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'Jeopardy!' ends in rare tie — watch the heart-stopping way a winner was chosen

Two players duked it out until the end — and even after that.
/ Source: TODAY

There can only be one “Jeopardy!” champion.

Last Friday’s episode of the popular game show featured a true rarity — two players tied at the conclusion of Final Jeopardy.

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Jack Weller and returning three-day champion Brian Chang, who were tied in first place with $18,800 after Double Jeopardy, each got the final question correct. Both wagered all their money, meaning they wound up in a tie with $37,600.

The Final Jeopardy category was statues. “Statues honoring this man who was killed in 1779 can be found in Waimea, Kauai & In Whitby, England," read the clue, with the correct answer being Captain James Cook, the British explorer.

“Jeopardy!” rules dictate the game must go to a tiebreaker, so guest host Ken Jennings read a clue in a history category, with the first person to correctly ring in with the correct answer winning the game with the $37,600 in winnings.

Chang buzzed in with the correct answer to give him the win and make him a four-day champion with $88,102.

"The was some finish," Jennings, a legendary contestant on the show, said to the players after the game ended. "I've never seen one of those and I've been here, like, 100 times."

Jennings, who is serving as guest host following the death of Alex Trebek, also took to his Twitter feed to comment on what had transpired.

"Just my second day on the guest-hosting job...and this happens," he wrote. "We had the possibility of a super-rare Final Jeopardy tie or a super-DUPER-rare triple-zero finish."

Ties do not happen often on “Jeopardy!” The first tiebreaker, under the current format, occurred in 2018 and the only other one was in 2019.

The show, which used to allow two winners to return if they tied in a regular game, formally introduced its tiebreaking system in 2016.