Alison Betts couldn’t predict the outcome of her “Jeopardy!” game this past Wednesday. But in the final moments, when she was in a distant last place, she knew exactly what she wanted to happen.
Alison Betts’ ‘manifested’ ‘Jeopardy!’ outcome
Going into the Final Jeopardy round of Wednesday’s game, things weren’t looking good for Betts, a “Jeopardy!” champ from San Jose, California, who won five games last year.
As a quarterfinalist in the ongoing “Jeopardy!” Invitational Tournament, Betts was competing for a spot in the prestigious Masters tournament. She was up against Isaac Hirsch, a nine-game champ from 2024 who competed in last year’s Masters tournament, and Josh Hill, a seven-game champ from 2018.
Although she had a lead of $2,200 at the end of the first round, Betts lost momentum in the second half of the game when she wagered $5,000 on a Daily Double and couldn’t come up with the correct response.
She finished the round with $3,200, while her fellow competitors, Hirsch and Hill, both had $7,600.
The victory all came down to Final Jeopardy — and strategic wagering.
The Final Jeopardy clue fell under the category “1960s novel characters”: “An article about autism in fictional characters included him, whose ‘reward’ is to have his brave act go unrecognized.”
“Jeopardy!” host Ken Jennings first revealed Betts’ answer, which drew laughs from the studio audience: “Who is I hope they both bet everything :)”
“I don’t know if you mean you want them to bet everything and get it right or get it wrong,” Jennings said.
“The getting wrong part is kind of key to my plan,” she responded.
Betts’ $414 wager brought her down to $2,786.
Jennings then turned to Hirsch, who wrote down the incorrect response “Who is Randall?”
His wager: All $7,600.
“So far, Alison’s plan is working,” Jennings said. “You have been left with $0.”
All eyes were now on Hill.
His answer: “Who is Caulfield?” — referencing Holden Caulfield from “The Catcher in the Rye.”
That response, Jennings said, was also incorrect (The answer was Boo Radley from “To Kill a Mockingbird”).
Hill’s wager: everything.
In a rare occurrence for “Jeopardy!” gasps rang out from the audience as it became clear that Betts’ wishful outcome had come to fruition.
“Alison just manifested a spot in the semifinals,” Jennings said as Betts kneeled down and leaned her head on the lectern in shock.
What Alison Betts said about her ‘Jeopardy!’ victory
Since the shocking victory, Betts has opened up about her thought process in those final moments of the game.
In an interview for Rolling Stone magazine, Betts shared how Hirsch was trailing Hill by just $400 when there were two $400 clues left on the board. She focused on buzzing in first so she could steal one of those clues from them.
Then, she said, she sat back and hoped that Hirsch would get the last clue so he and Hill would be tied going into the Final Jeopardy round.
That part of her plan came true. The next part hinged on the two players both betting everything. And since Hirsch and Hill were tied for first place, she was fairly certain they’d both go all in.
She wagered small — $414 in honor of her April 14 birthday — and let Hirsch and Hill battle it out.
It’s a wagering strategy Jennings employed when he beat James Holzhauer and Brad Rutter in the Greatest of All Time tournament back in 2020.
“In Final Jeopardy, if the game is kind of close, the right move from first place is usually to make a pretty big wager. The right move from second place is almost always to make a smallish wager,” Jennings told the Deseret News following his 2020 victory. “The only way you’re going to win from second place is if the leader gets it wrong. … If you make a small bet … you can get it right, you can get it wrong. You just doubled your chances of winning.”
Even though Betts’ move was calculated, she was visibly shocked that the second part of her plan had come true.
“Josh and Isaac were AMAZING and bet perfectly, for what it’s worth!!” Betts shared on Instagram following the win.
Now, she’s one step closer to securing a spot in the Masters tournament.
Betts will compete in her semifinal matchup on Monday against fellow elite players Matt Amodio and Andrew He, according to the schedule on the “Jeopardy!” website.