Did Ben Goldstein Make the Tournament of Champions Cut?

Jeopardy!‘s most recent four-day champion, Ben Goldstein, has reached the pivotal point at which victory could spell a ticket to the Tournament of Champions, but did he make it?

During the June 22 game, Ben, a content marketing strategist from Dexter, Michigan, played against university lecturer, Dan Meuse from Cranston, Rhode Island, and Andrea Rednick Granados, a community organizer and stay-at-home daughter from Dallas, Texas. Were Ben’s previous wins a sign of a longer streak?

(Credit: Jeopardy!, Inc.)

It seems so as the player took the game, winning over Dan with just five extra dollars. Starting out strong at the end of the Jeopardy! round and heading into Double Jeopardy!, he had a lead over Dan and Andrea, with $8,000 compared to their $6,800 and $3,200. He was still comfortably leading at the start of Final Jeopardy! with $15,200 over Dan’s $12,000 and Andrea’s $4,500.

Once Final Jeopardy! rolled around, the competitors were faced with the category, “The 19th Century,” which presented this answer, “In 1823 he wrote, ‘in the war between those new governments and Spain we declared our neutrality.’” Ultimately, the responding question was, “Who was Monroe?”

Unfortunately for Ben and Dan, neither of them got the answer correct, allowing Andrea to raise her score to $7,501. Still, it wasn’t enough to beat Dan who wagered nothing, and Ben who calibrated his wager to beat Dan by five dollars with a closing score of $12,005. The close call landed him that coveted Tournament of Champions ticket, but can Ben keep the streak going? Only time will tell for certain, but he’s following in the footsteps of some impressive players.

As fans of the game will recall, Jeopardy! recently held its first Jeopardy! Masters tournament featuring several former Tournament of Champions players including Amy Schneider, Sam Buttrey, and Matt Amodio to name a few. Does Ben have what it takes to reach their ranks? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section, below, and don’t miss Jeopardy!‘s next game as Ben once again takes the returning player spot.

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