The Montauk Man’s small bets lead to big “Jeopardy!” wins

Stevie Ruiz’s bets during the final rounds of “Jeopardy!” were small, but they’re paying off for him. After two straight wins, the Montauk hotel’s assistant front office manager has amassed a profit of $35,987.

On Wednesday’s show, Ruiz, who earned $18,000 and was outpaced by his fellow contestants in the Final Jeopardy “The 20th Century” category, came up with the correct answer: “What is Poland?” to the question “This Country is national”. Radio was launched in 1925; 14 years later, after a piano nocturne, there was a long silence.” Of course he didn’t bet anything.

On Tuesday’s episode, Ruiz raised $17,987 by betting just $413 (the number on his lunch order in the studio commissary, host Ken Jennings revealed Wednesday) on the “Final Jeopardy” clue. It was a risky move considering he only had a $3,300 lead at the time over the previous night’s champion, Seattle software engineer Evan Jones.

Ruiz’s fate depended on the Final Jeopardy clue in the “19th Century European Literature” category, which read: “An early version of this novel was first published as a serial novel under the title ‘The Year 1805.'”

Third-place finisher Luca Gerace, a Toronto chef who entered the final with $2,000, risked just $20. After incorrectly guessing, “What is ‘A Farewell to Arms?'” Ernest Hemingway’s novel set during World War I, he was left with $1,980. Next up was Jones, who bet $3,300 in hopes of beating Ruiz’s total by $1. Unfortunately, they also incorrectly answered “What is ‘A Tale of Two Cities?'” referring to the Charles Dickens classic set during the French Revolution, which began in 1789.

Ruiz ensured three wrong guesses in a row with another Dickens title: “What is ‘Great Expectations?'” After revealing that the reference was to “War and Peace,” set during the Napoleonic Wars, the host asked Jennings Ruiz: “Did you make it?” When Ruiz’s $413 bet was announced, Jennings said, “That was the right bet! What a great game!”

Of course, if Jones had answered with the title of Leo Tolstoy’s novel, Ruiz would have experienced his own Waterloo.

At the start of Tuesday’s show, Ruiz revealed that in addition to his job in hospitality, he also owns a Haitian food pop-up shop named after his grandmother. “Right now we’re making Haitian patties, but I have a few other things in the works and exciting things coming up.”

When Jennings asked if his grandmother was a great cook, Ruiz replied, “She was and is. She is 90 years old.”