my buzzer finger is okay. So I’m excited to see what’s happening in the next few weeks and who I’ll be up against on May 15,” he said during a virtual appearance Good afternoon Wisconsin.
Since the early 2000s, there have only been four episodes where there were two returning champions in one game.
His fourth resounding win and return this Monday resulted in the loss of 8-Day winner Hannah Wilson in an unfortunate but undirected change of schedule for the show.
Ben and Hannah were portrayed as “co-champions,” and even though Ben’s return was well-planned in Monday’s episode, it was an unfortunate loss for Hannah, according to hundreds of Twitter users.
“They should have waited until Hannah’s run was over before they brought Ben back. Not fair.”
Another user replied: “I think that’s fair. They planned Ben’s return before Hannah came on the show and started a series. Let’s try to celebrate people’s victory.”
Ben tweeted, “I’m really sorry my bad luck was bad luck for Hannah and Wendy.”
“But on the whole we were obviously all incredibly lucky to be on the Alex Trebek stage.”
As for Ben, he has also revealed that he beat and then lost to Aaron Rodgers at Wisconsin Pub Trivia and that he shares two foster dogs with his wife. According to another Reddit user, Ben’s college campus appears to be “all the talk” about him at the moment.
Ken Jennings hosts Jeopardy! Masters — again on Monday — while his co-successor to Alex Trebek, Mayim, wraps up the regular season through the summer.
After the Masters, Ken will not be featured until the 2023 Tournament of Champions, which kicks off its 40th season in September – which both Ben and Hannah will compete in.
That is, with the exception of the final week of season 39, when he’s back as a presenter as Mayim supports the WGA writers’ strike.
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