Top 10 Best Jeopardy Players EVER
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Many have played, but only a select few can truly be called the best Jeopardy players of all time.
For this list, we’ll be looking at the most talented, successful and accomplished people to ever answer in the form of a question. Our countdown includes Jerome Vered, Julia Collins, Brad Rutter, and more! WatchMojo ranks the best Jeopardy players of all time. Who do you think is the best Jeopardy player ever? Let us know in the comments!
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This is the list of people who did their homework so well they actually got paid for it. Low key kinda jelly though. They must have spent weeks cramming and practicing. Definitely worth it.
Top 10 anime DEUS EX MACHINA moments
Where is IBM Watson
Matt Amodio would like to have a word with you
Idk why Jeopardy is so entertaining for me, I literally can only answer like 1 question every episode
I Talk Everything I too find that show entertaining and I live in Australia.
The clues are the answers. No one "answers questions" in jeopardy
@@mbdg6810 Only in Soviet Russia Jeopardy. In real Jeopardy, contestants question answers.
I find myself getting most of the answers right
Some of them I just guess
Others I legitimately know
SAME OMG
I say Austin Rogers is supposed to be mentioned or even an honorable mention. A bartender with a wide sense of knowledge. Yes!!! He is in the Top 10. 😉👍
Aye, and Frank Spangenburg the transit cop.
The best is that guy who wagered damn near everything to intentionally give question: “We love you, Alex” instead playing the game... we’re done here
That Indian contestant from Brown was not going to win that final (he was third), but it was very touching he gave that response as his answer.
I nearly cried when I saw that
Definitely. My great-grandmother first told me about Ken Jennings on the phone in the summer of 2004 during one of my summer trips to Ohio to see family. With 74 wins under his belt, plus participating in various tournaments, including The Greatest of All Time tournament, he has earned the title The Greatest of All Time. I've been a big fan of Jeopardy, Alex Trebek, and Johnny Gilbert for years also.
I have been lucky to have watched Jeopardy all 47 seasons. While this is a fun list, it doesn't include any players from the first 11 seasons from the Art Fleming years, when the questions were arguably harder. Also, it doesn't include many players from the era when you had to retire as a Jeopardy Champion after five games, and the questions were arguably harder too.
James Holzhauer, Ken Jennings, and Brad Rutter are my favorite Jeopardy! players of all time! They are very amazing Jeopardy! players!
I. Love. James. He’s such a pleasure to watch!
Donna Leach, he’s from my hometown.
Even though he didn't fare so well after the year he won the Tournament of Champions honorable mention shuld be given to the original superstar of Jeopardy Chuck Forrest.
James changed the game as evidence by the greatest of all time tournament ken was able to adjust to james' style of big bets but brad wasn't so i think james should be ahead of brad
Big facts! James wasn’t given the opportunity to win big bucks like brad was in tournaments too
but james lost too. Brad beat jennings multiple times his #2 spot is well deserved Brad was # 1 before the goat happened
@@liambarron9772 Yeah, because he's the third best
@@liambarron9772 yeah it does. You asked if you were the only one who thinks James is the best I say yes you are the only one because he's not the best
@@eastonmckay5463 he had the opportunity in g o a t but he didn't capitalise on it because he lost to Jennings. Brad had the same opportunity against Ken Jennings but beat him 4 times
There was actual trash talk with the GOAT Jeopardy. That was nice to see
didn't james at one point say something about how he prepared for the tournament by "reading books by ken jennings" ?
James was a savage in that tournament!
“Brad’s score is still up there”
@@liamcarmody4217 That made me laugh for a solid minute.
@@liamcarmody4217 My favorite dig - that even Alex was unprepared for!
I used to watch Jeopardy as a teenager with my mother and once scored $17k when I was 15 on the adult Jeopardy. Pretty proud moment.
Ken Jennings better be on this list. I remember watching his whole original run.
