Throwback Thursday: Courtney Shah Wins Her Seventh Game (2021)
Two years ago today, Courtney Shah earned her 7th and final win, continuing her seemingly unlikely streak.
From Humble Beginnings
Early into the 2022 Tournament of Champions qualifying season, there had only been three officially eligible players: Brian Chang (7x, $163,904), Zach Newkirk (6x, $124,871), and John Focht (4x, $103,800). Following John’s streak in February 2021, the show went five months without another TOC-eligible player. Several players were able to win at least 2 or 3 games, but would often falter under pressure as their runs progressed. On June 28th, 2021, a community college instructor from Portland, OR under the name of Courtney Shah made her first appearance, going up against Spencer Pace and returning 1-time champion Austin Weiss under the guest hosting of Dr. Sanjay Gupta.
While she had a steady rhythm in the first round, she missed the Daily Double she found and was in second place with $3,000, barely ahead of Austin. Spencer had a commanding lead with $6,600. In the second round, it was a lot more competitive. Spencer and Courtney both gained $8,400 from the round, but it was Austin who benefited the most, catching both Daily Doubles and capitalizing on $7,800 from them. On top of that was an extra $10,000 from the rest of the board. The scores were $20,400 for Austin, $11,400 for Courtney, and $15,000 for Spencer. It was a fantastic game with all three players showing tons of promise.
With a Combined Coryat of $44,000 from the three players, it was pretty clear that it would all come down to Final Jeopardy!. Courtney was the only one to respond correctly, and it ended up being all that she needed as both of her opponents were wrong. She added $4,000 to win with $15,400 in an epic come-from-behind victory. Courtney’s second game was equally as competitive, though the game was more in her favor this time around against Jay Morris and Xiao Stroming. She had the lead before Final Jeopardy! at $13,200, compared to $11,800 for Jay and $7,000 for Xiao. She was the only person to answer with the right response again, adding $10,500 to win with $23,700.
Her third game was very close, with her in a close second before Final Jeopardy! behind S.A. Shenoy, with $10,200 compared to $12,605 for S.A. Abby Furnish had $9,400. Rinse and repeat, Courtney was the only one to respond correctly to win the game with $19,000 for a 3-day total of $58,100. With this win, she became the 7th player since John Focht to attempt her 4th win. There was a lot of doubt around her at this time due to her close games and seemingly lucky breakthroughs. However, she defied all odds and claimed her first runaway victory with $13,958 against Marciano Lopez and Leanne Zobrist, breaking the cycle and earning a 4-day total of $72,058.
On the final day of the week, Courtney was aiming to sweep the whole week with a 5th win and guaranteed spot in the 2022 Tournament of Champions. It was arguably her weakest game to date, for she was unable to find any Daily Doubles and wound up in third place before Final Jeopardy! with $8,600, compared to $11,200 for McKenzie Miller and $12,200 for Nanci Skinner. She also did not get the benefit of doing what she usually does in getting Final Jeopardy! correct, losing $1,400 for a final score of $7,200. However, both of her opponents were also wrong and she reigned victorious for another day because of her savvy wager.
The Day Before
After sweeping a full week of games, Courtney was aiming to earn the prestige of winning more than 5 games, a feat only accomplished by 55 players since late 2003. Up against Mark Lucas and Rebecca Gould, she was in the red with (-$400) after the first half of the Jeopardy! round. She did end the round strong, however, finding the Daily Double and betting all $2,000 to end the round with $4,000 compared to $6,200 for Mark and $5,200 for Rebecca.
The Double Jeopardy! round was up and down for everyone involved. Mark found both of the Daily Doubles but missed both, losing out on $6,200 and leaving a lot more room for Courtney and Rebecca to catch up. It was neck-and-neck before the last three clues, Courtney and Rebecca tied for first at $7,600 compared to $5,600 for Mark. At this point, Courtney was never in first place by herself throughout the whole game.
Rebecca caught the $1,200 clue to take the lead with $8,800. On the $1,600 clue, Mark swiped it to bump his score up to $7,200, leaving him with enough room to take the lead back if he got the $2,000 clue. The lead was anyone’s for the taking, with suspense high. On the last clue, Courtney responded correctly, giving her the lead for the first time in the game with $9,600. The game was anyone’s for the taking, and it was imperative for Courtney to be right.
The final clue in World Geography was about the two gulfs on each side of Indochina, the Gulf of Tonkin and the Gulf of Thailand. Mark was correct and added $2,402 to take the lead back by $2. Rebecca couldn’t come up with anything and lost $6,200 to finish with $2,600. Courtney… was correct. She added $8,100 for a substantial win of $17,700 and a remarkable 6-day total of $96,958. A streak which began as a bit of a lucky break was quickly becoming a sight to behold.
The Final Victory
With 6 wins under her belt, Courtney Shah went into her 7th game, two years ago today, with a burning desire to continue playing. Against Alex Stubblefield and Laura Hatcher, she played as if she had a lot of pent up rage from coming so close to losing so often. Right out of the gates, Courtney had $5,200 after the first break, barely giving her opponents much space for contention. Even with Alex finding the first Daily Double and betting the window maximum of $1,000, he was incorrect. He was able to make up a lot of ground by the end of the round, accumulating $2,600 overall, but Courtney still had a commanding lead with $7,600 while Laura was lingering behind Alex with $1,800.
In the Double Jeopardy! round, Courtney continued to dominate in a way that she hadn’t been able to do before, gaining $10,000 overall for the whole round without the privilege of any Daily Doubles. Alex and Laura both found a Daily Double individually, but it ultimately did not work out in their favor. What could have been a miraculous save from letting Courtney run away with the game ended up being moves of desperation, as Alex missed out on a net of $8,000 from a $4,000 DD wager and Laura missed out on a net of $10,000 from a $5,000 DD wager.
By the end of the round, Courtney had her second runaway game with $17,600, compared to $2,600 for Alex and $800 for Laura. It was her strongest showing to date and she was guaranteed a 7th win, barring a ridiculous Final Jeopardy! wager and wrong response. All three players were correct. Laura didn’t wager anything, but Alex added $999 for a guaranteed second place finish at $3,599 and Courtney added $4,000 to win with $21,600 for a 7-day total of $118,558. It was her last win before losing in a second place finish the next day to add a $2,000 consolation prize for $120,558.
Following her original appearance, she faced off against Second Chance Competition week 2 winner rowan ward and 4-time champion John Focht in the 2022 Tournament of Champions quarterfinals. She was eliminated in a double lock, but pocketed $5,000 as a result of being a TOC participant. With a career winnings total of $125,558, she is currently ranked in 133rd place of all time in overall cash winnings as of July 6th, 2023, two years after her 7th win.
Other Events That Occurred On This Day
2022 - Yungsheng Wang, #2 2022 Tournament of Champions alternate, wins his third game for a 3-day total of $84,202.
2017 - Jon Eisenman wins his fifth game for a 5-day total of $103,902, cementing his spot in the 2017 Tournament of Champions.
2005 - David Madden wins his second game for a 2-day total of $35,200.
2004 - Ken Jennings wins his 25th game, bringing his total to $788,960.
2001 - Doug Lach wins his first game with $15,900.
1999 - Dan Girard wins his second game for a 2-day total of $12,400.
1995 - Isaac Segal wins his third game for a 3-day total of $42,800.
1993 - Ed Schiffer wins his second game for a 2-day total of $30,002.
1987 - Eric Berman wins his third game for a 3-day total of $34,100.
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