‘Jeopardy!’ fans and Alex Trebek shocked by rare tiebreaker game

During Wednesday’s Jeopardy! Teen Tournament, the “Final Jeopardy!” round ended in a tie — and host Alex Trebek wasn't the only one who was surprised.

After the final round, high school junior Jackson Jones and high school senior Avi Gupta found themselves tied with a total of $39,200 each. This meant that they were going to have to play a tiebreaker.

A surprised Trebek said, “To be honest, ladies and gentlemen, I can't recall the last time we had to go to a tiebreaker.” According to the show’s website, tiebreakers are so rare that they have only occurred once in regular play (2018) and once in tournament play, oddly enough at the 2014 Teen Tournament.

So what happens in a tiebreaker? Trebek explained, “I will give you the category. I will reveal the clue. The first one to ring in with a correct response will be a finalist.”

The category was “American History,” and the clue was “Types of it you could find in Boston Harbor on December 16, 1773, included souchong and bohea.”

Both contestants frantically clicked their buzzers, but it was Gupta who got to answer first. He correctly answered, “What is tea?”

While it was a heartbreaking loss for Jones, Gupta is excited to play in the finals.

For more Jeopardy! check out jeopardy.com.

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