‘Jeopardy!’ Player Is ‘Freaking Machine’ After Liam Starnes Shocker

[The following post contains MAJOR spoilers for the Tuesday, April 29, episode of Jeopardy!]

Jeopardy! fans love the “freaking machine” champion who dominated the game just one day after Liam Starnes‘ shocking loss. Find out if it was yesterday’s champion or if someone took her down.

Erin Morin, from Aldie, Virginia, returned for her second game on Tuesday, April 29. With a one-day total of $29,600, she competed against Ben Ganger, from Goshen, Indiana, and Rahel Zubairi, from Scottsdale, Arizona.

“Have you ever wondered how it feels to defeat a six-day champion in a come-from-behind win? Well, I think this reaction yesterday from Erin Morin sums things up pretty accurately,” host Ken Jennings said at the beginning of the game. In a clip from Monday’s game, Morin slammed her hands down on the podium and yelled, “Oh my God!” before covering her mouth with her hands.

“Look at that. Genuine shock,” Jennings said.

Morin, a digital pre-press specialist, didn’t have much luck at the beginning of the game. She hadn’t answered any of the questions when Ganger, a data analyst, found the first Daily Double. He made it a true Daily Double and wagered all of his $2,600. In “Scientists,” the clue read, “The paper he published on lactic fermentation is considered a foundational work of microbiology.” “Who was Pasteur?” he answered correctly, bringing him up to $5,200.

When Morin finally rang in, she answered incorrectly and dropped down to -$1,000. By the first commercial break, Ganger had a huge lead with $11,600. Zubairi, a physician, had $600. Morin remained in the negatives.

Aside from being a data analyst, Ganger revealed during the interviews that he is also an opera singer. He is the cofounder of Opera on Tap Southbend, where they sing operas in bars. “Which is where it should be,” he said.

By the end of the round, Ganger led with $15,600. Zubairi had $1,400. Morin was still in the hole with -$1,000. With one triple stumper in the round, she only answered one question, and it was wrong.

In Double Jeopardy, Morin started off the round by answering another question wrong, giving her -$1,400. The question was “In 2020, Taylor Swift‘s ‘Lover’ was one of 7 nominees bested by this Billie Eilish smash.” She answered “‘All I Ever Wanted,” but the correct answer was “Bad Guy,” which Ganger correctly answered.

For the next question, both Morin and Ganger answered wrong, but Zubairi picked up the points with the right answer. However, Ganger maintained the lead and found the first DD of the round. With $17,200 in his bank, he wagered $3,500. The clue in “Around the World” read, “The Europa Point Lighthouse on this territory overlooks the spot where the Atlantic Ocean & Mediterranean Sea meet.” He answered, “What is Gibraltar?” which was correct. He had a huge lead with $20,700.

Towards the middle of the round, Morin got out of the hole when she answered a series of questions correctly. Ganger gained even more of a lead when he found the second DD. He had $23,500 but only wagered $2,000. In “6 letters words with 4 vowels,” the clue read, ” In the Galápagos, a marine variety of this reptile, basks on lava rocks & feeds on algae in the sea.” “What is an iguana?” he answered, giving him a total of $25,500.

By the end of the round, Ganger had a huge lead with $25,900. Zubairi’s bank was $13,400. Morin trailed with $2,600.

The category for Final Jeopardy was “20th Century Figures.” “After studying business in Chicago in the 1920s, this man obsessed with Sherlock Holmes was an investigator for a credit company,” was the clue.

Morin wrote “Who is Raymond Chandler?” which was incorrect. She wagered $2,000, giving her a final total of $600. Zubairi’s answer was “Who is Dashiell Hamett?” He wagered $11,601, ending with $1,799. Ganger was also wrong with his answer “Who is Pinkerton?” He wagered $901, giving him a final total of $24,999. The correct answer was “Who was Eliot Ness?” Ganger will be back for his second game on Wednesday, April 30. He will face two new opponents.

Reddit users couldn’t believe how much Morin was beaten after defeating Starnes the day prior. They said that Ganger was a machine.

“Holy crap Ben was a freaking machine. Can’t believe he somehow still didn’t end up with a runaway, great competitive game,” one user said.

“His conservative DD2 and DD3 wagers kept him from a runaway. Since his performance was otherwise so impressive, hopefully he’ll have learned from that,” a fan replied.

“Ben was a beast. We were so close to seeing him take on Liam,” said a third.

“Whoa. When was the last time someone had $10K going into the first break?” wrote another.

“Man, I thought for sure Ben had it locked up after the first round. Then Rahel went on a charge. Hope to see Ben win a few more,” wrote one last fan.

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