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Featured J!Buzz

11.02.2018

Frank Hughes: "The Game That Almost Got Away"

From Season 3

After 32 years, what I remember most about the experience are the answers I got wrong, how nerve-wracking it was, and that my cousin had an entire bar in Boston cheering me on every night.

My third game was a near disaster, including a spectacularly stupid answer in the STUPID ANSWERS category. Far behind my two opponents in Final Jeopardy! and faced with a category (POSTAGE STAMPS) about which I knew nothing, I bet $0 of my meager total.

I answered, "What is I don't know?" to the Final Jeopardy! clue. As I'd hoped, both my opponents bet big and got it wrong, resulting in my undeserved victory. I went on to win two more games before being retired as a five-time champion, as was the custom back then.

Most importantly, "Jeopardy! champion" replaced "He had great potential" as my epitaph.