On Discovering the Show

Tristan Mohabir, nonprofit associate director, Washington, D.C., one-day champion ($15,200)

“I imagine like most people I grew up watching Jeopardy! around the dinner table with my family.”

Kevin Patterson, management consultant, Cambridge, Massachusetts, one-day champion ($20,001)

“I grew up honestly as a fan of Wheel of Fortune and eventually I turned into the show after it. . . . I guess I’m a humanities guy at heart. At college at 7 pm local time at the radio station, we would all gather around and watch Jeopardy! I realized sometime around then that I wanted to get on the actual show.”

Josh Hager, archivist, Raleigh, North Carolina, one-day champion ($26,100)

“In college I would host Jeopardy! watch parties. I actually tried out for the first time for the college tournament when I was a freshman at Duke but didn’t proceed past round one because I wasn’t knowledgeable about dance, opera, and ballet.”

Alex and Eric Vernon. Image via Sony Pictures TV

Eric Vernon, retired government-relations specialist, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, two-day champion ($50,400)

“I was sixty-three when I taped, and I’d been watching the show since it literally came on the air [1964] with Art Fleming as host. I find as I’m getting older the show is excellent stimulation for cognitive thinking. Having been a lifelong devotee of the show, and being very successful watching from the safe confines of my den, once I retired in 2014, I would really consider going on the show and going out of my comfort zone and participate in something I loved my whole life.”

Lilly Chin, MIT Graduate Student, 2017 college champion and 2017 Tournament of Champions semifinalist ($110,000 total winnings)

“I was never really a fan of the show. the only reason I tried out is because my [resident adviser] was on the show. I now know more about Jeopardy! than I ever thought I would.”

On the Audition Process and Preparation

Charbel Barakat, attorney, Tampa, Florida, one-day champion ($30,700)

“It was the third time I took the exam and the first time that I got an in-person interview. I took my first dip into Reddit in terms of audition prep, and the only golden nugget I got there was: try to be yourself but turn it up to eleven and let your personality shine forth. Buzzy [Cohen] and Austin [Rogers] hadn’t quite hit yet and become viral, but people with big chunky glasses and facial hair is what people were going for. A lot were going for a Paul Bunyan sort of look.

“I got the call October 7, 2018. They told me my tape date was a month away. I said, ‘I bet there is a subreddit for this,’ and sure enough I found post after post about folks getting the call. The Reddit provided a structure to my preparation I otherwise wouldn’t have had. They helped me identify certain recurring topics, and there’s a finite level of information to be learned that pay the highest dividend, things like Nobel Prize winners, state capitals. . . . There’s just enough of them that you can sit down with flashcards and bang them out and commit them to memory in a short period of time. I learned what those were because of the Reddit.”

Former Contestants spilling the secrets on the Jeopardy subreddit.

Donna Brown, former customer-service representative, Seattle, Washington, one-day champion ($45,600)

“I would practice for the buzzer by clicking pens.”

Tristan Mohabir

“I went to the Reddit community to get the broad contours, the big things. . . . I used those guidelines to craft big buckets of study categories. And then I filled in the rest on my own, I bought a globe, I made flashcards, I played a lot of Sporcle.”

Kevin Patterson

“I first found the Reddit when I was going to my in-person audition in New York. I had a few weeks’ notice on that and I started to think about what they wanted to hear from potential contestants, so I started looking through the Reddit for advice on how to answer those TV screening questions. I learned from the Reddit they ask everyone, ‘What will you do with your money?’ There was a whole thread on that question and it was pretty easy to figure out how to make that one easily. Everyone says, ‘Travel the world’ or pay off your student loans, everyone is GOING to do that, but that’s boring, So I came up with something dumb I have no intention of doing, but it was certainly memorable. I said something like, ‘Go to a small village in Northern England with 500 people and write a book.’ I honestly don’t remember.”

Kevin Patterson after correctly answering: “Jennifer Lawrence” on Final Jeopardy. Image via Sony Pictures TV

Eric Vernon

“I didn’t really study all that much. I figured at that point, I know what I know. I had a good handling on the categories. I had a pretty solid grounding. I figured I was in good shape with sports and culture topics, besides the dreaded opera categories.”

Lilly Chin

“I used the Reddit to help with betting strategy and general format information. At one point I found an interview with the game writers and they discussed the differences between college tournament and regular play. . . . There’s a whole period of time between the fifties and today that doesn’t get covered in school. The ‘Battle of the Sexes,’ for example, wouldn’t have been known by college kids before the movie adaptation.”

On the Show’s Taping

Tristan Mohabir

“I don’t think the viewers realize that you spend a lot of downtime with your fellow contestants. You get to form some pretty cool friendships that day. That was one of the more rewarding things I wasn’t expecting to get out of it. You have to get there at 7:30 am. I knew I was nervous and feeling it that morning. But the production crew sets the tone for the day. They want you to let loose and have fun.”

Kevin Patterson

“The stuff you see on screen is only a quarter of what we record with Alex. You also don’t see a few hours of prep work before we begin taping. It kind of is a kumbaya sesh.

“Lawyers come in and tell you what you can and can’t say. The other thing you can’t do is look at the audience; you can’t see how they, your loved ones, react to certain things.”

