By the time it came to the final question of his first game of “Jeopardy!,” Bryce Wargin had made his peace — he wasn’t going to win.
“Two-thirds of the people who go on the ‘Jeopardy!’ stage don’t win, you know? It’s a real accomplishment just to get on there,” Wargin told KCUR’s Up To Date.
The reigning winner was a six-game champion. Wargin, a product surveillance coordinator who lives in Kansas City, had fewer correct answers than the other contestants, and was a few thousand dollars off the lead.
But when it came time to reveal the answers to the Final Jeopardy question, Wargin had the right answer, which no other contestant did. He was declared the winner, and was rushed offstage to get ready to tape the next episode.
Wargin won a total of four games – and more than $70,000 – in his run on “Jeopardy!” in April 2025. Last week, he appeared on the “Jeopardy!” stage once again, this time as a contestant in the “Tournament of Champions,” a postseason competition designed for multi-game winners.
To prepare for the heightened challenge, Wargin did some brushing up on topics he didn’t know much about, like British history and pop music. He also focused on improving the time it took him to buzz in a response. A quick reaction time is critical to winning in “Jeopardy!,” and being caffeinated made a difference.
“As a data guy, I did some controlled experiments with myself. Same time of the day, once without Red Bull, once with Red Bull, and just found that it would improve my buzzer timing, my reaction timing,” he said.
Wargin knew from analyzing the other contestants’ statistics that the tournament would be tough. After earning $5,200 in the first two rounds, he entered Final Jeopardy in second place.
Wargin wagered almost all of his money on the final question in an attempt to surpass first-place Cameron Berry, who had racked up $8,800. The question, though, was a “triple stumper,” and Berry was victorious after only wagering a small amount.
Despite his loss, Wargin felt good about how he performed.
“I didn't have high expectations. So to be competitive in that game – the first two games of the week had been runaways, where the Final Jeopardy didn't even matter,” Wargin said. “I made the Final Jeopardy matter, so that was good.”
- Bryce Wargin, "Jeopardy!" contestant
