Well, Ben Chan‘s winning streak on Jeopardy comes to an end after the ninth day. He was a 9-day champion of the show and became eligible to appear on the upcoming Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions in 2023.
How does Ben know so much? Find out how he came up with correct responses to some of the Jeopardy! clues from his run. pic.twitter.com/7fydx8z01Z
— Jeopardy! (@Jeopardy) May 25, 2023
An assistant professor of Philosophy at St. Norbert College in De Pere, Wisconsin, he made his Jeopardy debut on Wednesday, 12 April 2023. There, his winning streak began and continued for three days until 14 April.
Chan was expected to return as a champion in the next episode on 17 April. However, he became absent from the show because of ‘illness.’ Later, it was revealed that he tested positive for COVID.
Ben Chan (pictured with Jeopardy host Mayim Bialik) was absent from the show because of illness and returned on 15 May 2023. (Source: Ben’s Twitter)
As a three-day champion, he returned to the show on 15 May 2023. There, he had an enticing competition against Hannah Wilson who had been ruling the episode as an 8-day champion with $229,801 in winnings in her hand.
Ben defeated Wilson and continued his winning streak up to nine games in a row. He had total winnings of $252,600 when he returned on the 23rd May episode. There, he faced Lynn Di Vito, a retired museum educator from Colorado Springs, Colorado, and Joyce Sun, a retired lawyer from Bloomfield, New Jersey.
Ben Chan’s nine-game streak as “Jeopardy!” champion ended this week with a misspelling during the Final Jeopardy! round, a decision that riled up the contestant’s fans https://t.co/Rq6ILfr91p pic.twitter.com/H1pKbB1OT0
— CNN (@CNN) May 24, 2023
The final results of the episode stunned the viewers as Lynn defeated Ben and emerged as a new champion. However, the fans are still furious over the ‘petty’ ruling that ended his 9-game streak.
Why Fans Are Upset As Ben Chan’s Winning Streak Comes To An End?
Ben faced Lynn Di Vito and Joyce Sun while returning as a nine-day champion. He was ahead of them before entering Final Jeopardy! round.
The clue, under the category, “Shakespeare’s Characters,” read: “Both of the names of these 2 lovers in a Shakespeare play come from Latin words for ‘blessed.'”
Jeopardy! has fans talking after a spelling error led to the end of a nine-day winning streak for contestant Ben Chan. pic.twitter.com/t5pIadXQBh
— TODAY (@TODAYshow) May 24, 2023
The correct answers were Beatrice and Benedick but Chan wrote, “Who are Beatrice & Benedict?” Therefore, he failed to win the show as she was only one letter away from the correct answer.
None of the three contestants gave correct answers but Chan lost the biggest as he bet $12,201. Di Vito ended up being the episode winner with $11,800 as he finished second with a total score of $2,000.
Well, the viewers are upset about Ben’s loss because of s single letter. They even demonstrated their feelings for Chan through their Twitter posts.
Awful ruling against Ben Chan on tonight’s #Jeopardy
— Dani (@TheDanimatrix) May 23, 2023
Since when does being off by one letter count in final jep? There’s no other character he could have meant. #jeopardy
— David Peterle (@david_peterle) May 23, 2023
Moreover, some fans in the episode’s Reddit thread lamented that the ruling was harsh whereas others deemed it perfectly in line with rules long-established by the gameshow.
What Is Ben Chan’s Reaction Over His Loss?
Chan commented on Reddit to say that he stands by the ruling. There, he wrote that “Benedict” is incorrect.”
“The character’s name is Benedick. As Ken (presciently) noted on my first episode, there is no partial credit on Jeopardy! (Yes, I was sooo close!)” Moreover, he added that “The ‘Benedict’ misspelling is common, and it worked its way onto a couple of my flashcards.”
Soooo… if we could go back in time, maybe the judges could have okayed “Benedict” as a historically acceptable alternative form of the name. But they wouldn’t have to because I’d just write the indisputably correct response: “Benedick” pic.twitter.com/DwyEYV0gyo
— Ben Chan (@JeopardyBenBen) May 24, 2023
Ben also shared numerous posts on his Twitter addressing the reactions. His recent Tweet states that
I forgot one very important thing: my wife knew it was Benedick.