Jeopardy! champ Ben Goldstein calls out famous game show for 'not paying' players' airfare and accom
FORMER Jeopardy! champion Ben Goldstein has called out the famous game show for "not paying" for the players' expenses.
The Jeopardy! contestant opened up about the challenges of filming the program at its studio in Culver City, California.
Ben, a content marketing specialist from Dexter, Michigan, chimed in his thoughts on the "interesting discussion of the "Why doesn’t Jeopardy! pay airfare and accommodations" question.
The ABC star tweeted: "Personally, I think covering travel/lodging would make the show more accessible to a wider range of contestants.
"Not everyone can afford a trip to Los Angeles with no guarantee of payback."
"I totally agree! There are some extremely smart people out there but can’t afford all the extras just to get there," one fan commented.
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The topic came up when Ben re-shared a post from a popular The Jeopardy! fan site.
The post cited an Oakland Tribune interview with then–contestant co-ordinator Kelley Carpenter from August 1994.
Kelley stated at the time: "Because we have both out-of-towners and locals appearing on the show, if we were to pay for an airfare and a hotel, we would have technically given away money to some contestants coming from the East Coast, which wouldn’t be fair to someone who only lives 20 minutes away.”
HIS LOW RECORD
On June 22, Ben set the record for the lowest combined five-day total of any player in the trivia show's history.
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His grand total reached $49,298.
Host Mayim Bialik, 47, revealed: “Well, congratulations, by just five dollars, you are a five-day Jeopardy! champion!”
Ben then shared online about how he had mixed feelings about his record.
He wrote: "The funny thing about this 'lowest-scoring multi-day champ in Jeopardy! history' stuff is that it was never my intention to be a small-ball, risk-averse player."
"I wanted to be like Amy Schneider: Aggressive at first, then switching to defense mode after getting a big lead," he added referring to Amy's 40-game winning streak.
He continued: "But then I went 0-for-4 on wager questions in my first two games and needed to figure out another path.
"If the Daily Double/Final Jeopardy questions were going to be landmines for me, I needed to treat them that way.
"Hence, smaller wagers. Wagering as if I'd get the Final Qs wrong, not right."
The player concluded: "Quick message to the haters: I’d rather win ugly than lose pretty."
'VERY CLOSE GAME'
On June 23, when Ben attempted his sixth win, the 47-year-old host Mayim shared: “We have a very close game as we head into Final Jeopardy!”
The Final Jeopardy! question read: “At age 9 in 1883, she moved west, where she met Annie Pavelka, a young pioneer on whom she would later model a title character.”
Donna, a librarian from Columbus, Ohio, was the only player who answered with author Willa Cather, who wrote the 1918 novel, My Antonia.
Mayim perked up and gushed: “Donna! Congratulations, you are our new Jeopardy! Champion!”
Donna could not believe she defeated Ben as she held her mouth over her face.
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She squealed: “No! Oh my gosh!”
Donna is expected to return on June 26, while Ben will be seen in the Tournament of Champions in September.
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