Matt Amodio is absolutely killing the “Jeopardy!” game. But each win seems to come as a surprise to the quiz show champion, who’s now won 16 games and over $500k in winnings.
After “Jeopardy!” posted about his success on Twitter yesterday, Amodio replied with a heartfelt, humbled message.
“Wow, I just can’t believe it! I still haven’t gotten over the happiness of winning game #1 yet… to be a Jeopardy winner of any amount is such an honor and a joy!” Amodio wrote.
This isn’t the first time Amodio’s mentioned that Game #1 was the most important one to him. Once he passed that hurdle, moving through the next 15 games just felt like repeating his first success.
“I go in on the first day, and I say, ‘I hope it goes well, but if I win a single game, I’m going to be as delighted as can be,'” Amodio told Entertainment Weekly. “And I won, but my attitude is to tend to be hungry. And so once I won one, I wasn’t sitting on my laurels or anything. I said, ‘You know, that was good. Let’s do it again.'”
After replying to “Jeopardy!”‘s original tweet about his winnings, Amodio posted their message to his own Twitter page with another special message.
“Thanks to everyone for joining me on this unbelievable ride on #jeopardy… it’s been so much fun!” Amodio wrote.
Tonight the “Jeopardy!” reigning champ goes up against a new crop of contestants for his 17th potential win. If he wins three more games, then he’ll be tied with Jason Zuffranieri and David Madden for the fourth highest win streak of all time.
Where Does Matt Amodio Stand on the ‘Jeopardy!’ Leaderboard?
Matt Amodio’s name is now being thrown around with “Jeopardy!” legends like Ken Jennings and James Holzhauer. While these two trivia icons might seem untouchable, the reality is that Amodio’s creeping up on them and their “Jeopardy!” records.
Currently, Jennings continues to hold down the first place spot in total consecutive winnings and highest winnings in regular season play. His 74 game win streak from 2004 will be tough to beat. But his $2.5 million earnings might be more attainable for Amodio, who’s played a numbers game with his money all season.
After all, placing high wagers and making risky bets is how Holzhauer did so well on the game show. Though he only won 32 consecutive games, Holzhauer ended up with only about $60,000 less than Jennings in winnings. If Amodio plays his cards right, he could follow in Holzhauer’s footsteps and earn that much more money on “Jeopardy!” while winning fewer games.
But for now, Amodio sits at a solid fifth place on the leaderboard for consecutive wins. Fourth place is tied between Zuffranieri and Madden right now, with 19 games won.
For highest winnings, Amodio technically has the fourth highest total, but the “Jeopardy!” Hall of Fame board has put him in the third pace spot. He’s only won $505,200 to Zuffranieri’s $532,496. We’re not sure why the ranking places him that way, but we’ll see if he overtakes Zuffranieri’s total tonight.
