A JEOPARDY! contestant made an absurd Daily Double bet during Mayim Bialik's High School Reunion Tournament.
Rohan Kapileshwari wagered "a whopping $5" from second place in a moment for the books but may have cost him the game.
Mayim, 47, is hosting the 14-episode High School Reunion Tournament featuring 27 former Teen Tournament contestants who first duked it out in 2018 and 2019.
Now in its second week, the eventual winner will get $100,000 and a slot in the 2023 Tournament of Champions.
Rohan, a senior at the University of Texas at Austin from Winston-Salem, North Carolina faced Rhea Sinha, a Cornell graduate from Chatman, New Jersey and Claire Sattler, a senior at Yale University from Bonita Springs, Florida.
Claire won the 2018 Teen Tournament and proved she's still got it by winning her first return game on Monday and advancing.
Read more on Jeopardy!
However, it was Rohan's absolutely insane bet on the last randomly placed Daily Double that was the talk of February 27's episode.
Mayim, 47, reminded the youngster he was in second place at the time with $10K to Claire's $11.4K when he landed on the special clue under "Pure Poetry."
"You and Claire have been trading the lead, how much are you going to wager?" she asked.
"I'm going to wager a whopping five dollars," he confidently announced.
Most read in Entertainment
'A WHOPPING $5'
Five dollars is the minimum a contestant can bet on a Daily Double, per Jeopardy.com.
Contestants choose however much they already have to bet, and it's hard to say the last time the amount was chosen
His rivals burst out laughing and nearly fell off their respective podiums.
Mayim read the clue: "Namechecking herself, this Lesbos poet "Asked myself what, (her), can you give one who has everything, like Aphrodite?"
Rohan reeled his body away from the camera and rolled his eyes looking crushed that he actually knew it.
"I'm not a poetry guy but I know it, 'Who is Sappho," he said - and was indeed correct.
Rohan visibly face-palmed as Mayim rewarded: "And there it is, $10,005."
The minuscule bet left Claire leading going into Final at $11,400, Rohan at $9,205, and Rhea at $5,600.
Final Jeopardy was under "African Countries" and it read: "Once Africa’s largest country in area, it dropped to third in 2011 when a portion of it declared independence."
Naturally, Claire and Rohan were correct with "Sudan", and while he bet 0 - Claire added $7,011 to advance with $18,411.
'FUNNY BUT SUCH A FAIL'
Fans on Reddit went wild over the Daily Double bet-turned-instant classic game show moment but agreed it may have cost Rohan the W.
"Rohan confidently betting $5 may be my favorite moment of this season."
"Rohan had the chance until he made a fatal blunder on that Daily Double. Which in hindsight, sealed his chances."
That's why you have to take your chance at the Daily Double as those are game changers!"
A third wrote: "Even though he didn't like the category, from a trailing position late in the game, he might have considered betting an amount such as $3,000."
"I love Rohan he’s pretty funny" wrote a fourth.
Over on Twitter one fan asked: "Why did Rohan bet $5.00 on Double Jeopardy?"
Another wrote: "And again - Ms Bialik the pauses after a correct DD response are aggravating!"
So far the semi-finalists of the new, ongoing tournament are Claire, Jackson Jones, 2019 Teen Tournament winner Avi Gupta, Brown freshman Justin Bolsen who became a fan-favorite with a bold Daily Double bet last Wednesday, and Maya Wright, a senior at Emory.
The semi-finals will begin later this week as the students are dismissed and until three remain for a two-day total point affair finals.
Stanford Senior Avi made a huge splash during a Daily Double in his game when he got it and talked smack to second placer Jack Izzo: "You're not going to get rid of me that easy."
HOST SCHEDULE SET IN STONE
Last week marked the first time Mayim has hosted regular episodes this season instead of Ken Jennings, 48.
Fans have made it no secret that it's been an adjustment, as the former 74-time champ lives and breathes Jeopardy!.
Outlets have even run headlines like: "Mayim Bialik Is Almost Universally Despised As Jeopardy! Host."
One quantifiable issue with Mayim is her cadence; namely, her pause when deeming a contestant correct or not on nearly every clue.
On Monday,longtime producer Sarah Foss cleared the board on the hosting schedule for the rest of the season on the show's podcast.
It was announced that Ken will be back after Mayim's three-week tournament, but not for very long.
"Ken Jennings will be back on March 10th and then he will continue the rest of his syndicated run which will take us through April 28th.
"Then Mayim will take over on May 1st and she’ll take us all the way through the summer."
Fans were left in a frenzy since after May 1st, we won't see Ken on the regular show until Season 40, or September 2023 - many daily viewers are begging the show to just let him host.
One PO-ed fan Tweeted upon the news: "Then I'll be in for a month and then promptly out. The Jeopardy audience does not consist of masochists who want to be force-fed a subpar product."
Another defended: "Alex Trebek believed the show was about the contestants, not the hosts."
To which a third wrote: "It's not about Ken, but it is about the flow of the show. I've watched since 1964, and it's a different show with Mayim. I won't watch and I won't disparage others who won't."
A fourth wrote: "Jeopardy, stop trying to make Mayim happen. It’s not going to happen."
Last year, Amy Schneider and Mattea Roach stated in interviews they prefer Ken given he went from its winningest contestant (74 victories in 2004) to host, as did recent divisive three-day champ Jake Dearruda slamming her as "inexperienced."
The consensus is Ken Jennings has simply grown into the role, and even Mayim is aware of her mixed reception sharing on her podcast recently: "Sometimes I get, 'We don't prefer you to Ken.'"
Read More on The US Sun
The energy in the room seems to be that the sitcom star with no notable past ties to Jeopardy is doing perfectly well on specials like Celebrity Jeopardy!, a former champion recently told The U.S. Sun she should stick to that.
Ken will still be on-air for a bit hosting the new Jeopardy! Masters spinoff, which is scheduled to air during the spring in primetime on ABC.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEZqqupl6YvK57xKernqqklravucSnq2hvZWWCdHySaKGep6CWv6XFjKumoZmeYrGitcuyZJ2npZe5pnnSmqepoJ9isK2tyKucZqWRrrauecGimKWhm2Q%3D