[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the July 8 episode of Jeopardy! ] Heading into the July 8 episode of Jeopardy! , Isaac only needed one more win to be eligible for the next Tournament of Champions . (Four wins are needed during regular season play.) He was impressive in his first three games—not the first episodes of a game show in which he’s participated), and host Ken Jennings did bring up his dominating runaway game from July 5.
The customer support team lead from Burbank, California came in with winnings totaling $70,186. Facing off with him were project coordinator Stephanie Lewis (from Washington, D.C.
) and data scientist Karan Menon (originally from Edison, New Jersey). And unfortunately for them, they didn’t really seem to have a chance. Hirsch dominated the Jeopardy! round with significant leads at each break ($9,400 to Menon’s $1,000 and Lewis’ $400 at the first, then $11,800 to Menon’s $2,400 and Lewis’ $200).
Jennings commented on his 18 correct responses in that first round, noting that was a tie for the season high. Such was the case again in Double Jeopardy!, with Hirsch ultimately finding all three Daily Doubles of the game. With the second, he upped his total to $18,800 (already well ahead of Menon’s $2,400 and Lewis’ $1,800 at the time).
Going into Final Jeopardy!, it was a runaway game for Hirsch, with his lead of $27,400 over Menon’s $7,200 and Lewis’ $5,000. (Jennings said the other two “put up a brave fight.”) Hir.