Tonight Jamie Ding officially joined the ranks of Jeopardy's elite when he became the 20th player in the show's history to win eleven games. He is also the eleventh to do so in the post-Trebek era which now is five full years.
Since this is about numbers this St. Patrick's Day Jamie made his own mark in Jeopardy history when he gave forty-four correct responses. Only one player has managed more than that in the entire 42 years of Jeopardy and Ken Jennings was modest the following day when he said: "I'm told that was me."
Jamie has been superb when it counts: he's managed seven runaway victories in his eleven wins and has responded correctly in eight out of the eleven Final Jeopardys he's been a part of to this point. He's already won $291,820 so far. So it is now time for me to ask the question: just how great a player is Jamie compared to the super-champions in Jeopardy history?
The answer is…complicated.
Let's start by comparing Jamie at this point in his run to the ten other players who've won eleven games or more in the post-Trebek Era. I'll work backwards starting from Jamie:
Jamie Ding: $291,820
Harrison Whitaker: $309,000
Scott Riccardi: $282,101
Adriana Harmeyer: $258,700
Ray Lalonde: $311,500
Cris Panullo:$356,702
Ryan Long: $209,300
Mattea Roach: $244,882
Amy Schneider: $421,200
Jonathan Fisher: $246,100
Matt Amodio: $368,600
You might not be able to tell because I ranked them chronologically but at this point Jamie Ding is in sixth place in comparison. I was surprised he was doing better than Scott Riccardi at this point in his run and that Harrison Whitaker was doing better than Jamie at this point in his. In truth that's just about right given how Jamie's been playing overall.
Now let's compare him to all of the players (save the other Jeopardy great also named James) at this same point in their runs and this time I will include Ken:
Ken Jennings: $376,158
David Madden: $269,101
Arthur Chu: $297,200
Julia Collins: $231,310
Matt Jackson: $339, 411
Seth Wilson: $245,002
Austin Rogers: $394,700
Jason Zuffranieri:$332,243
Jamie Ding: $291,820
So he's clearly much better at this point then David Madden and Julia Collins were but compared to Ken, Austin or Matt Jackson he's not in their zip code.
In my piece on Harrison Whitaker I said at this point I can differentiate between three types of super-champions. Here's the guideposts I gave:
1. Those who completely dominate a game from beginning to end and leave both their opponents in the dust by the time the Jeopardy round is over. Amy Schneider, Matt Amodio and Cris Panullo are the clearest examples of that since the post-Trebek era began.
2. Those who while they play well frequently do not runaway with their matches and need to get Final Jeopardy correct in order to win. Ray Lalonde and Adriana Harmeyer are the most recent examples.
3. Those who run away with most of their games but not by incredible margins. Mattea Roach and Ryan Long fit this model.
At this point Jamie is closer to the third example than any others. He has managed to runaway with seven games but in four of them – including today – he hasn't had much of a margin to write home about. On Wednesday's game, which was the closest call he had this week Thayer had just over 50 percent of Jamie's total and it was only because all three of them responding incorrectly on Final Jeopardy that Jamie survived a scare. Indeed last week he survived three very close matches which were decided only in Final Jeopardy and all three times he responded correctly. In two of them he was the only one to do so and in Friday's game, his nearest opponent also responded correctly. In each of those three games Jamie's two opponents each finished with five figure totals.
All super-champions, like any other Jeopardy player, have to have as much as luck as they do skill in order to win. Jamie has been very good at finding Daily Doubles and making them pay off. But a lot of times his opponents have found them ahead of him and its worked in his favor. In his first defense of his title Andrew Ford kept close to him until Double Jeopardy and when he found the second Daily Double and got it wrong Jamie ran away with the game. On Monday he was challenged by Max Gencov for most of the game until Max found the second Daily Double in Double Jeopardy and got it wrong, which cost him $8000. And in the last few games whenever Jamie has found Daily Doubles it's been decidedly hit or miss. On Tuesday he got one wrong that cost him $6000 and it was only on a remarkable run near the end of Double Jeopardy that he managed – by an inch – to clinch another runaway. And on tonight's game he lost $4400 on a Daily Double late in Double Jeopardy and finished Double Jeopardy with $19,800 – his lowest total at the end of Double Jeopardy to this point. Only because his opponents struggled as much did he manage to run away with the game.
He's also starting simultaneously to struggle with Final Jeopardy as well. He responded correctly on seven of his first eight and the one he got wrong was in a runaway. (Though Jamie was the most reckless he was in a Final Jeopardy and bet $30,000 to finish with a $3000 pay day. He learned from that mistake.) But he's gotten only one of his last three Final Jeopardy's correct and he's actually starting to lose altitude.
No one can deny Jamie is an incredible player: in addition to his near record 44 correct responses, he's given 36 correct responses in two separate games and 32 correct responses in another, while in yet another he gave 25 and didn't give a single incorrect response. And considering just how good some of his opposition has been even in those runaways he's got, everyone knows Jamie has serious game. (Conversely I can think of anywhere between 7 to 10 players in Jamie's run who will no doubt be considered for the Season 43 Second Chance Tournament whenever it happens.)
But unlike some of his fellow super-champions Jamie seems to be losing altitude. After their eighth win Jeopardy greats such as Jason Zuffranieri and Scott Riccardi stepped up their game and actually had far more dominant wins in the week that followed. Jamie, by contrast, is starting to fall into the same pattern Harrison did during his run with his margins in runaways getting thinner and thinner. I would be shocked if he manages to end next week the same way he did the past two – though he may yet surprise us all.
Still there is another reason to marvel at Jamie's run besides the obvious one. The 2027 Tournament of Champions will be the first one since 2024 to have at least two super-champions competing in it. And given the new format, both Harrison and Jamie will be granted a bye into the semi-finals. Throw in the fact that Season 41 was closed out by Scott Riccardi and Peak Jeopardy has officially returned to your screens. It may take a bit longer to fill out the roster for the next Tournament of Champions – there are only four official and two unofficial slots filled at this point – but if Jamie and Harrison are part of it, I have no doubt fans can hardly wait for the next postseason.
I'll be back when Jamie's run comes to an end for his final ranking.
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