CHAPMANVILLE — A Chapmanville native who competed recently on a TV gameshow, won $50,000 and a chance to play for a million dollars.

Sam Murray, a bartender from Philadelphia, and a Chapmanville native, walked away with $50,000 on Friday’s episode of “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire” and became the last contestant to qualify for the “Million Dollar Tournament of Ten," a press release said. "With a time of 1:52, Sam ended up in eighth place on the Tournament Leader Board and knocked contestant Fred Roberts of Nashville, off of the Leader Board. Roberts had been on the Leader Board for 35 days, having won $50,000 in 2:27 minutes on September 18.

Murray will participate in the tournament, which began yesterday and continues through November 20, and as the eighth seed, will look at a $1 million question tomorrow. The show will be broadcast at 12:30 p.m. on WSAZ Channel 3. The press release said one tournament finalist will walk away with $1 million.

"Will it be Sam Murray? Tune-in and find out," the release said. "You won’t want to miss it!"

Last week, Murray used his “Ask The Audience” lifeline on the $12,500 question, which was: Category, 'South America' – “Parque Nacional Tierra del Fuego is a national park in what South American country? A: Peru, B: Brazil, C: Argentina, D: Venezuela.” The studio audience voted as follows: A=14% B=17% C=53% D=16%. Murray went with the advice of the audience and correctly guessed the answer to be “C.”

Murray used his “Ask The Expert” and “Phone A Friend” lifelines on the $15,000 question, which was: Category, 'Economics' – “In a 2007 book, Wall Street guru Nassim Taleb popularized what “animal” term to describe rare and unpredictable events? A: Flying pig, B: Short giraffe, C: Land whale, D: Black swan.” Murray connected with “Expert” Joel Stein (Time Magazine columnist), who was, unfortunately, not able to help him come up with a definitive answer. Murray then used his “Phone A Friend” lifeline and called his friend and fellow Philly bartender, Daulton, who was able to give him the correct answer, which was “D.”

Murray used his “Double Dip” lifeline on the $25,000 question, which was: Category, 'Automobiles' – “Used to “decommission” automobile engines, sodium silicate is better known to mechanics as “liquid” what? A: Glass, B: Wood, C: Steel, D: Velcro.” Murray’s first guess was the correct one — “A.”

Murray correctly guessed the answer to the $50,000 question without the use of any lifelines: Category, 'Insects' – “To defend against predators, certain moth species have organs called “tymbals” that do what? A: Make ultrasonic sounds, B: Absorb heat, C: Produce dark pigments, D: Release toxic venom.” The correct answer was “A.”

Murray's $100,000 question was: Category, 'Advertising' – “Before becoming a bestselling novelist, which of these men came up with the ad slogan “I'm a Toys ”R“ Us kid!”? A: John Grisham, B: Elmore Leonard, C: James Patterson, D: Carl Hiaasen.”

Out of lifelines and unsure of the answer, Sam decided to not take a guess and walked away with the guaranteed $50,000 that he had already won, the press release said.

"If he had guessed incorrectly on the $100,000 question, he would have fallen back to $25,000 in winnings — and NOT made it into the “Million Dollar Tournament of Ten," the release said. The correct answer was “C.” Patterson was once chairman of J. Walter Thompson ad agency, the release noted.

The top ten winners through November 6 will all come back to participate in the Tournament and will each look at a $1 million question. The Tournament will air November 9 - 20, the press release said. Contestants will be seeded, based on how much money they won in their first appearance and how quickly they were able to answer their questions. Each day of the tournament, one finalist will look at a $1-million question, beginning with the 10th-seeded player on November 9 and continuing through November 20, when the top seeded player will take a look at his or her $1 million question.

"One Tournament finalist will walk away with $1 million during the tournament," the release said.

Murray is a 1983 graduate of Chapmanville High School and is the son of Estel Murray, who is also from Chapmanville and is a municipal court judge in Chapmanville. His mother, Antonia Flaherty, is from Bellmawr, NJ. Although he's lived in Philadelphia for 19 years, Murray said he always gets comments on his thick West Virginia accent, but he said he wouldn't change it for the world since he says it gets him good tips and "the girls like it!"

Murray currently is a bartender/server at the Octo Waterfront Grille in Philadelphia.

Murray said he was a little nervous to be in the hot seat — not because of the questions, but because of Meredith Viera. Leading up to his "Millionaire" taping, Sam said he had a dream that he asked Meredith to marry him, but she turned him down saying "I'm already married, you fool!"