Someone call Jeopardy! champion James Holzhauer and tell him that Matt Amodio has broken his record for straight wins. This comes just a few weeks after Holzhauer took a friendly swipe at Amodio, who recently surpassed the $1 million barrier in wins. He’s kept focused and strong throughout the ongoing who-will-host-this-show-permanently saga, and on Friday, Amodio reached an elusive 33-game winning streak.
The Ph. D. student is now one of the most distinguished Jeopardy! champions in the show’s 50-plus-year history. He’s now only two wins behind Ken Jennings, though it’s worth noting that Jennings has a 74-game winning streak, so Amodio isn’t quite king. With a current running winnings total of $1,267,801, he isn’t doing too badly. His achievement is especially noteworthy because Amodio has a propensity of responding questions that irritates some admirers. Still, the dude knows his stuff (and then some), and after his victory on Friday, he made sure to thank Jennings, who won the show’s GOAT tournament in 2020. Yep,Yep, Amodio knows the drill here:
“Ken’s always been the face of JEOPARDY! to me, so when I think of JEOPARDY!, I think of him,” Amodio said when asked about Jennings. “To [be] right behind him is a surreal experience.”
He can start accumulating more consecutive game wins from there, but he’ll have a long way to go before catching Jennings’ record. Meanwhile, Jennings will be co-hosting with Mayim Bialik for the remainder of the year, and it will be quite a sight if Amodio can match Jennings’ record while they are both on set.
