Jeopardy!‘s latest champion is leaving fans scratching their heads over his game strategy as former Survivor player Drew Basile returned for his second match on June 20.
The only person to play both Jeopardy! and Survivor, Drew should be a pro at gameplay, but viewers were calling out his low and unclear wager requests during the Double Jeopardy! round as he uncovered both Daily Double clues. The second Daily Double of the day came with the $1,600 clue in the category “Museums,” which read, “On view at the National Museum of Women in the Arts is a self-portrait of Frida Kahlo dedicated to this Russian exile.” Drew provided the correct response of “Who was Trotsky?” but only wagered $3,000.
The third Daily Double was uncovered under the $1,200 clue in the category “Hit the Road, Jaques,” which read, “Philosopher Jacques Derrida was born in this African country when it was governed by France, but left for Paris in 1949.” Drew once again provided the correct response of, “What is Algeria?” But he only added $1,200 as he didn’t wager more than what the clue was initially worth. But more perplexing was the way Drew decided his wager, noting he wanted to be “twelve,” which fans noted could mean various totals ranging from $12 to $12,000, but led host Ken Jennings to fill in the blanks, by determining $1,200.
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Considering his success in the previous match, some viewers were perplexed by Drew’s delivery, which if changed, could have put himself further ahead of his competitors Jonquil Garrick-Reynolds and Bob Longstreth, who each entered Final Jeopardy! with $10,400 and $8,600 against Drew’s $15,600.
While the low wagers in earlier rounds may not have made much sense, Drew’s smaller wager in Final Jeopardy! paid off as he, along with his other competitors got the final response wrong. The category “Authors’ Wives,” posed the clue, “When asked if she was the inspiration for the wife in a 1922 novel, this woman replied ‘No, she was much fatter.’”
The correct response was meant to be “Who was Nora Joyce?” Drew still maintained his victorious stance with a final score of $9,800 over Bob’s $6,398 and Jonquil’s $1,200. Drew’s combined two-day total is $33,282, and taking that into consideration, he won a lot more on Night 1 than in Night 2.
Despite his success, Drew’s handling of the Daily Double wager received some strong fan reactions, as seen, below:
“Drew shortening the Daily Double wager was odd, he probably shouldn’t do that anymore,” one fan wrote on Reddit. “No kidding. I had a debate with a couple people, and that could have meant $12, $1,200, or $12,000. From the hesitation and clue value, I thought $1,200, but with his DD and FJ wager yesterday, all three are plausible,” another viewer responded.
“Need Drew to go bigger and harder on the dds tomorrow… put the game out of reach bby i want to see you dominate ,” another fan noted.
“All I’ll say is Drew saying “12” () matches up exactly with his portrayal on Survivor……,” another viewer complained.
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