Today’s Final Jeopardy – Thursday, January 26, 2023

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

Are you looking for information about tonight’s Celebrity Jeopardy! episode? Check it out here!

Warning: This page contains spoilers for the January 26, 2023, game of Jeopardy! — please do not scroll down if you wish to avoid being spoiled. Please note that the game airs as early as noon Eastern in some U.S. television markets.

Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category History) for Thursday, January 26, 2023 (Season 39, Game 99):

Returning home in 1493, Columbus stopped in the Azores at an island with this name, also something he’d lost off the Haiti coast

(correct response beneath the contestants)

Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:

John Guszkowski, a planning consultant from Pomfret, Connecticut

Emma Moore, a librarian from Princeton, New Jersey

Troy Meyer, a music executive from Tampa, Florida (5-day total: $170,401)

Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:

Troy Meyer is a 5-time champion on Jeopardy. In the nearly-40-year history of the show, only eight players have won more money over their first five games (obviously, with pre-2001 totals adjusted for the doubling in dollar values): James Holzhauer, Frank Spangenberg, Roger Craig, Jerome Vered, Austin Rogers, Larissa Kelly, David Siegel, and Doug Lach. How long will Troy’s run go? Will it end soon, like Roger Craig’s? Or, like James Holzhauer, will we see Troy on our screen for the next month? Only time—and the variance that is present in every game of Jeopardy!—will tell.

Unfortunately, outrage drives web traffic, and Troy’s incredible run is still being completely overshadowed by the “controversy” surrounding Yogesh Raut’s social media posts—and that’s an absolute shame because I think more people need to pay attention to what’s going on now.

Back to today’s game—today’s challengers are Princeton, NJ librarian Emma Moore and Connecticut’s John Guszkowski. If you remember Gus Guszkowski from last year’s Jeopardy! National College Championship, John is Gus’ father.

PSA: The best way to keep COVID-19 at bay (and keep Jeopardy! producing new episodes) is for everybody to get their vaccinations as soon as they can, including any boosters as recommended. When wearing a mask, please ensure that your mask covers both your nose and your mouth.

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Correct response: What is Santa Maria?

More information about Final Jeopardy:

(The following write-up is original content and is copyright 2023 The Jeopardy! Fan. It may not be copied without linked attribution back to this page.)

Of Columbus’ three ships from his first voyage—the Niña, the Pinta, and the Santa María—only the Niña and the Pinta made it back to Spain; the Santa María running aground off the coast of the island of Hispaniola. On the trip back to Spain in 1493, the expedition stopped at Santa Maria Island; the southernmost island in the Azores.

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Game Recap:

Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: 20th Century America; Let’s Talk About Sax, Baby; Working 9 2 5; What’s In The Bottle?; Alliteration Time; The “End”s Of The Earth)

Troy had a better time on the higher-valued clues, but John clawed back a little bit of the deficit after the first break. Things could get interesting in Double Jeopardy!

Statistics at the first break (15 clues):

Troy 9 correct 0 incorrect
John 3 correct 1 incorrect
Emma 1 correct 3 incorrect

Statistics after the Jeopardy round:

Troy 13 correct 1 incorrect
John 10 correct 2 incorrect
Emma 3 correct 4 incorrect

Double Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: A Line In The Sand; Languages; Venomous Creatures; Finance & Investing; “B” Movies; 12 Letters Or More)

Emma got to the Daily Double on the opening pick of the round, but fell deeper into the hole with it. However, to her credit, she did keep playing and pulled herself out of the hole by the end. Today’s game was a slugfest between Troy and John, though, with John betting almost his entire stack on the third Daily Double. John’s correct response set things up for a grandstand finish! Scores going into Final were Troy at $24,400, John at $22,200, and Emma at $2,800.

Statistics after Double Jeopardy:

Troy 26 correct 1 incorrect
John 21 correct 2 incorrect
Emma 8 correct 5 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 14 (0 today).

Troy and John were correct in Final—Troy has passed the $200,000 mark in just 6 games! He’ll go for win #7 tomorrow.

Tonight’s Game Stats:

Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Thursday, January 26, 2023 Jeopardy! by the numbers:

Scores going into Final:

Troy $24,400
John $22,200
Emma $2,800

Tonight’s results:

Emma $2,800 – $2,799 = $1 (What is Nina?)
John $22,200 + $11,100 = $33,300 (What is Santa Maria?)
Troy $24,400 + $20,001 = $44,401 (What is Santa Maria?) (6-day total: $214,802)

Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:

Troy $9,200
John $3,000
Emma -$1,600

Opening break taken after: 15 clues

Daily Double locations:

1) 20th CENTURY AMERICA $800 (clue #2)
Troy 1000 +1000 (Emma 0 John 0)
2) LANGUAGES $1600 (clue #1)
Emma -1600 -2000 (Troy 9200 John 3000)
3) 12 LETTERS OR MORE $1600 (clue #19, $8400 left on board)
John 9000 +8000 (Troy 21600 Emma 2400)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 89

Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:

J! Round:
Troy 5 4*
Emma
John

DJ! Round:
Troy 5 4 4 4 3 2 2 3 2
Emma 4* 5† 3 5 5 2
John 5 4 3 4*

† – selection in same category as Daily Double

Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:

Troy 3.45
John 4.00
Emma 4.00

Unplayed clues:

J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 14 (0.14 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles

Game Stats:

Troy $24,200 Coryat, 26 correct, 1 incorrect, 42.11% in first on buzzer (24/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
John $15,800 Coryat, 21 correct, 2 incorrect, 35.09% in first on buzzer (20/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Emma $4,800 Coryat, 8 correct, 5 incorrect, 19.30% in first on buzzer (11/57), 0/1 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $44,800
Lach Trash: $3,000 (on 4 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $6,200

Troy Meyer, career statistics:

180 correct, 12 incorrect
10/12 on rebound attempts (on 22 rebound opportunities)
48.54% in first on buzzer (166/342)
8/8 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $29,000)
5/6 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $24,967

Emma Moore, career statistics:

8 correct, 6 incorrect
0/1 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
19.30% in first on buzzer (11/57)
0/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: -$2,000)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $4,800

John Guszkowski, career statistics:

22 correct, 2 incorrect
2/2 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
35.09% in first on buzzer (20/57)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $8,000)
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $15,800

Troy Meyer, to win:

7 games: 84.376%
8: 71.194%
9: 60.071%
10: 50.685%
11: 42.766%
Avg. streak: 11.401 games.

Today’s interviews:

John was in an all-accordion ensemble at the age of 10.
Emma works just down the hall from Einstein’s old office.
Troy is looking to spend his winnings on building a recording studio.

Andy’s Thoughts:

• I think it’s safe to say that this is the sort of Jeopardy! we’ll be seeing so much more of in the coming years—players knowing they have to be aggressive on the Daily Doubles—and it’s so exciting to watch.

• Today’s box score: January 26, 2023 Box Score.

Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:

(Scores: Troy $24,400 John $22,200 Emma $2,800)

Troy: Standard cover bet over John is $20,001. (Actual bet: $20,001)

Emma: Bet at least $1,601, thereby passing Troy if you’re correct and he is not. (Actual bet: $2,799)

John: Bet between $4,401 (thereby covering against any sort of small range Troy might bet) and $16,599 (thereby keeping Emma locked out). (Actual bet: $11,100)

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