# What Jeopardy Champion has won the least money overall? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 18, 2016, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-jeopardy-champion-has-won-the-least-money-overall/768991 "2016-10-18T23:58:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![BeepKillBeep](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/9e8a1a/32.png) [@BeepKillBeep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeepKillBeep)\ **Post date:** [October 18, 2016, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-jeopardy-champion-has-won-the-least-money-overall/768991/1 "2016-10-18T23:58:35Z")
I know Darryl Scott won with $1 (I had to look it up), but he won over $10K the next day. I’m wondering what Jeopardy champion left the show with the least amount of money? Maybe this belongs in Cafe Society as it is about Jeopardy but it also feels like a purely factual question. ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-jeopardy-champion-has-won-the-least-money-overall/768991/2 "2016-10-19T00:00:38Z")
I would guess that some of the champions back in the old days, when the top category (in double jeopardy) was only $200, made less than any champion once they increased the amounts tenfold. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-jeopardy-champion-has-won-the-least-money-overall/768991/3 "2016-10-19T01:46:38Z")
There didn’t used to be cash prizes for the challengers, so someone could win with $1, then lose the next game. Net win: $1. ---
**Author:** ![buddha\_david](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/ee7513/32.png) [@buddha\_david](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/buddha_david)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-jeopardy-champion-has-won-the-least-money-overall/768991/4 "2016-10-19T01:50:11Z")
[These dumb kids](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y3tb-DVow0) finished in a three-way tie with $0 each. It was a semifinal match, though, so presumably they had all won money earlier. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-jeopardy-champion-has-won-the-least-money-overall/768991/5 "2016-10-19T01:57:15Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > [These dumb kids](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y3tb-DVow0) finished in a three-way tie with $0 each. It was a semifinal match, though, so presumably they had all won money earlier. Neat; I guessed Belfast correctly! ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 2:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-jeopardy-champion-has-won-the-least-money-overall/768991/6 "2016-10-19T02:07:12Z")
> [@BeepKillBeep](#): > > Maybe this belongs in Cafe Society as it is about Jeopardy but it also feels like a purely factual question. Factual questions about entertainment still go in CS. Colibri General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-jeopardy-champion-has-won-the-least-money-overall/768991/7 "2016-10-19T14:28:15Z")
Back when Art Fleming was host, I remember someone winning with just 20 bucks. Everybody got Final Jeopardy wrong, and he happened to lose less than the others. ---
**Author:** ![MrAtoz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@MrAtoz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MrAtoz)\ **Post date:** [October 19, 2016, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-jeopardy-champion-has-won-the-least-money-overall/768991/8 "2016-10-19T14:39:10Z")
According to wikipedia, both Benjamin Salisbury and Brandi Chastain won Celebrity Jeopardy! games with the smallest amount possible, $1.00. Since Celebrity Jeopardy! champions do not return the next day, they would never have had an opportunity to win more. Since the celebrities are playing for charity, the show probably gave them more than that. As I recall, the winner of each celebrity game gets some minimum amount for their charity regardless of what their final total is. ---
**Author:** ![That\_Don\_Guy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/that_don_guy/32/538_2.png) [@That\_Don\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/That_Don_Guy)\ **Post date:** [October 20, 2016, 1:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-jeopardy-champion-has-won-the-least-money-overall/768991/9 "2016-10-20T13:23:29Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > [These dumb kids](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5y3tb-DVow0) finished in a three-way tie with $0 each. It was a semifinal match, though, so presumably they had all won money earlier. There has been a “regular” game - in fact, the second episode with Trebek as host - where all three contestants ended with zero; however, the defending champion won a few thousand dollars on the first show. Suggestion: we can search the [Jeopardy Archive](http://www.j-archive.com/) for one-time champions and see who had the smallest win. However, it’s incomplete before 1997 or so. The smallest I have found so far: Yolanda Diaz, who was a one-time champion in Season 14 with $2000 (plus whatever consolation prize she won in her second game).