'Jeopardy!' champion officially becomes third-highest winner in the history of the show

Jeopardy! champion Matt Amodio has done it yet again, winning his 17th straight game on Thursday. However, this time, the victory officially enters his name into the conversation with the two names that are synonymous with Jeopardy! dominance.

“You are now number three on the all-time list with regard to earnings in the regular season, behind only Ken Jennings and James Holzhauer,” guest host Joe Buck said at the end of the show. “Let that sink in.”

Amodio officially passed Jason Zuffranieri on the list, who earned his money with a 19-game win streak back in 2019. 

After Thursday, Amodio is now chasing two guys who both have well over $2 million in earnings, starting with Holzhauer who has exactly $1,914,616 more than Amodio.

Elsewhere in the Jeopardy! Hall of Fame, Amodio is coming up on Matt Jackon who holds the number six spot in the all-time winnings category, with $611,612. And Amodio is just two games from tying Zuffranieri and David Madden for fourth all-time in consecutive games won, with 19.

Viewers seemed to enjoy Amodio’s big night, taking to Twitter with plenty of praise. It was made especially interesting for fans because, as Buck pointed out during the show, for the first time in more than ten games it wasn’t a runaway heading into Final Jeopardy. That’s because Amodio’s fellow competitor, Ruth Reichard, trailed by only $9,400. Unfortunately for Reichard, she got the question wrong and Amodio got it right, but it was enough drama to get viewers excited.

@Jeopardy@AmodioMatt The ending to tonight’s game was crazy! I was cheering! Matt always finds some way to come through when it gets tough! Congratulations on placing 3rd in all time earnings!

— Brandon Meenan (@thefdwshow) August 13, 2021

I really thought Ruth was gonna take Matt out on Jeopardy tonight. Dang.

— Dre (@heydreahey) August 13, 2021

Matt Amodio is on 🔥! 👍 👏 @Jeopardy#Jeopardy#MattAmodio

— 🌟 musikjunkieronk 🇺🇸 🇹🇼 (@MusikJunkieRonK) August 13, 2021

Matt did it again! What a great game! #Jeopardy

— Bee👩🏽‍🏫🐝 (@VA_Slim_757) August 13, 2021

Buck, who wraps up his weeklong stint as host on Friday, took a moment at the top of the show to recognize Amodio’s run as well, and he did it by referencing Alex Trebek’s book, “The Answer Is.”

“One of the many things he learned when he was standing on this side is that this side is for the host. These are the stars of Jeopardy!,” Buck said. “And we have some star on display here, for the past two-plus weeks.”

Jeopardy! airs weeknights, check your local listings.

Check out what viewers were saying about Matt Amodio when he first started winning:

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