Throwback Thursday: One of the Best Played Games in Jeopardy! History (1993)
For today's article, we rewind back 30 years to one of the most praiseworthy games of all time.
The Best-Played Games in Jeopardy! History
As far as we know, there is no official Jeopardy! game that has been played completely perfectly. By “perfect,” I’m referring to a game where every question is answered correctly without any rebounds. The closest case to this happening occurred on June 3rd, 2019, when James Holzhauer was finally defeated in his original run by 3-time champion Emma Boettcher. With six categories in the Jeopardy! round being worth $3,000 per category, as well as $6,000 per category in Double Jeopardy!, players can accumulate up to $18,000 in the first round and $36,000 in the second round without Daily Doubles factored in.
Out of a possible $54,000, James Holzhauer, Jay Sexton, and Emma Boettcher accumulated a Combined Coryat of $53,200. This is believed to be the best-played game of all time, the only missed clue being a $400 clue in Double Jeopardy! about the cigarette tax in 1921. Jay answered with “sales tax” and neither James or Emma rang in. In Final Jeopardy!, all three players answered correctly, marking 62/63 correct answers.
There is one game however, hiding in archived Jeopardy! history, where 63/63 correct responses were given. 30 years ago today, returning champion David Harris (1x, $5,401) faced off against challengers Mike Boyd and Rebecca Jacobs. Since the game took place in 1993, the clue values were priced at half of the current dollar values, up to $9,000 in Coryat scores for the first round and $18,000 for the second round.
In the first round, Mike had the upper hand. Capitalizing $1,500 (worth $3,000 today) on the Daily Double, he had a big lead over David and Rebecca. Despite this disparity, all 30 clues were answered correctly with no rebounds necessary for the players. This meant that out of a possible $9,000 in Coryat score, all $9,000 was accumulated, and some for Mike.
In the Double Jeopardy! round, Mike found the first Daily Double on a $600 clue, wagering $3,000 and answering correctly. Just as Mike was beginning to look inevitable though, David went on a comeback and Rebecca also accumulated some correct responses. David wound up finding the second Daily Double on the 15th clue, wagering $2,500 and answering correctly as well. Like the first round, every single clue was answered correctly.
Despite all 60 clues of the first two rounds being answered correctly, it wasn’t a perfect game due to a few errors in Double Jeopardy!. On a $400 clue in History, the 5th clue selection of the round, Rebecca rang in with an incorrect response in which Mike was able to rebound on. On the 17th clue, however, it was Mike who responded incorrectly with David rebounding. David also rebounded from an incorrect response from Rebecca on the 24th clue, going on a steady incline towards Mike’s score.
By the end of the round, Mike picked up most of the clues which allowed him to hold the lead before Final Jeopardy!. Due to the excellent gameplay from all three players, it was not insurmountable for him as Rebecca and David were well within range to win. The final clue was on U.S. Rivers, which stated: “The name of this river, famous in song, may be a corruption of the Spanish for "little Saint John"“
All three players correctly responded with “What is the Swanee?” in turn concluding the game with 63/63 correct responses. Rebecca only wagered $100, which would not put her within winning range on an incorrect response from David and Mike. David wagered $3,801, which left him wide open to losing on a wrong answer from Mike and a minimum cover bet of $7,001 if he were wrong ($6,999 for David, $7,599 for Mike). Surely enough, $7,001 is exactly how much Mike wagered, ultimately nullifying his opponent’s wagers.
Mike won the game with $21,601, which amounts to $43,202 in current values ($43,201 if you want to be less technical). Due to there being three rebounds in the game, the Combined Coryat amounted to $25,600, which translates to $51,200 in today’s values, $2,000 less than James Holzhauer’s losing game. It’s a rare instance in which there are 63/63 correct responses given, but a perfect Combined Coryat is still yet to be achieved.
Other Jeopardy! Events On This Day
2021 - Courtney Shah, qualifier for the 2022 Tournament of Champions, wins her second game.
2018 - Scott McFadden wins his third game for a 3-day total of $78,401. He ranks 311th of all time as of June 29th, 2023.
2009 - Tui Sutherland, author of the bestselling fantasy novel series Wings of Fire, wins her second game for a 2-day total of $44,200.
2007 - Cathy Lanctot, qualifier for the 2007 Tournament of Champions, wins her 4th game.
2004 - Ken Jennings wins his 20th game, continuing to break ground in historic Jeopardy! gameplay that no one had ever seen before up until that point.
2001 - Kevin Keach, qualifier for the 2001 Tournament of Champions, wins his third game.
1999 - Bill Wellman wins the second game of Armed Forces Week.
1995 - David Siegel, 1st runner-up of the 1995 Tournament of Champions, wins his third game.
1990 - Dan Katz, qualifier for the 1990 Tournament of Champions, wins his fourth game. GAME IS CURRENTLY NOT ARCHIVED.
1987 - Doug Molitor, 4-time champion and semifinalist for the 1987 Tournament of Champions and 1993 10th Anniversary Tournament
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