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Who won 'Jeopardy!' tonight? Peter McFerrin takes on 'Wheel of Fortune' contestant in nail-biting match

Returning champion Peter McFerrin faces off against Gabriel Berkowitz and Gil Hamel in his third consecutive game

Peter McFerrin returned on Wednesday's episode of 'Jeopardy!' for his third consecutive game. McFerrin faced off against Gabriel Berkowitz, from New York, New York, and Gil Hamel, from Dover, New Hampshire, in this installment. In the last game, the audience learned that McFerrin is a man of big bets. This pattern helped him garner a whopping two-day total of $68,198 on the show. In this episode, though, he seemed to switch strategies, which kept the game interesting going into the Final Jeopardy round. Berkowitz and Hamel also put their best foot forward, making things difficult for the returning champion. Ultimately, it was the wagers that decided the outcome of the game.

Like the last episode, McFerrin had a rough start in the 'Jeopardy!' round. In fact, for most of it, he remained in the negatives. The first Daily Double went to Berkowitz, an account manager. At this point, he was ahead of the pack with $2,400 to his name. He bet half of it on the DD belonging to the category 'Superstitions,' and the clue read, “According to tradition, the Tower of London must have 6 of these birds in residence, or the Tower & the crown will fall.” He answered with “What are crows?” which was deemed incorrect. The correct response was, "What are Ravens?" and this dwindled his total to $1,200.

Heading into the first commercial break (after 15 clues), Berkowitz, a former 'Wheel of Fortune' contender, was in the lead with $3,400, followed by Hamel with $2,000 and McFerrin at $0. Apart from 'Superstitions,' other categories that came into play this round were 'A Spanish Inquisition,' 'Literary Genres,' 'City Museums,' and 'Lord Stanley's Greatest Hits.' The round concluded with the same standing: Berkowitz at $4,800, Hamel at $3,800, and McFerrin at $1,200. McFerrin staged a comeback in 'Double Jeopardy' with back-to-back correct answers. The DD luck was also on his side, as he found the second one on clue nine and the third one right after. 

By the ninth clue, McFerrin had $6,400 in his kitty. He then placed a conservative $1,600 bet against the DD, which belonged to the category of 'Deluge of Rivers.' The clue read, “Along the banks of this river in the Dutch capital is the Stopera, a combo opera house & city hall.” McFerrin answered correctly with, “What is the Amstel?” The victory elevated him to the top of the table with $8,000, followed very closely by Berkowitz with $7,600, and Hamel with $7,000. For the third DD, the returning champion bet $2,000. This DD was from the category, 'What’s Up, Space,' and its clue read, “NASA’s Psyche spacecraft is on a voyage to visit 16 Psyche in this 2-word area between Mars & Jupiter.” He answered, “What is the asteroid belt?” which was deemed correct.

Heading into 'Final Jeopardy,' McFerrin was still at the helm with $16,000, but it was in no way a runaway lead, as Hamel was breathing down his neck with $13,000 and Berkowitz had $8,800 to his name. This FJ's category was 'Lesser-Known Americans,' and its clue read, “By his actions after his wife died in 1898, after bearing him 6 children, William Jackson Smart inspired this annual event.” The correct answer was, "What is Father's Day?" To everyone's surprise, the round turned into a Triple Stumper. McFerrin gave in to his big-bet tendencies and wagered a whopping $10,001. However, despite answering incorrectly, he emerged victorious with a total of $5,999. Meanwhile, Hamel went all in and left with $0. The Triple Stumper created an opportunity for Berkowitz, but he also missed out due to his wager of $7,201. If Berkowitz bet under $2,000, he would win the game instead of McFerrin. 'Jeopardy!' is a syndicated program that streams on Hulu and Peacock.