During the latest episode of Jeopardy!, viewers were divided as they pondered whether a contestant’s big win meant she had earned a spot at the Tournament of Champions
Jeopardy! fans confused over game show rules after competitor wins big(Image: Jeopardy!)
Jeopardy! fans are left stumped at the status of the latest winner’s entry to the Tournament of Champions.
During the Friday, Nov. 7 episode of the hit ABC game show, Allegra Kuney continued her winning streak. The Ph.D. candidate from New Brunswick, New Jersey ended the night as the champion against her opponents, Larisa Mount and Mason Hendrix, with a prize bank of $20,000, making her three-day total amount to $85,001.
Her impressive prize bank had half of the viewers excited that another contestant was joining the fast-approaching Tournament of Champions, while the others were attempting to debunk their beliefs.
After her win, one Reddit user asked, “Congrats to Allegra again! Does this qualify her for the TOC?”
Another responded, “Yes. Today’s win moves her to 13th on the leaderboard. Top 18 are in the ToC. Qualification cutoff is a week from today. If she’s still the champion at the end of next week, her eight wins will automatically give her a place in the 2027 ToC.”
Allegra is going on a 3-day win on Jeopardy
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Someone else rebutted, “Almost, but not quite. But if she wins on Monday, she definitely is qualified.”
Viewers turned the discussion into a debate, with the next pointing out, “Allegra is already mathematically guaranteed to be in the TOC. Her 3-day total is higher than Matt Massie, Tom Devlin, Brendan Liaw, and Mike Dawson, who all mathematically qualified for the TOC.”
A fan chimed in, “She is mathematically guaranteed to be in a TOC, but not necessarily this one.”
The traditional rule for Tournament of Champions is four wins makes a contestant qualified while five wins guarantees a spot.
She now stands at 19th place on the leaderboard. If she ends up winning throughout the entirety of next week’s games, she will be the first qualifier for the 2027 Tournament of Champions.
Ken Jennings has won the Tournament of Champions(Image: jeopardy/YouTube)
The Tournament of Champions, which will air on Jan. 27, is an annual special that brings together the most successful champions from the past year to compete for the title and significant cash prize. Contestants can qualify for the tournament from Dec. 9, 2024 to Nov. 14, 2025.
This year’s game will maintain the 21-player format.
The most famous winner of the Tournament of Champions is the show’s current host Ken Jennings. In 2005, he made Jeopardy! history as he won the special competition after winning 74 consecutive games the year before.
Ken was invited back in 2021 as a guest host before becoming the sole personality in December of 2023. He has already hosted three Tournament of Champions since joining the show.
Jeopardy airs weekdays at 7 p.m. EST on ABC.
