I love Jeopardy. It’s a satisfying staple I can watch with my husband, or at the gym, or while waiting for customer service on the phone. I record it every day and watch it a lot of the time, but it’s still incredible to me when contestants go out of their way to make costly math mistakes. Which brings me to this week, which had a devastating (rather than amusing) Final Jeopardy! result for one contestant. During yesterday’s episode, three-day winner Greg Monson had a hefty lead throughout most of the episodes run. He was playing newcomers Evelyn Lamb and Ron Clarke. Evelyn did OK in the first round, but it was Ron who picked up in the second round and starting making some headway on Monson. This led the final stats before Final Jeopardy! to look like this:Greg: $18,200Ron: $9,100Evelyn: $5,000You'll note Ron Clarke had exactly half of what Greg Monson did. A post shared by Jeopardy! (@jeopardy)A photo posted by Final Jeopardy Ended In A Tie!Once we got back from a commercial break, Ken Jennings announced the Final Jeopardy category: ‘80s Music. The clue, ‘A posted sign told the artists to ‘check your egos at the door’ before the recording of this 1985 single.’ The answer? “We are the World.”It seemed like everyone was pretty confident, and had written down their thoughts well before the time was up, so I was very unsurprised they all were correct with their responses. Evelyn wagered nothing and stayed at $5,000. Ron wagered everything and doubled his money to $18,200, and logic would have dictated Greg would have wagered $1 or $100 dollars or whatever at all to ensure the win. Instead, he wagered $0 and landed in a tie with Ron. We went into a tiebreaker, where Monson lost his three-day streak. The man’s pretty smart, so I assume Monson figured Ron would bet the full amount and worst case scenario they would tie rather than this being a situation of a silly mistake. I’m not sure it was a math flub, like some other contestants have dealt with. By betting zero, he ensured he would remain at the high winnings number of $18,200. If Ron missed, he’d keep it all, if he hit they’d go into a tiebreaker.I’m not sure of his full logic. Maybe ‘80s music wasn’t his forte and he wasn’t confident he’d get the answer right? Certain Jeopardy! categories make contestants nervous, and that was even true when Ken Jennings was on. Maybe he thought the older Ron would not know ‘80s music either,? Either way his $0 bet led to an audible gasp from the audience. Ultimately, this conservative math ended up foiling the returnee contestant in the end. Sure, Monson ensured a tie rather than a loss, but I do think you have to gamble a little on Jeopardy!, and you can’t play scared. (James Holzhauer would agree.) In this case, Monson didn’t go big, and he went home. I can’t imagine what it would feel like to look back and know if you just put $1 dollar on the line the game would have been yours. The tiebreaker category was American Woman and the clue was about the George Bush administration and a woman who served as National Security Advisor. Clarke buzzed in first, and secured the win with the answer “Condoleezza Rice.” It was a nail biter for sure, and one of the more exciting episodes I’ve watched recently. Both contestants were good, though if you had asked me before yesterday, I think I would have wagered on Greg hitting at least a five-game streak on the 2026 TV schedule. What could have been…