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Now We Know What Happens When There’s A Tie On ‘Jeopardy!’
By Brett White @brettwhite
Mar 2, 2018 at 10:12am

Isn’t it kinda comforting that even after over 30 years on air, Jeopardy! still manages to surprise us? Sometimes its contestants missing painfully obvious pop culture Qs, other times its people winning the whole game with $1, and sometimes–actually very rarely–you get what happened to Laura from Tennessee and Sarah from Minnesota. Laura and Sarah actually ended the game… with a tie!

During Final Jeopardy, Laura answered a question about the European Islands incorrectly and lost $8,201, bringing her down to $6,799. The twist: that’s Sarah’s exact dollar amount. You can see the subtle shock on the contestant’s faces; okay, not so subtle with middle contestant Scott, who did a comical shrug when he realized he was the meat in a tie sandwich.

This didn’t trip up host Alex Trebek, who immediately went to a segment of Jeopardy! we rarely see: the tiebreaker!

The tiebreaker works like this: one question is asked, the first person to buzz in with the right answer wins, thus winning the game (although there’s no additional money gained for getting the tiebreaker right).

Trebek introduced the category, “Way Back in 2017,” and gave the clue: “Her April decision to call a snap parliamentary election proved less than brilliant on June 8.” Laura buzzed in and answered correctly (Theresa May) and won the tie and the game, bringing her total winnings to $19,598.

The tiebreaker has been a part of Jeopardy!’s tournament episodes, and was last seen in 2014. It’s now, obviously, a part of regular gameplay since ties can happen anywhere, even when you least expect them.

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