Sacramento state worker is victorious in latest ‘Jeopardy!’ episode. Here’s how much he won

It wasn’t looking good for Sacramento resident Mark Palmere on Thursday’s episode of “Jeopardy!”

One of his two opponents, reigning champion Will Weiss, tiptoed on the precipice of amassing enough money for the game to be called a runaway. That’s the term used when a player has more than double the score of the next closest competitor, meaning they cannot bet enough money during the third and final round to overtake the leader.

But Weiss, a technical programmer from New York, answered incorrectly on a daily double in Double Jeopardy, the second round of the game. And then he was the only person to answer incorrectly the clue posed in Final Jeopardy.

Palmere, a 33-year-old California state worker who said he’s applied to compete on the trivia show several times over the past 10 years, nearly doubled his earnings and won the whole game. He correctly responded “Who is Lafayette?” in response to the final clue, regarding President James Monroe in the category “historic names.” (The full clue: “In 1824, President Monroe invited him back to the adopted country of his youth, which has always cherished his ‘important services.’”)

Weiss answered “Who is Alexander Hamilton?”

Palmere won with $16,199 while Bethany Korp, a Spanish language interpreter from New Jersey, leapfrogged over Weiss to finish in second place despite consistently trailing her two opponents.

In his midgame anecdote, Palmere told host Ken Jennings that the impressive mustache Palmere was sporting is usually reserved for Halloween costumes, including Freddie Mercury and Ted Lasso in past years. Jennings assured him that “Jeopardy!” is “famously a mustache-friendly” stage, referring to former host Alex Trebek, who died in 2020.

Palmere, raised in Davis, now lives in midtown Sacramento and works as an energy analyst for the California Energy Commission.

Episodes are taped months in advance, and contestants are required to keep the results a closely guarded secret until their show airs. Palmere taped his show in May, and he said he planned to host a watch party Thursday night with friends and family — who were undoubtedly excited to see him triumph.

“It was really exciting. Definitely nerve-racking,” Palmere said in an interview earlier this week. “It didn’t really hit me until I was actually there.”

Korp’s final score was $14,401 and Weiss recorded $12,399, making it a tense game and close finish. Under Jeopardy rules, the second and third place winners receive $3,000 and $2,000, respectively.

Only the winner, Palmere, takes home the full cash amount he tallied: $16,199.

That total will grow, by at least another $2,000. Because he reigned victorious, Palmere will return for Friday’s episode, which airs locally at 7 p.m. on ABC10, to take on two new competitors.

He will continue to appear on the TV trivia contest every weeknight until he is defeated.

This story was originally published September 12, 2024 at 7:35 PM.