James is my fav, but I agree with the list
I feel like James deserves a hat tip for changing the way Ken and Brad would've preferred to play in the GOAT tournament. A big reason Ken won was because he adopted James' all in daily double bets and nailed the answers.
James has a 3 times higher accuracy rate than Ken Jennings.
Yeah, i think over many games he beats ken, but ken won the last tourney and him and brad have more accomplishments than james, they have played a lot more jeopardy so people are going to put james third on the list.
If I were to train my brain for Jeopardy!, perhaps Ken Jennings could be my coach, maybe even my opponent for practice games.
Yet another great list watchmojo. You for still keeping them coming❤️
In that best of the best tournament I felt my IQ had dropped at least 20 points. Hehe
One little nitpick: Brad Rutter competed WAY before most people on this list. At the time, the clues were valued at half of what they are now, and a contestant would be forced to retire after 5 wins. Both of these rules changed in back-to-back years right before Ken Jennings started, allowing him a shot at much higher paydays, and a lot more of them. Rutter also has recorded a number of wins over Jennings as well. I still agree with the list (moreso now after the GOAT tournament), but it still is worth mentioning.
Although hasn't Brad won basically every tournament he's been in except the GOAT?
RIP Alex Trebek
I honestly would've put Brad Rutter at #3 and James Holzhauer at #2.
Like i was saying before, i think james is the best skill wise and statistically. I think in the long run he beats both ken and brad, but ken won the last tourney so accomplishment wise people are going to put them over james in terms of who they think is best. James just hasnt played nearly as much jeopardy as them.
You should mention that Brad Rutter was restricted to 5 wins back when he played and the following year the prize money was doubled in the clues. Therefore he would have no chance for the longest winning streak and you could win a lot more money when the money in the clues was doubled.
That is all true, but his performance in the ultimate tourney of champions with he, James and Ken clearly showed he was not at their level. Ken had more opportunities at championships than James, but those two are clearly the brightest of all time on the show, and James per game winnings smoke everyone else! He nearly equalled Ken's regular season winnings in 42 less games! I do think Ken just tired of all the pressure from the streak, and being tight-lipped about results (games are taped weeks in advance), as the Final Jeopardy question was a super easy one that most junior high kids would know. I think he gave a wrong answer on purpose. The gal who "beat" him never won another g ame. Ken knew H&R Block was the answer, but gave FedEx as his response. FedEx is NOT a seasonal business at all!
@@jdhjimbo Ken would average over $186,000 a day in winnings playing 5 games a day. He said he didn't purposely lose and the "gal" who beat him was lucky and was outplayed in that game. Since he stated that you are calling him a liar. Seemingly "easy" questions are missed all the time. Brad was demolished in the GOAT and the adding of James in competition, a very strong player, and Ken being there may have made the mix in the playing field too strong for him. After all he had always managed to beat Ken before but also maybe Ken had managed to up his game for the GOAT.
@@jfryza Every repeat champion is playing 5 games per day because that is how their taping schedule goes. I am not calling Ken a liar, as he would never come out and say he purposely lost, but for someone of his caliber to miss such an easy Final is beyond reasonable explanation. Weaker players miss easy questions often, and I am amazed that several questions that I find easy are not even responded to, and yet more esoteric and difficult questions are responded to easily. Brad was a great player for many years, but did not bone-up for the $Million battle with Ken & James. Even on the takeoff of Jeopardy, "The Chase", Brad is the weakest link when he is The Chaser, though still very smart. When you have great minds meeting, it often boils down to the Daily Doubles. In the deciding game, James got ZERO of them - something he used many times to gain the lead, or push the lead to uncatchable dimensions. Ken, James, and Brad are all great contestants, and each capable of beating the other in any single game, but over the long haul, I believe James and Ken would be the final duo, and it would likely boil down to Daily Doubles and/or perhaps a category (like Opera, for James) where their strength is not that good. I love geography, sports and history, but stink on pop culture since I care little about it and do not follow. Movies and TV from the 80's and before, I'm pretty strong, but once Hollywood went pure trash, I avoid both, for the most part, so know nothing about recent "stars" or rap artists, etc. I could guess a few names, and occasionally get lucky, but not KNOW, like in other categories.
