The 2009 Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions was the 21st edition of the Tournament of Champions in the Alex Trebek era of Jeopardy!, taped during the show's 25th anniversary season. The tournament was taped on the floor of the International Consumer Electronics Show at the Las Vegas Convention Center through local NBC affiliate KSNV-TV.
| Host | |
| Alex Trebek | |
| Contestants | |
| see below | |
| Announcer | |
| Johnny Gilbert | |
| Broadcast | |
 | |
| Packager | |
| Sony Pictures Television | |
Contestants[]
| Rank | Season | Name | Wins | TW | Results | WC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 24 | Dan Pawson | 9 | $171,902 | ★ | |
| 2 | Larissa Kelly ($ S24) | 6 | $223,597 | ★ | ||
| 3 | 25 | Jim Stevens | $142,600 | |||
| 4 | 24 | Mark Wales | 5 | $142,804 | ★ | |
| 5 | Aaron Schroeder | $129,902 | ★ | |||
| 6 | Cora Peck | $117,803 | ★ | 
| ||
| 7 | 25 | Matt Kohlstedt | $79,803 | |||
| 8 | 24 | Lisa Klink | $71,150 | |||
| 9 | 25 | Ben Bishop | 4 | $115,800 | ★ | |
| 10 | 24 | Tom Morris | $102,801 | |||
| 11 | 25 | Erik Nelson | $96,404 | |||
| 12 | 24 | Dave Simpson | $90,901 | ★ |
| |
| 13 | Donna Vogel | $87,299 | ||||
| 14 | 25 | Carl Brandt | $72,799 | |||
| 15 | 24 | Deborah Fitzgerald[1] | $56,901 |
Game Summary[]
| Game | Air Date | Name | Score | Name | Score | Name | Score | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QF #1 | March 11, 2009 | Carl Brandt | $4,800 | Dan Pawson | $16,599 | Cora Peck | $15,500 | # |
| QF #2 | March 12, 2009 | Larissa Kelly | $26,400 | Matt Kohlstedt | $10,600 | Tom Morris | $9,600 | # |
| QF #3 | March 13, 2009 | Ben Bishop | $15,004 | Lisa Klink | $1,000 ($4,000) |
Dave Simpson | $13,000 | # |
| QF #4 | March 16, 2009 | Aaron Schroeder | $18,200 | Jim Stevens | $1,000 | Donna Vogel | $9,900 | # |
| QF #5 | March 17, 2009 | Deborah Fitzgerald | $1 | Erik Nelson | $3 | Mark Wales | $19,200 | # |
| SF #1 | March 18, 2009 | Dan Pawson | $22,600 | Matt Kohlstedt | $5,600 | Donna Vogel | $2,600 | # |
| SF #2 | March 19, 2009 | Larissa Kelly | $30,000 | Cora Peck | $5,400 | Dave Simpson | $10,800 | # |
| SF #3 | March 20, 2009 | Mark Wales | $4,799 | Aaron Schroeder | $26,600 | Ben Bishop | $8,596 | # |
| Final | March 23, 2009 | Larissa Kelly | $24,400 | Aaron Schroeder | $9,600 | Dan Pawson | $22,301 | # |
| March 24, 2009 | $6,800 | $14,800 | $26,200 | # | ||||
| Total | $31,200 | $24,400 | $48,501 |
Notes[]
Contest Related[]
- Eligibility lasted from November 19, 2007 to March 9, 2009.
- The set used for this event was put into use full-time at the start of Season 26.
- During the quarterfinals, Johnny says, "Here are today's contestants," instead of, "Here are three former champions."
- For the first time, the top seed of the ToC leaderboard is among participants that is not the highest regular game prize money.
- This is the first ToC that started airing on a day other than Monday.
- The day before the start of ToC, one Celebrity Jeopardy match was aired.
- Meredith Robbins was the alternate for this ToC.
Contestant Related[]
- Joey Beachum was planned to be in this tournament but due to his involvement in Air Force training exercises that year, he was carried over to the Tournament of Champions. As a result, it became the second ToC where no other tournament winner has participated. This is the second ToC participant to postpone their chance to participate in ToC until next year.
- For the second time, all finalists advanced to the finals on their own.
- Dan Pawson is first 6-time+ to win ToC and first $100K+ regular winner.
- Larissa Kelly is the first female to become the biggest money winner of the season.[2]
- Pawson and Kelly both returned in 2014 for the Battle of the Decades. Pawson reached the quarterfinals before losing to eventual champion Brad Rutter, while Kelly failed to advance past the first round.
- Pawson and Kelly returned in 2024 for the inaugural Invitational Tournament. Kelly reached the semifinals, while Pawson failed to advance past the quarterfinals.
References[]
- ↑ Deborah Fitzgerald replaced Joey Beachum after Joey dropped out due to his involvement in Air Force training exercises that year.
- ↑ Had she won the second half of the tournament by answering the FJ! question correctly, Kelly would've became the first and only female champion to win back-to-back ToC titles, following Celeste DiNucci.
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