A JEOPARDY! player has explained her reasoning behind the head-scratching final wager that cost her the game.
Anjali Salvador - along with Igor Petrovich - was attempting to knock down the one-day champ Emma Hill Kepron in the final new Jeopardy! episode of the week.
After a competitive game, all three contestants found themselves very close to one another.
Current champ Emma was in the lead with $12,100, followed by Igor at $12,000, and Anjali in third place with a respectable $9,400 as the players headed it to Final Jeopardy.
Host Ken Jennings then posed the question: "Originally a term for security escorts for commanders, in 27 B.C. this group was designated an official imperial force."
While Anjali correctly guessed "What is Praetorian Guard," she inexplicably only wagered $2,500- not enough to come close to overtaking champ Emma.
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Meanwhile, Igor guessed incorrectly to end up with $1,000, while Emma was correct and left with $14,600 after wagering $2,500.
The librarian now has a two-day total of $26,000.
Some Jeopardy! viewers, however, couldn't help but point out Anjali's confusing wager as one person wrote: "Terrible wagers!"
Another reacted: "More crazy wagers," while a user shared, "Not understanding the wagers on the final question.
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WHAT WAS THE REASON?
Anjali took to a popular Reddit thread for the famous game show to explain why exactly she did what she did.
The player wrote: "It was surreal watching the episode. There are a few things I've kicked myself over since taping - not just going for it on Final Jeopardy (I think my basic strategy was decent, but I was so frazzled I had trouble with the math... plus if I'd been paying better attention I'd have remembered that Emma didn't cover the double in her prior episode..."
Anjalie continued: "But even so I had such a good time, and I'd like to think I met my main goal of not making a total fool of myself. Everyone was so lovely, and I'll treasure this experience for the rest of my life."
The Houston, Texas lawyer also explained her stern expression throughout the episode.
"It's bizarre watching yourself on television. I was trying so hard not to look nervous that I went all the way into stone-faced!" she shared.
Anjali concluded: "I promise I was actually having fun… especially for that brief period of time where I had the lead..."
'I FEEL YOU'
Champ Emma responded to Anjali's explanation and was sympathetic: "I feel you about the math. I had read all the wagering strategies and can actually do basic math, but when the time came this cone of innumeracy descended and I couldn't make sense of anything.
"I knew the shapes in front of me were numbers but couldn't remember what they meant! So bizarre..."
"Right?! It was so much harder than at home. You played wonderfully and I’m rooting for you for Monday!" Anjali responded.
FINAL QUESTION CHAOS
There's been plenty of drama with the final clue lately as on Thursday under the category "Modern Words," which Ken, 48, admitted it didn't "narrow it down too much."
The question read: "Neal Stephenson coined this word in his 1992 novel 'Snow Crash;' it was later shortened by a company to become its new name."
All the players, including Emma, failed to guess correctly, but with a small wager, she was able to be that episode's winner.
However, fans didn't feel like winners as they slammed the "impossible" final clue.
"An absolutely absurd and impossible Final Jeopardy clue today. The writers should be ashamed of themselves. Wagering was key and the second-place contestant bet intelligently and won," one person wrote at the time.
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Another raged: "Very misleading Final Jeopardy... they could have at least said 'tech company' in the clue."
A third said: "It was a really tough one for only 30 seconds of think time."
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