Over the years since
their original appearances many of these super champions have appeared on
Jeopardy more than once and very likely will do so again, given how the show
works. So before we say goodbye to our departing champions, here’s how they’ve
done in the postseason since and where they rank on the all-time leaderboard as
of this writing.
David Madden was invited to
participate in the Battle of the Decades during the 2000s but because of a
contract issue that was never clear, he didn’t participate. Alex Trebek spoke
for the fans when he said: “That’s too bad because he will be missed.”
That situation had
apparently resolved himself in 2019 and he was one of the players invited back
to the Jeopardy All-Stars. Brad Rutter drafter him to play on his team, along
with Larissa Kelly. His brilliant performance including two correct Final Jeopardy
responses enabled Team Brad to win the million dollar grand prize.
He was among the first
players to participate in the 2024 Jeopardy Invitational and he won his
quarterfinal match (more on that below) to face off against Amy Schneider in
the semi-finals. She went ahead of him on the final clue of Double Jeopardy
which led to her advancing to the finals (and the controversy that followed. As
of this writing his total of $785,733 in winnings ranks him 7th all-time
among Jeopardy contestants.
For reasons that were
never clear Arthur Chu was not invited to participate in the All-Star
Games in 2019 most likely due to online controversy at the time. That has
passed in 2024 when he was invited back to the Jeopardy Invitational
Tournament. He went into the Jeopardy round with a significant lead over David
Madden and MacKenzie Jones but a wager of $10,000 on a Daily Double in Double
Jeopardy that went wrong did him in. As a result David Madden went on to win in
a runaway. His winnings of $403,200 rank him 24th all-time in money
win.
Julia Collins was invited to captain
a team in the Jeopardy All-Stars and she drafted among others Ben Ingram, who
had become a close friend and Seth Wilson. Ironically she would end up being
the weak link of her team. Having the misfortune of going up against Ken
Jennings’s team in the first round, her team was in a distant second at the end
of the first game. Julia was up to play Final Jeopardy but she would be the
only player to respond incorrectly. As a result her team lost everything going
into Game 2. In Game 2, playing against Ken and Austin Rogers in Double
Jeopardy she was only able to ring in twice the entire round and in part due to
her poor performance, her team was the first to be eliminated. They would share
in a prize of $50,000.
Not long after Julia’s
appearance on the All-Star Games James Holzhauer would move into second place
in games’ won and the last three years she now ranks seventh on that score. She
was one of the more glaring absences from the first Jeopardy Invitational
Tournament, though that may change this year. As of this writing her $495,767
ranks her sixteenth in money won.
After defeating Julia
in the All-Star Games Ben Ingram and Julia Collins became close personal
friends. As a result Julia made her first draft pick Ben ahead of Seth Wilson
and several players who were still available. Ben proved to be the most
formidable member of team Julia, finishing with $5600 in his competition with
Ken Jennings in the Jeopardy round of Game 1 and getting Final Jeopardy correct
in Game 2. But as listed above, his efforts were for naught and Team Julia was
the first team eliminated.
Ben was thankful to be participating
in the Jeopardy Invitational Tournament last year because in the years since he
had undergone open-heart surgery. Despite his best efforts he was unable get
started against Victoria Groce in his appearance and lost to her in the first
round. His total of $449,201 ranks him 18th on the all-time winnings
list as of this writing.
Matt Jackson was drafted by Ken
Jennings to play on his team because he admired a long winning streak. Matt’s
play in the Double Jeopardy round of Team Ken’s first win assured a runaway
victory for them and guaranteed them a spot in the finals. He played equally well
in the Double Jeopardy found of the first game of the finals and it was only
due to superb play of Brad Rutter in the Double Jeopardy round of the second
game that Brad’s team locked up the tournament at the end of that round. He
would share in a second place total of $300,000.
