Top 5 ‘Jeopardy!’ champs with most consecutive victories
Jamie Ding of New Jersey is among the Top 5 ‘Jeopardy!’ champs based on most consecutive victories on the show.
- On Friday’s show, Jamie Ding’s opponents were: Tini Howard, a comic book writer from Van Nuys, California, and Taotao Zhang, a statistician from South River.
Jamie Ding had to get past a fellow New Jerseyan to win his 26th consecutive game on the Friday, April 17 episode of “Jeopardy!”
On Friday’s show, Ding’s opponents were: Tini Howard, a comic book writer from Van Nuys, California, and Taotao Zhang, a statistician from South River.
Early on, Zhang was making it competitive, but risked it all on a Double Jeopardy in the second round and missed to drop back to zero, according to TheJeopardyFan.com.
By the time Final Jeopardy rolled around, Ding once again had the match locked up. Ding had $23,800 to Zhang’s $8,400 and Howard’s $2,800, TheJeopardyFan.com reported.
Friday’s Final Jeopardy was: “The name of this opera means ‘Faithful’; it is used as an alias by a character who implores a prisoner to not lose faith.”
All three contestants knew the correct response: “What is Fidelio?”
The Lawrenceville resident risked $6,200 to win $30,000 for the game and increase his 26-day total to $732,000.
He is within striking distance of sixth place on the regular-season money list and fellow New Jerseyan Cris Pannullo, an Ocean City native who earned $748,286 while winning 21 games in 2022, according to Jeopardy.com.
Ding remains in fifth place on the all-time consecutive victory list, trailing James Holzhauer, who won 32 games in 2019 (See lists below). Holzhauer also owns every spot in the Top 10 list of single-game winnings.
He moved up to 11th on the all-time money list (including tournaments), according to TheJeopardyFan.com.
“Jeopardy!” first aired in 1964 and ran until 1975, before coming back in 1978-1979 and then again for good in 1984. It was not until September of 2003 that the show lifted the five-game winning limit.
Who is Jamie Ding?
Ding, who works for the New Jersey Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency, has secured a spot in the season-ending Tournament of Champions.
He has a supporter in New Jersey Gov. Mikie Sherrill, who applauded Ding after he set an impressive record on the show.
On the March 17 show, Ding set the mark for highest Coryat score with with $42,400, topping the record of $39,200 achieved by now “Jeopardy!” host Ken Jennings on June 10, 2004, according to TheJeopardyFan.com. On the April 1 show, Ding tied Jennings with at $39,200 Coryat. A Coryat score, named after a former contestant, is the sum of the natural value of any clues without Daily Doubles or Final Jeopardy.
“Let’s hear it for @njhousing’s very own Jamie Ding!” Sherrill tweeted on April 14. “Last night, he secured the title of the New Jersey player with the most wins in Jeopardy history. Keep on making New Jersey proud!”
Sen. Andy Kim has also tweeted out congratulations to Ding during his run.
Sen. Cory Booker posted on April 1: “Jamie Ding! Making New Jersey proud! This Lawrenceville resident spends his days helping fund affordable housing across the Garden State, then goes on national TV and dominates. The man answers trivia on @Jeopardy and houses people for a living. New Jersey does not miss. Keep buzzing, Jamie.”
Originally, Ding is from the Detroit area, having graduated from Grosse Pointe North High School in 2009. He graduated from Princeton University in 2013.
Ding told his alma mater that being on the show is “phenomenal.” He represents the Princeton colors with his outfits on “Jeopardy!” – orange and black.
While working full-time, Ding is also continuing his education by pursuing a law degree from Seton Hall Law School. He is enrolled in the Weekend J.D. program.
He told the school for a story: “I loved my job and wasn’t sure I could handle evening classes after a long workday. The weekend structure lets me focus on learning rather than logistics.”
The weekend students are on the Ding bandwagon with specially designed orange T-shirts and watch parties.
The “Jeopardy!” champ’s father is Dr. Yuchuan Ding, a professor of neurosurgery at Wayne State University in Detroit.
“I didn’t realize he could go this far, but I think he deserves that because he’s been interested in this kind of knowledge for a long time,” Dr. Ding told the university.
The Ding family even got to attend a celebration at the governor’s mansion in New Jersey to recognize his “Jeopardy!” achievements.
He and his sister have a Instagram account where they review General Tsos chicken at restaurants called: @attorneygeneraltsos. Ding talked about it on the show.
Top 10 ‘Jeopardy!’ consecutive wins
Here are the Top “Jeopardy!” contestants in terms of consecutive wins, according to Jeopardy.com:
- Ken Jennings, 74 games, 2004
- Amy Schneider, 40 games, 2022
- Matt Amodio, 38 games, 2021
- James Holzhauer, 32 games, 2019
- Jamie Ding, 26 games, current
- Mattea Roach, 23 games, 2022
- Cris Pannullo, 21 games, 2022
- Julia Collins, 20 games, 2014
- Jason Zuffranieri, 19 games, 2019
- David Madden, 19 games, 2005
Top 10 ‘Jeopardy!’ regular-season money
Here are the Top “Jeopardy!” contestants in terms of money won during regular-season play, according to Jeopardy.com:
- Ken Jennings, $2,520,700
- James Holzhauer, $2,462,216
- Matt Amodio, $1,518,601
- Amy Schneider, $1,382,800
- Cris Pannullo, $748,286
- Jamie Ding, $732,000
- Mattea Roach, $560,983
- Jason Zuffranieri, $532,496
- Scott Riccardi, $455,000
- David Madden, $430,400
