JEOPARDY! contestant Erin Portman, a 1-day winner who had many fans buzzing, has lost by a mere $401 on Thursday's rollercoaster ride of an episode.
Even host Ken Jennings, 48, admitted if she had just nabbed the last clue before being correct on Final Jeopardy, she may have won.
The returning champ faced Hillary Kotler, a childcare professional from Columbia, Maryland, and Troy Meyer, a music executive from Tampa, Florida.
Erin, a high school English teacher from Naperville, Illinois, fittingly wore terrific question mark and exclamation point earrings.
After a big win of $31,201 last game, fans had high hopes she'd be the first multiday champ since three-day winner Yogesh Raut, and the first female multiday winner of the season.
She entered the Double Jeopardy round with a razor-thin lead of $6,800 to Troy's $6,600 and it was looking quite possible.
Read more on Jeopardy!
Troy then found a randomly placed "Daily Double" and wisely went all-in betting the $7,000 he racked up at that point.
"Woah alright, big risk," Ken remarked on the gutsy move.
Newcomer Troy got it correct, and Erin did not find the last "Daily Double" - there are three in any given game.
More consequentially, Erin had $13,600 to Troy's sudden $27,600 and Hillary's $11,000 with one clue left on the board.
Most read in Entertainment
Erin could be seen buzzing in under "The Series Author" for $400, the smallest dollar amount in the round - but exactly how much she needed to have more than half Troy's score.
It simply asked "The Twilight Saga" and it was third-placer Hilary who got it with "Stephanie Meyer."
It left Erin $400 short of having enough money to be able to beat Troy if she was the only one correct in Final Jeopardy, bet it all, and he wagered zero - which is what happened.
'COULDN'T QUITE GET THAT CLUE'
Going in, Ken had to admit to Erin that if she had gotten the penultimate clue correct, it would have made the difference.
"You couldn't quite get that Stephanie Meyer clue that would have put you in wagering distance of Troy," Ken said.
Under "British Landmarks" the clue read: "Like Sir Thomas More, 3 16th century English queens are buried at this location."
Erin just shook her head as she revealed her response and wager.
Only she was correct with "The Tower of London."
She bet $13,599, just one dollar short of all she had, whereas Troy bet $0 to win $27,600.
Erin was left at $27,199, and her victor looked beside himself and declared the new winner.
'SHE WOULD HAVE WON'
Jeopardy! fans were impressed by Troy but couldn't help but express frustration that Erin nearly won.
"Damn wanted more Erin," one Reddit user penned in a thread of shocked viewers.
"Wow... dude froze her out by $400," wrote another.
A third wrote: "Frustrated for Erin that she would’ve won if she had got the last clue, but also really like Troy and excited to see him!"
And a fourth: "Congratulations to Erin on coming so close to stopping one of the all-time trivia greats from winning, and obviously congrats to Troy for starting what might be a long run if today is any indicator."
One more put it: "Wow, loved Erin. Really sad to see her go. Hard to say how long she could have gone for if she had not run into Troy."
The new champ is a four-time Learned League champion, an invite-only online trivia league that has 25,000-plus members with Jeopardy!-like questions.
Hardcore fans have been buzzing about him for a minute in internet forums since it's no easy feat to "win the scarf," the prize given to the secret trivia league's champ, four times.
So far, only four contestants have won big enough to qualify for next year's Tournament of Champions.
Those would be fan-favorite Ray Lalonde with 13 wins, former poker ace Cris Pannullo with 21 wins, five-day champ Luigi de Guzman, and four-day champ and priest David Sibley.
WHERE IS: MAYIM?
Meanwhile, co-host Mayim Bialik, 47, is expected to return to the game show in late February.
Right now she hasn't been seen on the regular show this season and has been handling Celebrity Jeopardy!.
With her Call Me Kat schedule running longer than expected, Mayim will be commencing her hosting duties with a new teen tournament.
Fans will be getting more of Ken as he will be hosting the new Jeopardy! Masters spinoff, which is scheduled to air during the spring in primetime.
Read More on The US Sun
The six-champ special has invited Amy Schneider, Matt Amodio, Sam Buttrey, Andrew He, Mattea Roach, and James Holzhauer to participate as contestants.
The 20-game, 10-episode special will see all of the players face each other in a round-robin with no one eliminated.
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7tbTEZqqupl6YvK57xKernqqklravucSnq2hvYWyGd4KSaKGep6CWv6XFjJ6poqZdqb%2BwxYyco6irlWK0ornEZq6ipp6av265yKyrmqOVZA%3D%3D