Current Champion
Nikolas Polsinelli, career statistics:
44 correct, 6 incorrect
2/2 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
35.96% in first on buzzer (41/114)
4/5 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $10,600)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $17,500
To win:
3 games: 64.111%
4: 41.102%
5: 26.351%
6: 16.894%
7: 10.831%
Avg. streak: 3.786 games.
(Click Here for Methodology)
Upcoming Encore Presentations
September 26-27: S42 E174 (May 7, 2026)
October 3-4: S42 E175 (May 8, 2026)
October 10-11: S42 E176 (May 11, 2026)
(Source: Bell Fibe TV program guide)
All Time Winnings
All Time Jeopardy! Winnings, Regular Play Only:
1. Ken Jennings $2,520,700
2. James Holzhauer $2,462,216
3. Matt Amodio $1,518,601
4. Amy Schneider $1,382,800
5. Jamie Ding $882,605
6. Cris Pannullo $748,286
7. Mattea Roach $560,983
8. Jason Zuffranieri $532,496
9. Scott Riccardi $455,000
10. David Madden $430,400
11. Julia Collins $428,100
12. Matt Jackson $411,612
13. Austin Rogers $411,000
14. Ray Lalonde $386,400
15. Harrison Whitaker $373,999
16. Adriana Harmeyer $349,600
17. Caleb Groen $346,968
18. Adam Remsen $306,415
19. Ryan Long $299,400
20. Arthur Chu $297,200
All Time Jeopardy! Winnings, Including Tournaments (and Consolation Prizes):
1. Brad Rutter $4,968,436
2. Ken Jennings $4,372,700
3. James Holzhauer $3,614,216
4. Matt Amodio $1,964,601
5. Amy Schneider $1,864,800
6. Yogesh Raut $1,598,403
7. Victoria Groce $1,023,801
8. Mattea Roach $897,983
9. Jamie Ding $885,605
10. David Madden $785,733
11. Cris Pannullo $754,286
12. Roger Craig $706,200
13. Andrew He $684,365
14. Larissa Kelly $671,930
15. Matt Jackson $623,612
16. Jason Zuffranieri $549,496
17. Paolo Pasco $548,717
18. Scott Riccardi $533,000
19. Jerome Vered $499,102
20. Julia Collins $495,767
21. Austin Rogers $493,000
22. Juveria Zaheer $491,000
23. Ben Ingram $449,201
24. Adriana Harmeyer $446,600
25. Buzzy Cohen $441,603
We knew that we were going to see small changes to Jeopardy! under Mike Richards. However, I’m very concerned about the direction the show is headed, if the early part of Season 37 is to be believed.
At the time of this writing, we are seven episodes into Season 37, and there have been two unusual happenstances (at least by recent standards) by the show in Final Jeopardy!.
Firstly, we have last Tuesday’s ruling on Berry Gordy vs. Barry Gordy, where “Berry” and “Barry” are homophonic for 57% of the American population. It’s a ruling where my most charitable interpretation is that the show applied the wrong rule to the situation. It’s the sort of ruling that sets an uncomfortable precedent going forward and will likely lead to the show getting extra viewer mail unnecessarily when a contestant inevitably spells a response “Steven Crane” and “Katherine Hepburn”. (As, after all, “Steven” is a different name from “Stephen” and “Katherine” is a different name from “Katharine”; just ask the U.S. Social Security Administration when they detail baby names.)
Then, the September 22nd Final Jeopardy! references two books about different Asian countries with an identical title, a problem that should have been seen in the writer’s room, and would have been seen had anyone on the show done a cursory Internet search. Not only that, a contestant gave the name of the wrong one of the countries, a mistake which cost ultimately cost that player the game.
One “gotcha” moment I can understand; mistakes do happen. Two in Final Jeopardy! in seven episodes, though? This feels incomprehensible to me. These actions seem to be consistent with playing to a thought that being persnickety is going to be the order of the day going forward, and that “ooh, sorry, this hinges on a tiny thing that nobody should be expected to know” is going to become the norm. Even though Jeopardy! has had a reputation in the past about “you could be expected to know about every small minute detail, no matter how minute”, it has done a very good job of keeping its canon to things that a viewer with a solid, well-rounded education would be expected to know. That is why Jeopardy! has been as successful as it has since 1984.
Why am I concerned? This is going to make for a significantly worse product if the show continues down this path. This is going to put doubt in the minds of contestants when they’re already in a stressful situation. Stressed and doubting contestants do not make for an entertaining program, as it leads to more stand-and-stare moments and dead air, as the doubt of “If the show told me I was wrong about a topic I thought I knew a lot about, what exactly do I know?” kicks in. (Former contestants have vocalized these exact concerns on the #JeopardyLivePanel podcast when confronted with problematic in-game clues in past seasons.)
Thus, I have to ask you: stop being so persnickety, Mike Richards. Your viewers are counting on you. Your future contestants are counting on you. The ultimate future of the show is counting on you.
Do you agree, fellow Jeopardy! fans? Or am I way off-base here? Make sure to leave a comment!
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