@@jdhjimbo Glad you realize that the Daily Doubles and Final Jeopardy are very important in winning games. Jeopardy wants the drama. Many fans don't seem to realize that. James answered 9 more question in the GOAT and got one more wrong than Ken. Yet, some talk as if James was blown away. During his streak James would have met stronger competition than Ken as the number of candidates were increased by online and more ways to qualify. They also got some experience on buzzing in. Ken opponents didn't get that practice and were from a smaller pool of candidates. Ken could have lost his first game as he had a small lead, they did not accept his answer right away and he was on his honeymoon at the time and did not watch the 2000 Olympics.
@@jfryza I was impressed by James risking so much often, and he answered 31 Final Jeopardy questions right out of 33 games - very impressive! Ken adapted his style to James, so he risked more than normal, and also began to pick the $1000 and $2000 clues first, like James did. Both are smart and have a great depth of knowledge, but as we know, you have to get a few breaks. James had 2 games in his 32-game streak that he won by very small margins, and he lost to Emma, the librarian from Chicago, based on her wagering a bundle on a Daily Double (James did not hit either of them in Double Jeopardy). She only won 2 more games, so not even sure why she was entered into the TOC, as that usually requires 5 wins. James beat her soundly in the rematch. It is amazing that so few women have had multiple wins, as I think the number of contestants is fairly evenly-split. The 2 gals that made this list are the few who really excelled. I do recall a gal from Michigan, Jennifer Quail (near Grand Rapids) that won 7 games, but her average was not that high. A vast majority of James'wins were runaways.
If Ken Jennings wasn’t number 1, this list would need to be redone.
Spoiler:
Thank fuck it does
James Holzhauer deserves 1st, he created the ultimate strategy for beating jepordy and survived the strategy jepordy used to rid themselves of Ken jennings by making the games harder
No. just no.
I agree. Also he brought a ton of popularity back to the show and his emergence literally caused its own mini tournament. Not the most earning player, but in my book the best, along with the most entertaining to watch. I swear I got whiplash watching him nightly
tom, the entire pint of the GOAT tournament was to determine which was the best head to head and they played 8 total actual games. ken won 5 individual matches, James won 3. ken won 3 full mathes to James 1 total match to brad's 0. so that is plenty sample size to see. ken is number one. by all other metrics James and ken are nearly equal. brad because of his tournaments more than regular season. but ken proved himself against James. I say metrics because you can't go by the actual amounts on single days won as James simply wagered way way more on everything giving him even more to wager with on subsequent DD's and FJ's if you go by how many clues and dollar value amounts not including wagers, then ken and James are pretty much dead even
james did not create the strategies he used on the show
1:50 James Holzhauer surpassed Ken Jennings with 2.7 million.
Where Turd Ferguson at?...
NCFC97 OMG best comment ever 😂🥴🤣
matt jackson was my favorite. during his streak, when he would be introduced. he would creepily put up his fingers to the what day he was on.
For the first time ever, I 100% agree with the list.
I like how they are all dressed as cliche nerds.
Where's a suit........."nerds" 😂😂😂😂
Ryan Fester was a joy to watch! It was a nail biter how he would seemingly lose and suddenly make a come back at the last moment.
Ooh, ditto on Ryan Fenster. His run was one of the most memorable in the show's history. It's too bad he underperformed in the 2019 TOC.
I also loved Buzz, the guy from the music industry in LA, whose father was a tailor. It would be hard to find anyone more entertaining than Austin, but he was not a superstar when compared to some of the others.
