Has Jamie Ding met his match? With 29 wins under his belt, Jeopardy! fans are saying his 30th game was his best yet.
Ding, from Lawrenceville, New Jersey, came into the game with $793,602. On April 23, the bureaucrat played against Patrick Nolan, from Wheaton, Illinois, and Leighanna Mixter, from Fresno, California. Warning: Spoilers for the April 23 episode of Jeopardy! ahead.
Ding found the Daily Double on clue one. He wagered the allotted $1,000. In “America, 1750-1800,” the clue read, “In 1789, Gov. George Clinton named as New York’s Attorney General this man who 15 years later could have used an attorney himself.”
“Uhhh. Who was Aaron Burr?” the game show contestant answered correctly. The law student took a quick lead of $1,000.
By clue four, however, Nolan, an actuary, had taken the lead. He and Ding kept going back and forth for the lead. By the first 15 clues, Ding led with $5,600. Nolan had $4,000.
Although the second half of the round had Ding in the lead more, it was close between him and Nolan. Ding ended with $7,600. Nolan had $6,400. Mixter, an attorney, finally got out of the red and had $200.
The battle continued in Double Jeopardy. Nolan took the lead on clue nine with $11,600. Ding had $11,200.
He then found the first DD on clue 10. Nolan made it a true Daily Double in “Teeny Tiny Countries.”
“Whoa! Not a teeny tiny wager then,” host Ken Jennings said.
“What is San Marino?” he answered correctly. This gave him $23,200. “Let’s go!” Nolan shouted.
Ding found the second DD on clue 13. He had $13,200 and wagered all of his money.
The clue in “Art For Art’s Sake” was “The Glasshouse in Seattle is a one-of-a-kind structure holding a 100-foot sculpture by this artist.”
“Who is Chihuly?” he answered correctly. Ding took the lead with $26,400.
The game was very close. Ding ended with $30,800 while Nolan had $28,000, leaving $2,800 between them. Mixter was in third place with $5,400.
“The 1950s” was the Final Jeopardy category. “The announcement declaring this safe & effective was made April 12, 1955, the 10th anniversary of the death of a famous American” was the clue.
Mixter’s response was originally, “What is nuclear power?” She then crossed it out and wrote “Polio vax,” which was right. She wagered $5,000, giving her $10,400.
Nolan did not have the correct response. He wrote, “What is penicillin?” He wagered $10,000, making his final total $18,000.
Ding also had the correct response. He wagered $25,201, making his final total $56,001. This made his 30-day total $849,603.
“What a game!” Jennings said.
Fans thought so, too. “That was an amazing game!” a Reddit user said.
“Good competitive game today. This is when Jeopardy cooks!” another wrote.
“Great match!” a third added.
“Oh wow, so so close to unseating Jamie! 100% a crime if Patrick’s not invited for a second chance lol,” a fan said.
“Welp, if there was an award for Jeopardy Game of the Year, this would be it,” another commented.
“Game-of-the-year contender,” a fan said.
“Now that is a contender for the Game of the Year if not already the Game of the Year,” one last fan said.
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This story originally appeared on TV Insider
