Despite breaking several Jeopardy! records, current champion Matt Amodio still has a long way to go to cement his place among the game show’s greatest competitors.
On Friday, October 1, Amodio’s 33rd win broke champion James Holzhauer‘s record for the second-highest consecutive wins, placing him behind current record holder Ken Jennings with 74. Additionally, Amodio became the third person in the show’s history to surpass $1 million in regular-season play winnings, having won a total of $1,417,401 over his 36 appearances.
Before he looks to claim his 37th straight victory on Thursday, October 7, see how Amodio ranks among the Jeopardy! greats below.
Ken Jennings and James Holzhauer maintain a solid lead
Having won a little over $1 million, Amodio will have to play a long game of catch up before beating Holzhauer and Jennings for the most regular-season winnings, having won $2,462,216 and $2,520,700, respectively. According to a stats comparison video on the show’s YouTube page, Amodio and Jennings share the same percentage of correct responses at 92%, with Holzhauer beating them with 97%. Holzhauer also holds the highest percentage of Final Jeopardy! responses at 94%, with Amodio in second with 76% and Jennings in third with 68%
Following that same ranking, Holzhauer holds the highest average of winnings per show with $76,944, followed by Amodio with $38,418 and Jennings with $34,064.
Matt Amodio is further ahead than Ken Jennings was during his winning streak
While Jennings is one of the show’s greatest champions, Amodio broke one of his records, having surpassed the $1 million threshold in 28 games compared to Jennings’ 30. Going into his 37th episode, Amodio is close to $200,000 and ahead of Jennings’ winnings by his 37th game. As Jennings surpassed the $2 million mark in his 59th episode, Amodio would need to beat his amount within the next 22 games to break the record.
However, Holzhauer achieved both milestones in the least amount of time, having earned over $2 million by his 27th game.
How does Matt Amodio measure up to Brad Rutter?
Champion Brad Rutter currently holds the title for the highest amount of total winnings on the show, having won $4,938,436 in both regular-season and tournament games. After hitting the show’s 5-game winning limit during his first appearance in Season 17, Rutter became the show’s highest-earning contestant after winning the 2002 Million Dollar Masters Tournament. After Jennings’ 74-day winning streak broke his record, he returned again in 2005 for the Ultimate Tournament of Champions, during which he surpassed the $2 million benchmark.
Given that it took Amodio a significantly longer amount of time to reach the million milestone, it will take a lot of hard work and dedication to dethrone Rutter as the highest winner of all time. However, if Amodio were to return in the future for tournament play, there’s no telling how much he could win.
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