Top Jeopardy Winners
If you’re a fan of America’s favourite quiz show, you’ve probably heard of at least one of the top Jeopardy winners in history. While Ken Jennings and Alex Trebek are the first to come to mind, they’re far from the only champions who have won a record amount of money on the show.
James Holzhauer
James Holzhauer is a professional sports gambler and one of the top jeopardy winners in the world. He lives in Las Vegas, Nevada, with his wife and eight-year-old daughter.
After graduating from the University of Illinois with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics, he became a contestant on two television game shows. He appeared on The Chase in 2014 and 500 Questions in 2015.
In 2014, he won $58,333 on The Chase. He also made a name for himself as a sports bettor, betting on major sporting events and even the Olympics.
He is a 34-year-old American who was born in Naperville, Illinois. He is the youngest son of Juergen Holzhauer and Nachiko Ide Holzhauer.
James was a huge fan of Jeopardy as a child and has been a contestant on the show since 2011. He is one of the most successful Jeopardy players ever, having won 32 games and amassed $2,462,216 in winnings during his run. He is also the second-highest overall winner in the show’s history behind Ken Jennings.
Ken Jennings
Ken Jennings has a long history with the game show “Jeopardy!” He was a software engineer before winning 74 straight games and becoming a national pop culture hero. He has appeared on late-night television, hosted “Stump the Master” for GSN Live, and was featured in FedEx and Cingular Wireless commercials.
Jennings is also a bestselling author. His book Brainiac is based on his experiences on “Jeopardy!” and is now considered a classic. He also writes books on trivia culture and a series for bright kids.
He lives in Seattle with his wife, Mindy. They have a son and a daughter.
As a teenager, Jennings dreamed of appearing on game shows and winning millions of dollars. He studied computer science and English at Brigham Young University.
He was a massive fan of a show called “Who Wants to be a Millionaire?” and dreamed of being a contestant. He succeeded in his audition and won 74 consecutive games on the “Jeopardy!” game show.
Brad Rutter
Brad Rutter is a five-time Jeopardy champion and one of the show’s highest-earning winners. He was invited to the 2001 Tournament of Champions, Million Dollar Masters, and Ultimate Tournament of Champions and has also been the winner of several All-Star Games.
Another top Jeopardy winner is James Holzhauer, the risk-taking phenom who took his game to new heights by winning Daily Doubles and Final Jeopardy wagers. He shattered the single-game winnings record and came close to Ken Jennings’ all-time regular-season winnings in half the time.
Top Jeopardy winners include Matt Amodio, a Yale computer science Ph.D. student, and California engineering manager Laura Schneider, who set the second-longest streak at 40 games. She won $1,382,800 during her run.
Matt Amodio
Originally from Medina, Ohio, Matt Amodio is a 31-year-old research assistant at Yale University pursuing a doctorate in computer science with a concentration on artificial intelligence. He never dreamed of being a contestant on Jeopardy!
He started at Ohio State as a general math major but switched to actuarial science after taking statistics courses. After earning a master’s degree in statistics, he pursued his Ph.D. at Yale, where he is currently a fifth-year student.
Amodio has a unique approach to answering clues, which has caught the attention of many viewers. Instead of choosing a pronoun that matched the clue, Amodio begins all his answers with “what’s.”
According to his website, Amodio says he does this to ensure he thinks longer about the answer. He also states that the strategy is entirely within the game’s rules.
Amodio has a long record of winning games on Jeopardy!, which makes him one of the top champions in the game’s history. He’s won 25 games and is already worth $893,000-plus.