recaps
Today’s Final Jeopardy answer (Shakespeare) and statistics for Wednesday, November 4, 2026 (David Fang-Yen, Alexandra Field, Erica Doornek).
Today's Final Jeopardy - Wednesday, November 4, 2026
Current Champion
Erica Doornek, career statistics:
52 correct, 4 incorrect
5/5 on rebound attempts (on 23 rebound opportunities)
26.90% in first on buzzer (46/171)
1/2 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $1,800)
3/3 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $13,400
To win:
4 games: 57.001%
5: 32.491%
6: 18.520%
7: 10.557%
8: 6.017%
Avg. streak: 4.326 games.
(Click Here for Methodology)
Upcoming Encore Presentations
November 7-8: S42 E180 (May 15, 2026)
November 14-15: S42 E181 (May 18, 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
Attention: Due to coverage of election results last night, many stations around the United States have elected to show yesterday's game between Erica, Tamara, and Jon instead of today's game. If you are looking for that game, you can find the recap for that game at this link here.
Warning: This page contains spoilers for the November 4, 2026, game of Jeopardy! — please do not scroll down if you wish to avoid being spoiled. Please note that the game airs as early as 12:30 PM Eastern in some U.S. television markets.
Here's today's Final Jeopardy (in the category Shakespeare) for Wednesday, November 4, 2026 (Season 43, Game 38):
In Act III, Scene i of a play, "exeunt King Claudius" & another man; then there's an entrance & these 6 words are spoken
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today's Jeopardy! contestants:
Andy's Pregame Thoughts:
On this day after Election Day, Erica Doornek of Montana will be returning to the Alex Trebek Stage in some fashion—either Champions Wildcard or the Tournament of Champions. Today, she looks to become only the second 4-time champion from the state today against challengers Alexandra Field and David Fang-Yen. (The only previous 4-time winner from Montana was Liz Barnea, a librarian from Billings, who won 4 times and $28,900 in April 1990.)
For those of you who pay attention to the Tournament of Champions tracker here on the site, you'll find I've added a new column, as I am unsure of whether future Tournaments would have 21 or 15 players. For example, Erica would have a 66.3% chance of qualifying for a 21-player field, but just a 25.3% chance of qualifying for a 15-player one.
Finally, there are some stations—potentially even WABC in New York City—who have decided to "slide" the episodes by a day this week due to Election Day coverage last night. In 2026, especially with the prevalence of the Internet and streaming, I think this is a particularly poor choice by these stations, because all these stations are going to do is confuse their viewership for the entire week, and potentially have an episode preempted at the end of the week due to college football as well.
(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!
Correct response: What is "To be or not to be"?
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.)
The most famous soliloquy in Shakespeare's Hamlet—and potentially the most famous words in all of The Bard's oeuvre, "To be or not to be" begins the title Dane's famous monologue from that play, where the prince begins contemplation; the interpretation of such contemplation varies between that of his own mortality, or even potentially what might happen to his soul if King Claudius is murdered by his hands.
In terms of presenting today's Final Jeopardy clue, the show is being cagey here because any further clues other than "King Claudius" here would make the exact play incredibly obvious, making the play's most famous lines incredibly transparent to one and all.
Game Recap:
Erica Doornek had her best main game to date, picking up 24 correct and over $20,000 entering Final Jeopardy. However, it wasn't a runaway, thanks to Erica going back twice to the same category that DD2 was in—allowing Alexandra Field to get into contention thanks to $5,000 on DD3.
In a shock of a conclusion to today's game, though, Erica chose to punt Final Jeopardy, betting $0—which turned out to be the correct move, as Alexandra was expecting a standard cover wager that was surprisingly not forthcoming. That makes Erica a 4-time champion, and she'll go for win #5 tomorrow.
Scores going into Final:
Erica $20,200Alexandra $14,400
David $1,000
Tonight's results:
David $1,000 + $67 = $1,067 (What is to be or not to be?)Alexandra $14,400 + $1,995 = $16,395 (What is To Be or not to be?)
Erica $20,200 - $0 = $20,200 (What is…Go Griz Go Scotties) (4-day total: $72,401)
Game Stats:
Erica $19,800 Coryat, 24 correct, 1 incorrect, 40.35% in first on buzzer (23/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)Alexandra $11,000 Coryat, 14 correct, 1 incorrect, 21.05% in first on buzzer (12/57), 1/2 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
David $600 Coryat, 9 correct, 3 incorrect, 17.54% in first on buzzer (10/57), 0/1 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
Combined Coryat Score: $31,400
If you are looking for more detailed statistics about today's game of Jeopardy!, as well as the ability to leave a comment, make sure to check out the Daily Details section.
Erica Doornek, to win:
5 games: 60.775%6: 36.936%
7: 22.448%
8: 13.643%
9: 8.291%
Avg. streak: 5.549 games.
Andy's Thoughts:
Had Alexandra gone all in on DD3, she would have been in a position to better defend against exactly what Erica did today. I can't remember the last time a player made the $0 bet from first in a regular play game between two-thirds and three-quarters, though, and I 100% commend Erica's choice here. I also think that any criticisms of Alexandra's Final Jeopardy wager are 100% improper tonight. Alexandra made the move that ordinarily would have given her the best chance of winning the game, even though it was not the winning move in this game.
That being said, punting Shakespeare as a category is probably not going to bode well in a Tournament of Champions situation for Erica. She's got a year to learn The Bard, she'd best get started.
Today's J!6 clues can be found at the monthly archive.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Erica $20,200 Alexandra $14,400 David $1,000)
Erica: Standard cover bet today is $8,601. If you don't feel like doing that, a bet between $2 and $2,998 would both defend against a $5,801 bet from Alexandra and any bet less than $2,799. (Actual bet: $0)
Alexandra: Limit your bet today to $2,799 and take the win if Erica is incorrect in Final Jeopardy and makes the usual cover bet. (Actual bet: $1,995)
David: Bet whatever you like. (Actual bet: $67)
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