He’s not on here since he only won 7 games
All I'm saying is Ken better be #1
Also the top 3 were hella predictable
I like the video and the song! Thanks, Mojo
Austin and James were my favorites
Someone send this video to Alex Trebek! He’d love this
Heaven doesn’t have internet.
There are 6 players who I'm surprised didn't make the Top 10 or not even considered:
1) Chuck Forrest:
Chuck first appeared on the show in 1985 as a grad student. He won $72,800 and retired as a 5 Time Champion. He later won the Tournament of Champions in the next season. Chuck later appeared in 4 Jeopardy! Tournaments. (He also created the 'Forrest Bounce' always switching to a different category.)
2) Frank Spangenberg:
Frank first appeared on the show in 1990 and retired as a 5 Time Champion with $102,597. That record stood even after the dollar values were doubled. Frank later appeared in 6 Jeopardy! Tournaments.
3) Eddie Timanus:
Eddie is the first blind contestant that appeared on Jeopardy! He won 5 games at $69,700 and qualified for the Tournament of Champions. Eddie later went on to compete in 3 Jeopardy! Tournaments.
4) Robin Carroll:
Robin first appeared on the show in 2000. Robin retired as a 5 Time Champion with $64,100. Robin not only won the Tournament of Champions but went on to win the last Jeopardy! International Tournament representing the USA. Robin had won the most money on Jeopardy! until Brad Rutter won the Million Dollar Masters Tournament.
5) Alex Jacob:
Alex first appeared on the show in 2015 and won 6 games while picking up close to $150,000. Alex was also known to bet everything on Daily Doubles and was very dominant in the 2015 Tournament of Champions winning that as well.
6) Buzzy Cohen:
Buzzy was always known for his good sense of humor and the funny responses he wrote for Final Jeopardy! especially when he had a lockout. Buzzy first appeared on Jeopardy! in 2016 winning 9 games and picking up close to $165,000 and later winning the 2017 Tournament of Champions.
Those players could've made the list. Feel free to comment if I left anybody off.
I think Emma Boettcher, Cindy Stowell, Jerry Frankel, Elise Beraru, Russ Schumacher, Bob Verini, Tom Cubbage, Rachael Schwartz, and Pam Mueller are good choices as well.
@@bellabliss1860 you could even add Leszek Pawlowicz to the list as well
I was wondering, "Where's Eddie?!"
Frank and his cop moustache too, now that you remind me lol
Is anyone actually surprised at who's in the top 3?
Unsurprisingly.
You'll have to do this again with new champ Matt Amodio!
I agree! And Amy Schneider Mattea and Cris Pannullo as well.
Brad was totally the third wheel in Greatest of all Time
Matt Amodio: Hold my beer.
“Who is the greatest jeopardy player ever?” Easiest question ever.
Arthur Cho might only get a honorable mention spot here, but he'll always be my #1 most unbearable ahole in the world.
I respect him a ton as a player, but yeah he's a bit of a mess.
How about a Top 10 Best Wheel of Fortune Players Ever or a Top 10 Best Who Wants to Be a Millionaire Players Ever? I would love to see either one, or maybe both!
I noticed from comments in various videos that James Holzhauer is the most liked even though he is number 3 in the ranking records. Even the contestants in The Chase do not want to him to be their Chaser. I myself can’t explain why I like him so much. Maybe his looks, the quirky smile or his humbleness.
Matt Amodio: Hold my beer.
Matt a was my favorite after James H and Austin R.!!
Well this needs to be updated
I would’ve been unbelievably shocked if Ken was not #1 and not pleasantly so.
Matt Amodio has entered the room.
Thank you so much for ur love n support guys ❤
Elise Berau is the very first five-time champ on Jeopardy! which should be on the list.
I'm guessing Watson's excluded for the sake of fairness towards human players.
Watson only played in one tournament. The humans have played regular season and tournaments.
In their primes
1. Ken
2. Brad
3. James
Man I love watch mojo, the ideas for videos are endless
I think that James should have been second because he was really close too ken in the greatest of all time and destroyed brad in everything.
