Sam Deutsch, who grew up in Bethesda, described the experience of participating in the Jeopardy! College Championship as a whirlwind.
The entire tournament of the TV quiz show, which Deutsch won in an episode that aired Friday, was filmed over two days in January in Los Angeles and then aired weekdays Feb. 1 to 12. Deutsch, a junior at the University of Southern California, edged out opponents in the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds with strategic bets that allowed him to win each round. During the two-day finals, he trailed the other contestants during Final Jeopardy, came out on top after the leader provided the wrong question to the answer and he got it right, earning him the $100,000 grand prize.
“When I won, I was in shock more than anything,” Deutsch said in a Facebook chat with Bethesda Beat Tuesday. “It didn’t feel real then, and looking back it still doesn’t.”
Winning the College Championship qualified Deutsch for the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions this fall, in which the top Jeopardy! players of the previous year compete for a $250,000 grand prize.
Deutsch, a graduate of Richard Montgomery High School in Rockville, said he plans to use his winnings to travel in Europe and will save some to pay for law school. He’ll also donate part of the money to the Nina Hyde Center for Breast Cancer Research at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.
“My mom is a survivor and raises money for them on her birthday every year,” said Deutsch, who is currently studying abroad in Maastricht, a city in the south of The Netherlands.
When Deutsch won the tournament, his parents, uncle, grandmother and several of his classmates were cheering him on in the studio.
He said he received his winnings check a few days ago and expects he’ll end up with between $65,000 and $70,000 after paying taxes. To prepare for the Tournament of Champions, Deutsch plans to keep watching the show and study up on ‘80’s pop culture.
“I feel like that always comes up,” Deutsch said. He’ll be up against tough odds—the only college champion to win a Tournament of Champions was Tom Cubbage in 1989.
The political economy major added that he’ll return to Bethesda this summer after studying abroad and hopes to have an internship in the consulting industry lined up by that point.
