Danger! Champion Tyler Rhode admits he “dodged a bullet” by avoiding rare events while contemplating a wild tournament win
DANGER! is now airing summer reruns and fans were able to relive one of the most bizarre episodes from the last Tournament of Champions.
Competitor Tyler Rhode nearly got caught in a sudden death tiebreaker after four times leveling with a rival.
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The extremely intense Jeopardy! The 2022 Tournament of Champions episode re-aired on Wednesday.
The annual special invites last year’s winners who have won for more than four days to compete for an additional $250,000.
Tyler, a 5-day champion from New York City, faced Brian Chang – a 7-day champion from Chicago – and Margaret – a 5-day champion and Southern charm from Mississippi.
When Tyler and Margaret went into “Final Jeopardy,” they all had $17.4,000 each, which made things exciting.
The question read: “Andrew Johnson vetoed a bill providing for reparations for formerly enslaved people, hence the expression for an unfulfilled promise.”
Tyler correctly wrote “forty acres and a mule” and used all his money wisely, raking in $34.8k.
Margaret was right too, but didn’t bet everything and lost.
Margaret looked dejected and Tyler seemed stunned as he advanced to the semifinals of the special.
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The great thing was that if Margaret went all-in, the pair would have entered a rare bonus tie-break round.
Host Ken Jennings noted the same thing: “She can force the tie if she goes all out, right? No, she didn’t,” he lamented.
What happens if there is a tie?
Fans wondered about the tiebreaker scenario on Reddit after the game was re-aired.
When two or more participants have a tie after In Final Jeopardy, they immediately receive a crucial clue.
The first participant to ask the correct question will be declared the winner.
There is no monetary value for the tie-break notice.
By default, if the first player to come up asks the wrong question, the other player doesn’t win.
After that, if they jump in and get it wrong, another crucial clue is given—and so on.
“I dodged a bullet”
Tyler took to Reddit after the replay and admitted he was lucky not to have to go into the tiebreaker “shootout” mode.
He wrote: “Margaret was light better than me that day at the buzzer.
“I actually dodged a bullet without having to take her to a gunfight.”
One fan replied, “I know it was last year but good job!”
“That buzzer speed is killer!” wrote another.
The third contestant on stage, Brian, also responded and said he was grateful as well.
“In my fourth [initial] Game, I played a tiebreaker. The construction takes a long time and the third-placed participant was not allowed to leave the stage during this time.
So thank you Margaret for saving me from that.”
FOUR draws in one game
When the tournament episode first aired in 2022, Tyler on X, formerly known as Twitter, discovered something amazing about it.
He wrote, “Here’s one for the Jeopardy! historians out there.”
“Margaret and I were tied after Daily Double 1, Daily Double 2, Daily Double 3 and the Final Jeopardy.”
In fact, after the first daily double, Tyler and Margaret each had $3400.
After the second, they both had $5,400.
After the third Daily Double, he and Margaret had the same score; $16,600.
And before Final Jeopardy, of course, it was Tyler and Margaret again with $17,400 each.
It’s unclear how often in Jeopardy! happened to be drawn four times. history, so the incident caused quite a stir among fans.
One tweeted in response: “Has this happened before? I can’t imagine that’s the case.”
Another wrote: “Oh my god!”
If Margaret had forced a tiebreaker after Final Jeopardy, they would have tied five times in one game.
TOURNAMENT OF CHAMPIONS 2022
The 2022 Tournament of Champions was one of the most exciting in history as it featured more super champions or 10-day-plus winners than any previous year.
Mattea Roach, Matt Amodio, Amy Schneider, Ryan Long, Sam Buttrey, Andrew He and other greats from Season 38 all came through.
Ultimately, it was 40-time champion Amy who took home the $250,000 prize.
But it was hard-fought, as the Specials Championship final with their first three wins ended in six incredibly intense games.
The other two finalists, Professor Sam and underdog Andrew, earned one and two wins apiece, respectively.
In the sixth game, trailblazer Amy finally prevailed and all three were part of the May’s Masters.
The entire 2022 tournament – and Masters – will be held as part of the summer iterations of Jeopardy! aired before the new season premieres on September 11.
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