I would agree, but Brad still won 5 tournaments; the 2001 tournament of champions, the million dollar masters, the 2005 Ultimate tournament of champions, the battle of the decades, and the all star games; however he didn't play very well in the GOAT.
James wasn't even remotely close to Ken Jennings. He lost the tournament 3 games to 1, losing match 3 by 34,000 points and match 4 by 54,000. Ken mopped the floor.
@@157jtm yes but he just lost and his career is just starting and brad and ken have had decades while he has had like 6 months
@@bradysommer1147 I don't think you'll be seeing any of the three ever again. Alex Trebek said during the tournament that this was probably the last time they'd ever be competing on the Jeopardy stage. That's why it was so important for James to make his claim as best ever in the tournament of all tournaments and he obviously came up short.
@@mikeanderson5034 No he said the last of ken. Brad probably will not be playing again but James will.
I love this channel it’s cool 🐶
Ok movies
Movieflix PLUS wow that was a cool video I subscribed 🙂
Movieflix PLUS Bruce Lee movies are classic the first you said I thought was cool I subscribed and I hope your channel gets bigger ✌️
This show will never be the same, I kinda hope they just stop it in honor of Trebek but I know they probably won’t 😞
who's here after matt amodio would totally be on this list?
top 3 is no surprise, James was the best!! i remember seeing James' run when i saw Hamilton (i saw it April 7th 2019)
James is probably the best in terms of skill, but ken has the accomplishments with the record and tourney that most will consider him the best now.
Jennings and James whipped Brad all over the studio. The Mt. Rushmore is those two, then Brad fetched them snacks
LOL!
I knew Ken Jennings would make it to the top
You and everyone else watching...
@@RinJackson C'mon IT WAS OBVIOUS IT'D BE JENNINGS
I wonder who won the most money during the original run with Art Fleming with Don Pardo as announcer?
Fun Fact: Don Pardo did a cameo in Weird Al Yankovich's parody song " I Lost on 'Jeopardy!''.
great show
Ken is #1 to me also.
How is Alex Jacob not on this list? Not only did he win the Tournament of Champions (defeating Matt Jackson in the Final), if I remember right, he was the first pick in the Jeopardy All-Star Games, so he was obviously recognized as a great.
From Illinois. Yes he was a superstar, and I felt bad in the team tourney when he was forced to risk everything when his teammates had performed pokrly.
Dam James' creepy smile is creepy
You might have to do an update video now that Matt Amodio is in second place for all time wins.
Matpat has entered the chat
Wow Jennifer Quail didn’t make the honorable mentions at least? I can’t wait to see her in the next tournament of champions!
And now Ken Jennings is the host of the damn show! That dude is mad boss.
The irony is Jeopardy had just changed the rule so that a player could play beyond a 5 game winning streak when Ken Jennings started his epic run.
"Go get my money like my names tommy". 😂😂😂😂 what shit
I really had no idea who would be first lol it's like me trying to figure out final Jeopardys answer lol I love this show not because I'm good at it but because I get to learn something and feel like a genius everytime I get two or three in a row lol bit seriously Jennings was a lock
It’s always a crap shoot to rank players especially over the long time that Jeopardy has been on the air. For instance Brad Ritter played in the era that when you won 5 games you were off the show. So if he had been playing with today’s rules who knows how many games he would have won. And I believe that Ken Jennings said that he had never beaten Brad until the GOAT tournament. And in that, Ken had to adapt his playing style to James’. James on the other hand changed the way people play the game and 32 consecutive wins is nothing to sneeze at. All in all, I think the rankings are spot on. I think Emma Boetcher could have been an honorable mention.
