Harvard Law Student Wins Big on Jeopardy

Andrew M. Hayes, a third-year student at Harvard Law School, won six consecutive games and $137,804 on “Jeopardy!”, qualifying for the Tournament of Champions, an annual all-star tournament.

Hayes, who is originally from Tupelo, Mississippi, lost his seventh game on Thursday to Steven Hoying, as Hayes entered the Final Jeopardy! round without enough money to catch Hoying. Across his six victories, Hayes notched two wins where he had accrued more than double the money of his opponents before entering “Final Jeopardy!”, meaning he could not be caught. He came into the final round behind before winning two other games.

In his second game, Hayes was down by more than $7,000 entering the Final Jeopardy! round, but was the only contestant to correctly answer a question about the Victoria and Albert Museum, earning him the victory. A similar comeback occurred in the fifth game.

Hayes said that he felt anxious while waiting for Ken Jennings, the host of Jeopardy!, to announce the correct answers in those games.

“I felt just a huge rush of relief when Ken said, ‘you’re correct,’” Hayes said. “I was just sitting there, white knuckling.”

Hayes said that he is “pretty risk averse,” which caused him to bet conservatively. In Jeopardy!, players wager the money they have accrued during the game on both Daily Doubles and Final Jeopardy!

In his third game, Hayes took a more aggressive approach and bet all his money on a Daily Double, giving the correct response of “the intelligentsia.”

Hayes also said he received some ribbing from classmates in his labor law class for missing a question on “featherbedding,” a labor practice in which companies are forced to hire more workers than needed.

“I said to Ken, ‘You know, I’m missing labor law right now to be here for this taping,”’ Hayes said.

For Hayes, appearing on the show has been a lifelong dream. Growing up, Hayes said he spent the evenings watching Jeopardy! and British quiz shows with his grandparents.

“As time went on, I got older, I realized, okay, I can answer 10 questions, and around 15 questions, and around 20 questions,” Hayes said.

“I thought maybe I’d actually have a chance of doing well on this show,” he added.

After a series of unsuccessful attempts to appear on the high school and college tournaments, Hayes made it through to live auditions after taking the online qualifier quiz a few times. Following months of waiting in the selection pool, Hayes told his wife that if he did not make it through this round, he would give up on trying out for the competition.

Just months later, though, Hayes got the call that he would be taping his episodes in February. Hayes said that he had planned to prepare extensively beforehand, but that plan was disrupted in January when he and his wife found out she was expecting their first child.

“The only thing I managed to study in preparation was the periodic table,” Hayes said.

Hayes said he doesn’t have grand plans for spending his winnings.

“Some of it is going to go to moving expenses, and decorating and furnishing the nursery, and probably a lot of it is going to be socked away toward hopefully buying a house someday,” he said.

Hayes added that one of his friends suggested renting out the bar where he used to play trivia most weeks for a night.

“I don’t know if that’s the most prudent use of the funds imaginable,” Hayes said.

But for Hayes, the competition is not about the money.

“How many people can say they were on their favorite show, you know?” he said.

—Staff writer Caroline G. Hennigan can be reached at caroline.hennigan@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @cghennigan.

—Staff writer Bradford D. Kimball can be reached at bradford.kimball@thecrimson.com.