Oakland Local Achieves Record-Breaking $400,000 Win on The Chase
Trivia Fans Karen Chu and Teammates, Go Against Jeopardy! Champion to Bring Home the Largest Prize Money on Hit ABC Network Trivia Show
OAKLAND, Calif. – Feb. 19, 2021 – Dreams do happen if you know the right trivia answers! Bay Area-residents Karen Chu and Alan Turner along with Julio Trujillo (from Denver, CO) achieved a record-breaking win on the latest episode of the ABC network trivia game show, The Chase taking home a total of $400,000. Adapted from the British program of the same name, three competitors pit their wits against one of the “Chasers” comprised of Jeopardy!‘s greatest of all-time: James Holzhauer, Ken Jennings, and Brad Rutter.
Host of the award-winning quiz show podcast, Good Job, Brain! Karen Chu and her teammates faced off in heated competition against Rutter, the highest-earning Jeopardy! winner of all time, filled with the toughest of questions including Karen receiving one asking about the pejorative term “Karen”. In the final moments, Karen feared she had answered wrong but decades of pub trivia and obsessive prepping shined through. She credits the win to her quizmaster teammates along with how well they bonded from the start, with the goal of succeeding together.
“What a surreal experience – to have the world in pandemic lockdown, give birth, be on a game show, and end up winning,” said Karen Chu, The Chase contestant. “This whole journey from audition to winning has been a spectacular rollercoaster ride, thanks to my genius teammates who were once strangers but now friends for life, and to all the behind-the-scenes crew who worked tirelessly under such unusual circumstances.”
It’s Karen’s fandom that led to her competing on The Chase. She has authored ‘Amazon Book Review’ featured title Jawsome Shark Quizzes: Test Your Knowledge of Shark Types, Behaviors, Attacks, Legends and Other Trivia and Good Job, Brain!: Trivia, Quizzes and More Fun From the Popular Pub Quiz Podcast. The latter is an accompanying book to the Good Job, Brain! podcast which she hosts. The popular podcast still brings in 25,000 downloads monthly, three years after its hiatus with its much-awaited return scheduled for this Spring.
Her data mining in preparation for The Chase included odds of winning and seeking tips on how best to handle winnings. To her surprise, she found nothing advising first-time winners through the process which should include discussing tax-saving measures with an accountant and if investing a portion makes sense. A skilled money manager, Karen hopes to educate others on the process to help them get the most out of their winnings and prevent regret.
What does Karen plan on doing with her prize money? The global marathon runner who is on track to race in all 50 states and seven continents – all while wearing handmade costumes – has a bucket list item planned. Karen has dedicated some of the winnings to learn how to be a pro skater and meet Tony Hawk.
About Karen Chu:
A Berkeley Alum in Architecture, Karen Chu is a self-proclaimed trivia nerd who turned a decade of pub trivia into an award-winning podcast and authored two quiz books. She also appeared briefly on HBOs “Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel” as a contestant for ‘The World Cup for Wordsmiths’, dressed as a no. 2 pencil. Karen’s myriad of interests which spans design, technology, video games, sharks, marathons are as endless as her thirst for knowledge which she juggles with being a new mom. Before motherhood, she held design positions in the videogame industry for 20 years. Most recently, Karen was a design lead at the top streaming platform, Twitch Interactive. Follow Karen Chu on Twitter and find out more about the Good Job, Brain! podcast at: www.goodjobbrain.com.
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