St. Norbert College professor Ben Chan cruises to his third victory on 'Jeopardy!' and tops $69,000 in winnings
Two shows in and we already get the feeling reigning "Jeopardy!" champ Ben Chan could be sticking around (#nojinx).
We'll be following along with the St. Norbert College philosophy professor by doing daily recaps of his episodes. That is, if we can keep up with him. So far, he's been running away with it.
Who is this "Jeopardy!" ace? Chan has been at St. Norbert College in De Pere for 10 years, a fan of the quiz show his whole life and was inspired to audition after losing a close friend.
Night 3: It's officially a winning streak; he'll be back next week
His opponents: A cardiologist from San Diego and a grant strategy consultant from Cleveland Heights, Ohio
How he did: Even with only one Daily Double instead of his usual three, Chan once again quickly jumped out front early and kept his fellow contestants chasing him all show. The man knows his gods and goddesses, burning through four of the five clues in the "Deity Add a Letter" category during the Double Jeopardy round to clear the $20,000 mark. He was up by more than $12,000 on the cardiologist, who was in second place, for Final Jeopardy. Both men answered it correctly, but Chan's lead was too much to surpass.
Sample question answered: From the "Potent Potable Rhyme Time" category: "Whiskey made in the middle of downtown Lexington or Louisville." Answer: "Urban bourbon."
What we learned about him: His Cantonese language skills turned out to be rustier than he knew when he ordered what he thought were two egg tarts in Chinatown while visiting San Francisco. Turns out, he accidentally ordered two dozen.
Winnings from the night: $23,000
Total winnings so far: $69,001
Night 2: Once again, he found all three Daily Doubles
His opponents: A stay-at-home mom from Metuchen, New Jersey, and a settlement consultant from Windham, New Hampshire.
How he did: Just like on his first show, he again found all three Daily Doubles on Thursday. He answered all three correctly, but it was going all in with a $3,400 wager on the first one that jumpstarted the sizable lead he kept throughout the entire show. By the time Final Jeopardy rolled around, he was more than $20,000 ahead of both of his opponents.
Sample question answered: "This 4-letter abbreviation of a Roman slogan is the title of Mary Beard's bestselling history of ancient Rome." Answer: "SPQR." (Short for “Senatus PopulusQue Romanus," but you already knew that, right?)
What we learned about him: Viewers back in Green Bay may have been hoping for more details about his pub trivia playing days against Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers that came up on Wednesday, like which pub and who else was on No. 12's team. Instead, we found out he has two rescue dogs, Chester and Ruthie.
Winnings from the night: $30,000
Total winnings so far: $46,001
Night 1: Aaron Rodgers comes up in the contestant chat
For our recap of Chan's "Jeopardy!" debut on Wednesday, click here.
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Kendra Meinert is an entertainment and feature writer at the Green Bay Press-Gazette. Contact her at 920-431-8347 or kmeinert@greenbay.gannett.com. Follow her on Twitter @KendraMeinert.
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This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: 'Jeopardy!' champ Ben Chan of St. Norbert College: recaps of his wins
