Who won Jeopardy! tonight? January 18, 2023, Wednesday

One-day winner Vince Bacani returned to Jeopardy! Season 39 on Wednesday, January 18, 2023, to defend his win against two new players.

The newcomers were Erin Portman, a high school English teacher from Naperville, Illinois, and Alec Wang, a real estate analyst from Avon, Connecticut.

They played the quiz game to earn a spot in the next episode. The format is well-explained in the official description of the show.

It reads:

“The answers are given first, and the contestants supply the questions. Three contestants, including the previous show's champion, compete in six categories and in three rounds (with each round's answers being worth more prize money).”

The synopsis continued:

“In the third round, ‘Final Jeopardy,’ the contestants can name their own jackpot — as long as it's within the amount of money they've already earned. If a player finishes the second round with zero dollars, they are eliminated [from the final round].”

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Today's Jeopardy! winner is Erin Portman

Returning champion Vince Bacani played a tough match against new player Erin Portman in the January 18 episode.

The first round’s categories included “The 1890s, Women Of Science, A College/Town, Songs Of The 2010s, Same First & Last Letter, Six Pack.”

Erin had the best time playing round 1, especially after winning the first Daily Double. She provided 14 correct answers with two incorrect responses. The Naperville native banked $9,400 in her first round, while her competitors were far behind.

Returning champion Vince gave 10 correct answers and one incorrect response, scoring $3,800. While he landed in second place, new player Alec Wang struggled with the signaling device. He delivered three correct and incorrect answers, respectively. His score was $400.

In the second round, the categories were “Know Your Boundaries, Blank Verse, Long-Serving Politicians, Newspaper Names, Elemental Responses, Movies That Matter.”

Vince had the chance to take the lead in the Double Jeopardy round as he found both Daily Doubles. Unfortunately, he failed to give the correct answer to the first one, which brought his score to $0. Vince made his way up the scoreboard by correctly answering round 2 questions and eventually found the second Daily Double. Luckily, he won this time and banked $15,599. Erin, on the other hand, was still leading the game. Her score going into the final round was $21,000. Alec’s journey ended in round 2 as his score went down to negative $2,000.

In the Final Jeopardy round, Vince and Erin were the only ones playing the game. Both players gave the correct answer to the final question and won their respective wagering amounts. While Vince went for a conservative amount, Erin bet over $10,000. The latter topped the scoreboard with Vince in second place.

Hence, Erin Portman won Jeopardy! today.

Erin Portman: Tonight's winner (Image via Jeopardy)

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Final Jeopardy! results today

In the January 18 episode of the Ken Jennings-hosted show, the category for the final round was “Early American History.”

The clue read:

“In 1692 Increase Mather wrote, ‘It were better that ten suspected’ these ‘escape, than that one innocent person … be condemned.’”

The correct answer to the final question/clue was “Witches.”

Erin and Vince gave the correct answer, while Alec didn’t participate as he was disqualified for having a negative score in round 2.

Take a look at the final results of the January 18 episode:

Erin Portman: $21,000 + $10,201 = $31,201 (What are witches?) (1-day total: $31,201)

Vince Bacani: $15,599 + $5,402 = $21,001 (What are witches?)

Alec Wang: -$2,000 (Disqualified)

With today’s win, Erin became the one-day champion, scoring $31,201. She will return in the next episode to play against two new participants.

The syndicated game show will air a new episode on Thursday, January 19, 2023.