In his return to the
Jeopardy Invitational Tournament he absolutely dominated Alan Lin and Terry O’Shea
to runaway with the quarterfinal with the highest one game total of the entire
tournament. In the semi-final he was in a hard fought match between Sam Buttrey
and Victoria Groce and would end up in a respectable third place, earning
$10,000 before leaving. His total of $623, 612 ranks him 11th
Alex Jacob would play
magnificently as part of Team Buzzy in the first round of play, being one of
the few players to that point in Jeopardy history to do absolutely run rings around
Brad Rutter during the first stage of the Jeopardy round of Game 1 and Double
Jeopardy of Game 2. His play enabled Team Buzzy to clinch the wild card spot.
In the wild card match,
he played brilliantly in the Jeopardy round of the first game to give his team
to lead. And he was firing on all cylinders during Double Jeopardy when his decision
to go all in on Daily Doubles finally backfired. As a result his team was
eliminated from contention at the end of Double Jeopardy, though he would share
in a prize of $75,000 for that.
Invited back for Game 6
of the 2024 Jeopardy Invitational he played superbly in the Jeopardy round
against Jennifer Quail and Brandon Blackwell. He was in second place at the end
of Double Jeopardy; however both he and Brandon would be unable to respond
correctly to that day’s Final Jeopardy allowing Jennifer to advance. His
$431,802 rank him 21st all time.
Seth Wilson was drafted by Julia
Collins to play on her team and played respectably in the Double Jeopardy round
of Game 1 and the Jeopardy round of Game 2, giving 14 correct responses and only
one incorrect one combined. But neither was enough to overcome either the poor
play of Julia and the dominant play of Ken Jennings and as was mentioned, Team
Julia was eliminated first and he shared in a $50,000 prize.
Like his captain he was
not invited back to participate in last year’s Invitational Tournament though
that may change soon enough. As of this writing his $288,669 currently ranks him 43rd
in all time winnings, though he still ranks sixteenth in all time wins in regular
season play.
Austin Rogers was one of the six
captains invited back and he would draft Roger Craig and Leonard Cooper to play
with him. He had to misfortune to play against Ken in both the Jeopardy and
Double Jeopardy rounds of their two matches but his play would be solid enough to
guarantee his team a wild card spot.
Playing in Double
Jeopardy against fellow team captains Buzzy Cohen and Colby Burnett, he managed
to lead his team to a more than respectable third place before a Final Jeopardy
gutted all three teams. The three captains would meet for Final Jeopardy in
Game 2 with Team Austin clinging to a narrow lead but an incorrect response for
all three players ended Team Austin hopes. He would share in a $75,000 prize.
Austin faced off
against Celeste DiNucci and Amy Schneider in the Jeopardy Invitational and
could not overcome Amy’s momentum in Double Jeopardy that gave her a runaway
victory. His $493,000 ranks him 17th all time.
Buzzy Cohen was named a team
captain in the Jeopardy All-Star Games and drafted Alex Jacob and Jennifer
Giles to play for him. He played masterfully in the Double Jeopardy game of the
first round but being the only player in Final Jeopardy of the second game
doomed his team a chance for an automatic advancement though they did move on
to the Wild Card. He played superbly in the Double Jeopardy round of the Wild
Card game but a risky gamble in Final Jeopardy left his team with no money at
the end of Game 1. His team would end up sharing in a third place prize.
As of this writing
Buzzy’s main role on Jeopardy seems to have been that of a guest host, in addition
to emceeing the 2021 Tournament of Champions he would host the unaired
Champions Wildcard play in matches during the early months of 2024. It is
unclear if he has retired from Jeopardy play. As of this writing his $441,603
ranks him 19th in money won.
Jason Zuffranieri was among those invited
back to the 2024 Jeopardy Invitational Tournament. In his quarterfinal match he
faced off against Larissa Kelly and Leonard Cooper. Larissa got off to a fast
start in the Jeopardy round but Jason grabbed some momentum in Double Jeopardy
and managed to catch and pass her briefly. However Larissa retook the lead by
the end of the round. He was the only player to respond incorrectly in Final
Jeopardy but it mattered little as Larissa was correct. As of this writing his
total $549,496 ranks him 14th on the Jeopardy leaderboard.
As to whether any of
them will move further down the leaderboard…well that’s what the next few months
will determine. Stay tuned.
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