Tag: Matt Amodio

One of the greatest runs in Jeopardy! history has come to an end.

Matt Amodio — the Ph.D student at Yale in computer science who became known for answering every clue with “what is …” or “what’s …” even if it was the name of a person, which drove some people nuts — was trying to continue a streak that has lasted for 38 straight games, which already put him on a list with the all-time greats.

But he went into Final Jeopardy in third place on Monday and missed the clue. The other two contestants nailed it, including new champion Jonathan Fisher.

Here’s that moment:

It’s goodbye to Amodio for now, though I’m hoping we see him on future Tournament of Champions.

Let’s review his stats:

• He won 38 straight games, besting James Holzhauer’s 32-game streak. That’s the second-longest streak in show history, 36 games behind Ken Jennings.
• His $1,518,601 regular-season winnings are third-best all time behind Holzhauer and Jennings.
• That number is the fourth-most in all-time winnings, including tournaments behind Holzhauer, Jennings and Brad Rutter.

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Matt Amodio, the 28-time (!!!) Jeopardy! champion, accomplished something only two other contestants can say they’ve done: He passed the $1 million mark last week in regular-season winnings.

He joins James Holzhauer and Ken Jennings with that feat, and on the all-time earnings list WITH tournaments, he’s joins Brad Rutter as well.

What’s even wilder is he’s just four games away from tying Holzhauer in consecutive nights won — if he keeps winning this week, he’ll do it on Thursday.

Of course, Holzhauer made twice as much money over that 32-win period, but let’s not diminish what Amodio’s done and continues to do. It’s amazing!

Seriously, this is wild stuff:

Even Matt Amodio is relieved to have finally crossed off the incorrect response! pic.twitter.com/ScXXDlW0Hm

— Jeopardy! (@Jeopardy) September 25, 2021

🚨 @AmodioMatt passed the $1 MILLION mark! 🚨

The #AmodioRodeo continues Monday. pic.twitter.com/8gjOajiXKp

— Jeopardy! (@Jeopardy) September 25, 2021

We’ll see if he can do it later this week.

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Matt Amodio, the Ph.D student at Yale, is now over $500,000 in winnings on Jeopardy! as he continues with a 16-game winning streak.

Along the way, he’s annoyed fans by answering everything with “What is …” or “What’s …” and that includes answers about people, as in “What’s Joe Buck?” not the grammatically-correct “Who is.”

But there’s a reason for that … and it makes a whole lot of sense.

In an interview with the website for Yale’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, he revealed his secret: it’s so that he can concentrate more on the rest of the clue and not focus on which part of speech to use. It’s kind of brilliant, isn’t it?

Here’s the Q&A:

Your answering style prompted some controversy, but Jeopardy! producers defended it. 

Yes, I have a strategy where I form all of my questions with a “what’s” at the beginning – then, I can focus on the rest of the clue. Other people have been very upset about me being robotic instead of forming a question differently each time. I was glad that Jeopardy! said this was perfectly within the rules. I’ve watched Jeopardy! every day of my life, so I knew it was OK.

You’re just eliminating unnecessary mental labor.

That’s the kind of thing we do in computer science all the time. You have a section of your program and it does “A” or it does “B” and it has to decide which. Then you realize “Wait, we never actually need to do ‘B,’” so you cut that off and just leave a smaller bit of program. It’s cleaner and where there are fewer things moving, there are fewer things that can go wrong.

No wonder he keeps winning.

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That headline is NOT hyperbole.

Matt Amodio, known mostly for answering “What is …” or “What’s” to every question on Jeopardy! and driving fans and grammar sticklers nuts, is now a 14-time champion after winning again on Monday night as Joe Buck hosted.

Despite crossing out the right answer on Final Jeopardy (it was “Who is Magellan?” and hey at least he writes the answer grammatically correct in the final round!), he is now up to $440,600 in earnings so far.

That already put him fourth on the all-time regular season winnings list, just under $100,000 behind Jason Zuffranieri. If he wants to crack the top-two? That might take a while given James Holzhauer’s $2,462,216 won.

He’s also sixth in win streaks, five games behind David Madden’s 19 contests won in 2005 and Zuffranieri’s same streak in 2019.

So yeah, he needs to be listed among the all-timers already … and there might be more wins in store for the Ph.D student at Yale.

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You may think that I’ve made a huge mistake in the headline: it should be “WHO is Matt Amodio?”

But here’s the thing! I’m only following what Amodio — a Jeopardy! contestant currently in the middle of a 10-game winning streak, now eighth on the all-time regular-season money list with $310,400 won — has done while claiming victories.

He answers every clue with “What is …” or “What’s …” That wouldn’t be so jarring, but if it’s “What is Napoleon?” that apparently makes fans of the show not very happy.

But isn’t that against the rules? Let’s dive into all things Amodio, including this particular quirk that has everyone buzzing.