Stevie Ruiz of Montauk wins big on 'Jeopardy!'

Stevie Ruiz's wagers during the final rounds of "Jeopardy!" have been small, but they're paying off big time for him. After two consecutive wins, the hotel assistant front office manager from Montauk has amassed winnings of $35,987.

On Wednesday's show, Ruiz, who earned $18,000 and could not be caught by his fellow contestants going into Final Jeopardy, came up with the correct response ("What is Poland?") to the clue "This country's national radio launched in 1925; 14 years later it fell into a long silence following a piano nocturne." Naturally, he didn't bet anything.

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

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

Third-place finisher Luca Gerace, a chef from Toronto who went into the final with $2,000, only risked $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 was Jones, who wagered $3,300 hoping to top Ruiz’s total by $1. Unfortunately, they responded wrongly as well with “What is ‘A Tale of Two Cities?,’ ” referring to the Charles Dickens classic set during the French Revolution that began in 1789.

Ruiz made it three wrong guesses in a row with another Dickens title: “What is ‘Great Expectations?’ ” After revealing that the clue referred to “War and Peace,” which was set during the Napoleonic Wars — host Ken Jennings asked Ruiz “Did you go big?” When Ruiz’s $413 bet was revealed, Jennings said: “That was the right wager! What a great game!”

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

Earlier in Tuesday's show, Ruiz revealed that in addition to his job in the hospitality industry, he also owns a Haitian food pop-up named for his grandmother. “Right now we’re doing Haitian patties, but I have some other things in the works going forward, and exciting things to come.”

When Jennings asked if his grandmother was a great chef, Ruiz responded: “She was and is. She’s 90 years old.”