Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time officially opened on Tuesday, January 7, with Alex Trebek hosting a tournament to determine the popular trivia game’s best player. It featured three former champions in James Holzhauer, Ken Jennings, and Brad Rutter beginning a battle for the ultimate bragging rights.
This is a recap of who won on Day 1 of the multi-day competition.
Who was the Game 1 winner?
There were two games played for Day 1 of Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time with points used on the scoreboards rather than dollars. In the first game, the trio of competitors showed just why they were all there to compete. At the end of the first round, James had an 800-point lead over Ken, with Brad behind the leader by 3,800 points.
What is…the most intense game play of @Jeopardy you've ever seen? ?@James_Holzhauer, @KenJennings, and @bradrutter compete to be the #JeopardyGOAT, TONIGHT 8/7c on @abcnetwork. pic.twitter.com/6aCrKXneaW
— Sony Pictures TV (@SPTV) January 7, 2020
Brad uncovered the first Daily Double during Double Jeopardy!, but was unable to answer correctly, sending his score down to zero. Ken uncovered the second Daily Double and was able to gain a nice advantage, thanks to betting it all and doubling his score.
Heading into Final Jeopardy!, Ken held the lead with 33,200 points. James was second with 16,600, followed by Brad at 5,200.
Final Jeopardy! had a Presidents & The Bible category. The answer was: “‘Silent’ Calvin Coolidge was inaugurated in 1925 on a Bible open to this 6-word first line of the gospel according to John.”
The three players each provided the correct response. It was “In the beginning was the word.” Ken ended up with 45,000 points, James finished with 33,200, and Brad had 10,400.
Who was the Game 2 winner?
On the night, the trio would participate in two games, with the combined score revealing the winner of the Day 1 match.
At the end of the first round in Game 2, James had 8,200 points, Ken was at 7,000 points, and Brad trailed with just 3,800 points. Brad uncovered both Daily Doubles in Double Jeopardy! and bet it all on each of them, but was unable to get either of them right.
Brad made a big comeback to get within reach of James and Ken toward the end of Double Jeopardy!. He ended the round with 10,000 points, while Ken had 12,200 and James led the way with 15,000 points.
For Final Jeopardy!, the category was Astronomers. The answer was “This man’s name was given to a comet that crashed into Jupiter in 1994; he’s the only human whose remains lie on the moon”
The correct response was “Who is Eugene Shoemaker?” which both James and Ken gave, but Brad did not.
HELLO. IT ME. THE FINAL JEOPARDY ANSWER. pic.twitter.com/gXUxpXZctD
— sɥ0ǝz (@ownedbysh0ez) January 8, 2020
James finished with 30,000 points and Ken had 18,400 points for the second game. Unfortunately, Brad ended that game with zero points to add to his other score.
For Day 1, the winning total was Ken Jennings’ 63,400 points. James Holzhauer was right behind him with 63,200 points, followed by Brad Rutter with 10,400 points.
That means Ken Jennings was the Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time winner for Day 1. The first player to win three matches in the tournament wins a $1 million prize and Jennings is off to a pretty good start.
you vs the guys she told you not to worry about #JeopardyGOAT pic.twitter.com/caai3kTBaJ
— girafe simons (@veekneecee) January 8, 2020
Viewers can watch Day 2 of the Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time tournament on ABC on Wednesday, January 8 starting at 8/7c.