Goodbye Jeopardy champ Arthur Chu. Hello Diana Peloquin.
After reigning for 12 days and winning $297,000, Chu relinquished his title to the young University of Michigan law student from Ann Arbor, Mich.
Chu finished in third place with zero dollars on Wednesday’s edition of the syndicated quiz show, after which Alec Trebek congratulated him on his “great run.”
It all came down to Final Jeopardy. The 30-year-old risked — and lost — his entire $6,400 bankroll on the question: “He was the last male monarch who had not previously been Prince of Wales.”
“George VI,” responded Peloquin, the only contestant to answer correctly, upsetting Chu and finishing the day with $15,700.
“It was really surreal,” she said. “I watched with other law students, and they were cheering and clapping when I got a question right.”
Chu hails from Broadview Heights, Ohio, and describes himself on Twitter as “mad genius, comedian, actor and freelance voiceover artist.”
He wasn’t a fan favorite and in fact alienated Jeopardy aficionados with his aggressive tactics. For example, instead of finishing off a category’s questions one by one, he chose from different categories which seemed to confuse the other contestants.
He also played the bottom rows of the game board because he believed the Daily Doubles would be found there.
He definitely had one fan of his style — Peloquin —who used his tactics to upset the champion.
“I was really interested in his playing style,” said Peloquin. “I wanted to engage with that. … And I had lots of time to study.”
“I was really surprised,” she added. “I actually really admired his playing style while watching his games, so I was surprised that there was such a backlash to it.”
Of course, Peloquin has a long way to go now to take the crown from the all-time Jeopardy champion of a decade ago — Ken Jennings — who continues to hold the record with 74 consecutive victories worth a whopping $2.5 million.
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