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
Warning: This page contains spoilers for the February 16, 2026, game of Jeopardy! — please do not scroll down if you wish to avoid being spoiled.
Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category Men of Religion) for Monday, February 16, 2026 (Season 42, Game 116):
A 1660 book quoted Mary, Queen of Scots as saying she feared this man’s prayers more than an army of men
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Alison Betts, a creative executive originally from San Jose, California
Andrew He, a stay-at-home dad from Concord, California
Matt Amodio, a quantitative researcher from New York, New York
Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Today sees semifinal #2 of the Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament between Matt Amodio, Andrew He, and Alison Betts. I’m expecting to see a spirited battle between the two Season 38 alumni, both rated significantly higher by the Unified Prediction Model. However, Alison very much has already shown in this tournament that anything can happen, and she is more than capable of finding herself in the finals.
(Content continues 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!
Correct response: Who is John Knox?
More information about Final Jeopardy:
(The following write-up is original content and is copyright 2026 The Jeopardy! Fan. It may not be copied without linked attribution back to this page.)
John Knox was a 16th-century Scottish religious leader best known today for leading the Reformation in Scotland and serving as the Protestant leader in Scotland in opposition to the Catholic Queen of Scotland at the time, Mary, Queen of Scots. His work ensured that, even after his death, Prebyterianism rather than Anglicanism became the dominant Christian denomination in Scotland.
While the specific wording of the quote is debated (explaining why there were no quotation marks in the clue), the general gist of the quote from Mary, explained in today’s Final Jeopardy clue, tells us how much the Catholic queen feared the Presbyterian leader.
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.
Game Recap:
Through 60 clues of this semifinal, it looked as if we would be pointing towards Andrew He’s Daily Double miss on a clue about the Carrara quarry in Italy as the major driving factor behind today’s outcome, as that was the ultimate reason behind Matt Amodio leading entering Final Jeopardy. (Alison Betts was in a distant third and it didn’t look like she’d get a repeat performance of her viral moment last week.)
Final Jeopardy proved difficult for our contestants, though, with nobody coming up with a correct response, as it came down to our wagers between Matt and Andrew. Andrew went for the small bet in this situation, hoping Matt would make the standard cover bet, and advanced to the finals when Matt’s standard cover bet of $8,001 was revealed. Andrew will be joining Roger Craig and one more in the finals that start Wednesday.
Scores going into Final:
Matt $19,200
Andrew $13,600
Alison $2,600
Tonight’s results:
Alison $2,600 – $0 = $2,600 (Who these guys definitely won’t bet it all)
Andrew $13,600 – $38 = $13,562 (Who else thinks the best season of Jeopardy was …) (Finalist)
Matt $19,200 – $8,001 = $11,199 (Who James I)
Chances of winning tournament:
Andrew He: 38.739%
Roger Craig: 38.075%
Long Nguyen: 10.806%
Drew Goins: 6.526%
Karen Farrell: 5.854%
Game Stats:
Andrew $19,600 Coryat, 22 correct, 3 incorrect, 42.11% in first on buzzer (24/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
Matt $14,200 Coryat, 17 correct, 1 incorrect, 28.07% in first on buzzer (16/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Alison $3,600 Coryat, 7 correct, 1 incorrect, 10.53% in first on buzzer (6/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $37,400
Andy’s Thoughts:
After the third semifinal at last year’s JIT, where this same Final Jeopardy betting situation came up, I know some strategic discussions certainly came up among some of the champions regarding whether or not the cover bet was the best decision from the lead in this situation. I guess when you’re Matt Amodio, you probably do need to put faith in yourself to get Final Jeopardy correct, though.
The trivia league that Alison mentioned in her interview is QuIP, or “Quizzing In Progress”; it’s the same league that Veronica Vichit-Vadakan mentioned in her interview.
- Today’s J!6 clues can be found at the monthly archive.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Matt $19,200 Andrew $13,600 Alison $2,600)
Matt: Your standard cover bet is $8,001 here—and as I alluded to above, you can never really fault a player betting on themself like this. That being said—especially because Andrew is likely well-versed in wagering strategy at this point—it might be worth a more conservative bet in this between-2/3-and 3/4 window. In that case, a bet between $2,801 and $3,199 both stays above Andrew if he bets less than $2,400, as well as still covers him if he bets $8,399 (the maximum he can bet while still keeping Alison locked out.) (Actual bet: $8,001)
Andrew: If Matt makes the standard cover bet, he falls to $11,199. I think your best chance of victory today comes if you bet between $0 and $2,400, hoping that Matt does that and is incorrect. (Actual bet: $38)
Alison: You need both Matt and Andrew to overbet significantly to have any hope. Bet whatever you like. (Actual bet: $0)
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.