Where's Burns Cameron from the original Art Fleming Jeopardy? He was a five time undefeated champion winning $7,070 and that years Tournament of Champions
wow, Eddie Timanus, the only 5-time retired blind champion was not listed here, a loss for anyone with a disability
That was also when contestants were no longer seen entering the studio at the beginning of the show
MY TOP 10 BEST Jeopardy Players:
10. Chris Pannullo
9. Larissa Kelly
8. David Madden
7. Watson
6. Mattea Roach
5. Matt Amodio
4. Amy Schnieder
3. James Holzhauer
2. Ken Jennings
1. Brad Rutter
Watson? That’s just a computer. Shouldn’t Cris Pannullo be 6 or 7? And Ken should be #1 since he has won $5,000,000 and Brad won $4,000,000.
@@fable9159 Brad Rutter's winnings are actually $4,938,436 and Ken's winnings are $4,370,700.
@@mattconaway7925 Ken was on other game shows and won a lot of money on them
And some of them would have won more had the show not been restricted to five consecutive wins back then.
Finding a player that actually has a pErsONAliTY on this show is rare
Most of these guys competed recently based on video quality
IBM Watson should've been somewhere on this list.
Other than that it's perfect.
I could marry #10 I love his absolute quirkiness and I thought he was cute. I also love #1 of course.
I find Austin the barman very entertaining to watch and some of the things he dose on the show makes me think why not he peruse a career as a comedian. I reckon he'd be a good member of the SNL cast.
He reminded me of a more energized version of Detective Bobby Goren from Law & Order: Criminal Intent 😄
mojo, for Jerome Vered and Brad Rutter, even Spangenberg, any contestants before 2001, you should double their scores to relate how good they are for the values were all half at that point. and they had a 5 day limit til 2003
No chuck forrest? Most of these people used a technique named for him....
Mojo UK should do a video on British quiz winners, because I know there is at least one person, who has been several quiz shows. Also one of the Who Wants To Be A Millionaire winners now is one of the Eggheads.
The rankings should be changed because of Mattea's 23 game run on the show.
And Matt Amodio’s 38 game streak, Amy Schneider’s 40 game streak, and Cris Pannullo’s 21 game streak.
Surprised that the most recent big winner Matt Amodio isn’t on the list
Matt Amodio did not play yet when this video was uploaded.
Oh
I’m a little unhappy that Alex Jacob is not there. I mean I know he only won 6 games, but his 2015 ToC win and his successful daily double wagers are worth noting.
Roger Craig should have been a captain in the All-Star Tournament.
If they did this video last year, Brad would have been chosen as #1. But he did so poorly in the GOAT tournament that they pretty much had to give it to Ken. Brad beat Ken 4 times up to then and was undefeated in his whole Jeopardy career, but Ken crushed everybody in GOAT so that's that. This lady who does the video says "Brad only had a 5 game winning streak" well no kidding, they were limited to 5 games back then!
Switch Brad and James and I agree with this list
Top 10 anime DEUS EX MACHINA moments
Now the top 3 are on the chase
We Should Change Number 8 To Matt Amodio.
Matt should be number 4
@@nevillejones7416 SAY LESS
Hot take: my theory is that Ken Jennings threw his last game because he was tired of winning
I agree with the list but my favorite was James🤗👨🏻🦼
How is frank spangenberger not an honorable mention
He only won 5 games and he was on the 5 game limit rule
as a sports fan, im thinking of a different Roger Craig when she says that name
Anyone else hate jeopardy cause all the contestants are smarter then you'll ever be or something
We miss you, Alex
These players are just very smart
There is a guy on there now on day 32 with winning of 1.2 million we need to update this list! :)
That is Matt Amodio! He is one of my favorites!
IMO you have to list 1-3 in this placements they came in the GOAT tournament. Brad got absolutely smoked despite hitting a huge amount of daily doubles. Maybe we need more jeopardy tournaments with James and brad competiting to prove it further but IMO the guy that literally changed the metagame of jeopardy single-handedly is better than the guy that has won the most money
And what ever happened to "win it on the field"??
Ken only lost because he was tired of appearing on the show. LOL!