recaps

Season 35

Today’s Final Jeopardy – December 28, 2018

Published Modified

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

Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category Authors) for Friday, December 28, 2018 (Season 35, Episode 80):

The first novelist on Forbes’ list of billionaires, this author fell off in 2012 after giving an estimated $160 million to charity

(correct response beneath the contestants)

Today’s contestants:

James Rodrigues, a filmmaker from New York, New York

James Rodrigues on Jeopardy!

Greg Frost, a communications director from San Diego, California

Greg Frost on Jeopardy!

Kathryn Kienholz, a retired CPA from Milltown, Wisconsin (1-day total: $22,000)

Kathryn Kienholz on Jeopardy!

The Jeopardy! Book of Answers is out now! Here’s my review.

(Content continues below)

Add The Jeopardy! Fan to your preferred sources on Google by clicking the button below!

My friends over at Geeks Who Drink have a daily trivia game—Thrice! Existing to make daily clever trivia content accessible to a wide audience, it's a daily challenge that tries to get you to the answer via three separate clues. It has a shareable score functionality to challenge your friends and new questions every day will give you a new daily social ritual. You can find it at thricegame.com.

Are you going on the show and looking for information about how to bet in Final Jeopardy? Check out my Betting Strategy 101 page. If you want to learn how to bet in two-day finals, check out Betting Strategy 102. In case the show uses a tournament with wild cards in the future, there is also a strategy page for betting in tournament quarterfinals.

Are you looking for information on how to stream Jeopardy! in 2026? Find out information here on how to stream from most places in North America!

You can find game-by-game stats here at The Jeopardy! Fan of all 23 players, including Caleb Groen, Adam Remsen, Tristan Williams and Jamie Ding, that have won 10 or more games on Jeopardy!

You can now listen to Alex Trebek-hosted Jeopardy! episodes from TuneIn Radio without leaving The Jeopardy! Fan — listen now!

If you appreciate the work I do here on The Jeopardy! Fan and would like to make a one-time contribution to the site, you may do so here!

Correct response: Who is J. K. Rowling?

More information about Final Jeopardy:

Falling off the list of Forbes’ billionaires didn’t really seem to bother Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling much; she has been known to say “You have a moral responsibility when you’ve been given far more than you need, to do wise things with it and give intelligently”. In fact, three companion books she wrote as part of the Harry Potter series (“Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them”, “Quidditch Through the Ages”, and “The Tales of Beedle the Bard”) have raised millions for charitable foundations.

Rowling tends to support organizations linked to fighting poverty, multiple sclerosis, children’s welfare and illiteracy, and in 2005 she founded Lumos to address the problem of institutionalized and disadvantaged children in Eastern Europe after reading an article in The Sunday Times about children being kept in caged beds in institutions. (“Lumos” being the name of the spell in the Harry Potter universe which turns the end of one’s wand into a flashlight, or “torch” in Britspeak.)

There’s always something new coming into The Jeopardy! Fan Online Store, including something perfect for Boston baseball fans! Here are our top-selling items!

In order to redesign our merchandise area to serve you better in 2026, all merchandise sales have been temporarily taken offline. Look for a return in late 2026! All previous orders will still be supported.

Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Tonight’s results are below!

Scores going into Final:
James $15,400
Kathryn $13,600
Greg $6,000

Tonight’s results:
Greg $6,000 – $1,000 = $5,000 (Who is Gates?)
Kathryn $13,600 – $13,599 = $1 (Who is Tom Clancy?)
James $15,400 + $12,000 = $27,400 (1-day total: $27,400)

James Rodrigues, today's Jeopardy! winner (for the December 28, 2018 game.)

Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
James $6,200
Greg $4,000
Kathryn $3,800

Opening break taken after: 15 clues

Daily Double locations:
1) CENTS OF A WOMAN $800 (4th pick)
Kathryn 800 +1000 (Greg 400 James 0)
2) MYTHOLOGY $800 (7th pick)
Greg 4400 +2000 (James 10600 Kathryn 5400)
3) ALTERED CARBON $1600 (17th pick)
Kathryn 8200 +3000 (James 15800 Greg 9600)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 182

Unplayed clues:
J! round: THE BEER HUNTER $1,000
DJ! Round: None!
Total $ Left On Board: $1,000

Game Stats:
James $15,400 Coryat, 20 correct, 1 incorrect, 30.36% in first on buzzer, 4/4 on rebound attempts
Greg $4,800 Coryat, 9 correct, 2 incorrect, 17.86% in first on buzzer
Kathryn $11,200 Coryat, 19 correct, 6 incorrect, 39.29% in first on buzzer, 0/1 on rebound attempts
Combined Coryat Score: $31,400
Lach Trash: $13,200 (on 11 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $8,400

Kathryn Kienholz, final stats:
36 correct, 9 incorrect
2/4 on rebound attempts
33.04% in first on buzzer (37/112)
2/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $4,000)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $12,100

James Rodrigues, stats to date:
21 correct, 1 incorrect
4/4 on rebound attempts
30.36% in first on buzzer (17/56)
0/0 on Daily Doubles
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $15,400

James Rodrigues, to win:
2 games: 50.73%
3: 25.73%
4: 13.05%
5: 6.62%
6: 3.36%
Avg. streak: 2.030 games.

Tournament of Champions projections:
With a projected 160 regular-play games to go prior to the Tournament of Champions cutoff, after 500,000 simulations, our model shows:
An average of 4.4703 5+-time champions (standard deviation 1.772).
An average of 8.0939 4+-time champions (standard deviation 2.1934).

An early cutoff took place 27.124% of the time (or a 5-game winner will be left out).

James Rodrigues qualified 7.203% of the time.
Dave Leffler qualified 44.976% of the time.
Alex Schmidt qualified 19.547% of the time.
Jackie Fuchs qualified 5.167% of the time.
Mary Ann Borer qualified 1.080% of the time.
Kyle Becker qualified 0.106% of the time.


Add The Jeopardy! Fan to your preferred sources on Google by clicking the button below!

Become a Supporter now! Make a monthly contribution to the site on Patreon!

Contestant photo credit: jeopardy.com

When commenting, please note that all comments on The Jeopardy! Fan must be in compliance with the Site Comment Policy.

If you are going to quote any information from this page or this website, attribution is required.

Have you had a chance to listen to our podcast game show, Complete The List, yet? Check it out! It's also available on Apple Podcasts.
Powered by Labrador CMS