The answer: Who is the Jeopardy GOAT?
The clue: This the question we’re all waiting for Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time to answer, starting on Tuesday night on ABC at 8 p.m. ET, in a series of one-hour back-to-back games.
The special series pits James Holzhauer, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter — three of its biggest winners — against each other, with the victor claiming serious bragging rights and also $1 million (the runner-ups get $250,000, which is still a huge Jeopardy! payday).
If you’re not familiar with them all, this is your guide, a tale of the tape as they get set to face off in primetime.
James Holzhauer
Longest winning streak: 32 games (second all-time)
Career regular-season winnings: $2,462,216 (second all-time)
All-time winnings including special tournaments: $2,712,216 (third all-time)
Other accomplishments: He owns every place in the top 10 of single-game winnings thanks to his super-aggressive betting, especially on Daily Doubles; won the 2019 Tournament of Champions, defeating Emma Boettcher — who eliminated him in the regular season to stop his win streak — in the process.
Ken Jennings
Longest winning streak: 74 games (first all-time)
Career regular-season winnings: $2,520,700 (first all-time)
All-time winnings including special tournaments: $3,370,700 (second all-time)
Other accomplishments: Finished second to Brad Rutter in the Ultimate Tournament of Champions and in Battle of the Decades, and second to IBM computer Watson.
Brad Rutter
Longest winning streak: five games (note that he competed in 2000, when the rules limited contestants to winning just five before stepping away from the show)
Career regular-season winnings: $55,102
All-time winnings including special tournaments: $4,688,436 (first all-time)
Other accomplishments: He’s won the 2001 Tournament of Champions, the Million Dollar Masters, the Ultimate Tournament of Champions, Battle of the Decades, and the All-Star Games. He also placed third against Watson.
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