3/17/2007

Jess Boettger

Contestants tie for title of champion.

In 23 years on *Jeopardy!*, host Alex Trebek says he's "never seen anything like it." On Friday's installment, the game show had its first-ever three-way tie. What are the odds? According to one mathematician contacted by the show, about 1 in 25 million.  
  
The international game show has run for decades, but this particular scenario has never popped up. All three contestants finished with winnings of $16,000 after each of them answered the final question correctly. The question, which fell into the category of "Women of the 1930s," was about Bonnie Parker, one half of the infamous crime duo Bonnie and Clyde. All three players knew that in her time as a waitress, Miss Parker once served one of the men who would later shoot and kill her.  
  
The three contestants were: James Kirby, from Gainesville, Florida, Anders Martinson, from Union City, California, and Scott Weiss, from Walkersville, Maryland. All three earned the title of champion, and a rematch has been scheduled for Monday to determine who will go on as the returning champion.