Charbel Barakat

“Two out of three people have to lose, but all three people should know the answer to ninety percent of what’s answered. It really just comes down to buzzer timing and luck. It’s so cool to get to know folks who are neck deep in nerd trivia like me.”

Alex Trebek at PaleyFest 1997. Image via the Paley Center

Eric Vernon

“I remember there was a category on nineties TV shows and I thought I was going to be screwed.”

Josh Hager

“The writers definitely want to encourage ‘buzzy’ moments. In the producers’ room, they told us, ‘Feel free to add some flair to the answer if it’s appropriate. If the answer is James Bond and you do a Sean Connery impression, go for it.’”

“Alex came up to us afterward and said he and the writers thought my game’s Final Jeopardy was going to be a ‘triple-stumper’”

Lilly Chin

“I was playing the first game of the day, so I didn’t need to sit around and be nervous. There was a lot of adrenaline going through the whole process. It was only later, seeing myself on TV, that I realized, ‘Oh wow.’”

Highs and Lows?

Tristan Mohabir

“[My victory] was so unexpected, which made it a little bit sweeter. When the other contestants missed Final Jeopardy, I was shocked. I just got really lucky, honestly.”

Alex and Tristan Mohabir. Image via Sony Pictures TV

A fan on Reddit, expressing his true feeling about the day’s Final Jeopardy.

Kevin Patterson

“I definitely think there’s a lot of regrets. There are certain categories or triple-stumpers in my game that I knew, and Alex called me out for it. I’ve had nights where I’ve thought if I buzzed in on a certain clue, I wouldn’t have lost in a runaway. The regret is real.”

“The Reddit community was very supportive. So many people on the Reddit are past contestants and know how much of a minor public figure you become for a day, and they are able to lend their support.

“‘Jeopardy Champion’ is on my LinkedIn page. I’ve been told it’s pathetic, but I’m keeping it.”

A contestant gives a full game recap after their defeat.

Charbel Barakat

“The neatest thing was, any Jeopardy! fan dreams of being able to go on Jeopardy! and say, ‘I want to make it a true Daily Double,’ and to be able to go for a true Daily Double at $10,700 and get it right was unbelievable. Two things I’ll never forget from that: there was a little gasp when I said it, and the second thing, at the end of the game, was Alex came up to me and said: ‘Boy, you had some courage today.’ That made me really happy. I don’t know what came over me at that moment. I was feeling the heat from Graham [Fulton III], the returning champ, and the category was “Definitely for Profit.” I felt like it was right in my wheelhouse. I took a chance and they asked a question about Ponzi schemes to a former finance lawyer, the lights started flashing in my eyes. I’ll never forget that, the rest of my life.

Charbel Barakat making it rain. Image via Sony Pictures TV

“It’s two and half months later and I still think about that second game. I can totally sympathize with folks that come in second or third. I see how they could be driven away from it. Me personally, this has reinspired my Jeopardy! fandom. I’m looking at the Reddit threads, breaking down the games, I love it. It helps you appreciate the writing. I watch every day through the Reddit page.”

Josh Hager

“It’s hard to watch as often because I know I can never go on again. I knew a lot more and regret that I didn’t stay on longer. I will routinely sweep categories at home, but I know it’s not the same.”

Donna Brown

“Winning Jeopardy! gave me a certain confidence to change jobs, So I’m very thankful for the experience. No regrets — just the betting.”

Donna Brown in action! Image via Sony Pictures TV

Lilly Chin

“One of my favorite moments of the college tournament was directly afterward. We all got rid of our branded hoodies, dressed normally, and got dinner together. That was really nice.”

Eric Vernon

“I love the show so much I wouldn’t miss it for anything. Even if I finished in third and went home empty-handed I love the show. We can’t stop watching. We have a DVR and it’s in there every day. My wife and I love it. Being on the show didn’t mean for me that’s where it ended. It just made things even sweeter for me knowing that I had been on and that I had some success. I still watch every day, and I stayed in touch for a little with the woman who beat me.”

What Did You Spend Your Money On?

Tristan Mohabir

“I’m contemplating my first big purchase [with my winnings], which would be a signed Rafael Nadal headband.”

Kevin Patterson

“I haven’t gotten my winnings yet. Hopefully going to Australia or Japan or one of those other-sides-of-the-world places you don’t necessarily consider unless someone gives you a lot of cash.”

Charbel Barakat

“I definitely plan on buying a Jet Ski!”

Josh Hager

“I was able to pay off my student loans, and in my own house now I have a library, which was a childhood dream of mine. I have a first-edition copy of a Charles Dickens book. I got myself a tablet too!”

Lilly Chin

“I put my winnings in an index fund and bought better hay for my guinea pig.”

Lilly Chin with the Final Jeopardy answer that propelled her internet fame. Image via Sony Pictures TV

Donna Brown

“We bought a bunch of computers; my husband got a fancy-ass computer. It was a nice little cushion for a bit. It doesn’t last very long.”

Eric Vernon

“I had a lot taken off my check because of taxes, so the fifty and change I won became thirty-two and change, but the plus side was, when I converted it back to Canadian dollars I got it back, and in the end we bought a car. So, I’m riding around now in my Jeopardy! winnings.”