Katelyn Mueller-McLean from San Francisco won with just $3,400 after a risky wager that defeated the previous day’s champ, Dan Laine.

Jeopardy champ reveals what ‘frustrated’ her about close game that led to her shocking win

Katelyn Mueller-McLean from San Francisco won with just $3,400 after a risky wager that defeated the previous day's champ, Dan Laine.

By Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman

Ryan Coleman is a news writer for with previous work in MUBI Notebook, Slant, and the LA Review of Books.

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June 10, 2026 10:22 p.m. ET

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'Jeopardy' contestant Katelyn Mueller-McLean. Credit:

Jeopardy.com; Tyler Golden/Sony Pictures

- Wednesday's new *Jeopardy *champion, Katelyn Mueller-McLean, has aired her frustrations with the game.

- Mueller-McLean defeated Tuesday's champ, Dan Laine, with a risky wager in "Final Jeopardy" that left her with $3,400 in winnings.

- Discussing her win the same day on Reddit, she detailed what "frustrated" her about the game's "tough board," but why she still calls her win a "10/10 experience."

Only on *Jeopardy *can a winning wager of $0 still thrill viewers.

Wednesday's episode of the long-running primetime game show came down to a photo finish between returning champion Dan Laine from Jersey City, AJ Maroney from Boston, and Katelyn Mueller-McLean from San Francisco.

Laine made a tiny bit of *Jeopardy *history the night before, when he upset Peter McFerrin's six-game winning streak by taking home gold with only $2,193 — the lowest final sum of the season thus far. But his reign was brief, when he was bested by one of Wednesday's contenders after a $0 wager.

Dan Lane, AJ Maroney, and Katelyn Mueller-McLean on 'Jeopardy'.

After a stiff competition through round after round of unforgiving clues, Maroney headed into "Final Jeopardy" in the lead with just $4,400. Laine trailed behind him with $3,600, and Mueller-McLane followed in last with $3,400.

The "Final Jeopardy" clue for the category "Heading North" was read: "If you want to visit the world's northernmost town, know that most flights are three hours to or from this national capital." None of Wednesday's contested responded with the correct answer, Oslo.

Maroney guessed Moscow, losing $2,801 and leaving him with $1,599. Laine guessed Helsinki, which took $807 from his total, to round him out at $2,793. It wasn't looking good for Mueller-McLean heading into "Final Jeopardy," but her incorrect guess of Reykjavik didn't cost her a dime after a $0 wager, leading to her victory.

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Mueller-McLean broke down the highs and lows of the day in response to questions on the official *Jeopardy *Reddit sub, under a thread dedicated to Wednesday's episode.

"Still can't believe this wasn't just some crazy dream I had. 10/10 experience, and everyone on the staff and crew are absolute angels," she wrote.

The accessibility audio producer praised Laine and Maroney as "great competitors — this was such a close game and it really could have gone to any one of us in the end." She then detailed the game's difficulties.

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"I know I’m biased but this was a *tough* board. I'm as frustrated as anyone by the number of Triple Stumpers we had today. We were all clearly less than thrilled about FIFA, but at least we answered a couple of those correctly. Nothing worse than going viral for knowing zero about sports," she wrote. In the Mythology category, Mueller-McLean wrote that she'd "realized I'd made a mistake a couple milliseconds after hitting the buzzer, and had no choice but to eat that loss."

Ultimately, Mueller-McLean said she's "kind of still absorbing" her win, which she described as "a surreal cherry on top of one of the best days of my life."

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