The “Amodio Rodeo” is officially over at Jeopardy! as long-running champ, Matt Amodio‘s winning streak came to an end during the October 11 episode.
Amodio’s 38-game streak was toppled by new competitor Jonathan Fisher, an actor originally from Coral Gables, Florida. The fiercely competitive match was a close call as Jessica Stephens, a statistical research specialist from Nashville, Tennessee lead the score for most of the game before coming in second place.
Fisher finished the game with $29,200, Stephens wasn’t far behind with $28,799, but Amodio trailed behind with his third-place score of $5,600. During the game, Fisher landed two Daily Doubles in the Double Jeopardy! category, putting him at a significant advantage heading into the Final Jeopardy! round.
(Credit: Jeopardy Productions, Inc.)
Faced with the Final Jeopardy! category, “Countries of the World,” the clue was “Nazi Germany annexed this nation & divided it into regions of the Alps & the Danube; The Allies later divided it into 4 sectors.” The correct response was “What is Austria?”
Both Fisher and Stephens answered accurately, but Amodio did not, leading him to his downfall. “Everybody’s so smart and so competent that this could happen any game,” said Amodio of his loss. “And this time it did.” Despite the fact that his winning streak is over, Amodio isn’t going home a loser as the player collected a total of $1,518,601 throughout his run on the game show.
Amodio’s streak put him in the number two spot for all-time consecutive wins behind Ken Jennings (74 wins). His winnings also landed him the number three spot on the all-time non-tournament cash winnings list behind James Holzhauer ($2,462,216) and Jennings ($2,520,700).
“I always wanted to be a Jeopardy! champion and I accomplished that,” Amodio said. “l know going into every bar trivia game that I play that I’m going to come in with a little intimidation factor. But also, I just like the badge that it represents. As somebody who prioritizes knowledge and knowing things, this is really a good one to have following me everywhere.”
And rest assured, this isn’t the last time fans will see Amodio as the player will return for the next Tournament of Champions.
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