Matt Amodio Finally Loses On Jeopardy! with $1.5 Million in Winnings

38 Time Jeopardy Champion, Matt Amodio, ended his record streak yesterday and cemented his place as owner to the second-longest winning streak.Credit: Jeopardy Productions, Inc.

 

What's Poland? 

That was the final answer that dethroned Matt Amodio's 38-game winning streak on Jeopardy! 

The question being: Nazi Germany annexed this nation & divided it into regions of the Alps & the Danube; the Allies later divided it into 4 sectors

The winner of Monday's game, Johnathan Fisher, an actor from Coral Gables, Fl, guessed the correct answer (What is Austria) after leading going into Final Jeopardy.

Amodio's streak falls short of the all-time record of 74 set by Ken Jennings in the mid-2000's when the show first allowed multi-win champions to continue playing past the old five game limit. 

A doctoral student from Yale, Amodio has racked up over $1.5 million in winnings during this amazing streak, making him the 4th highest winning Jeopardy! contestant of all-time. 

Though, his run has not been without controversy. 

Amodio has performed his feat through a multitude of guest hosts and even persevered through the short-lived drama brought on by former Executive Producer Mike Richards when he was named to replace long-time host, Alex Trebek, as permanent host. Mayim Balik took on hosting duties through the end of Amodio's run. 

The Jeopardy! faithful were also polarized by his winning streak. Several large swaths of avid fans were peeved by his "rule loophole" answer style of "What's..." for every clue answer instead of adjusting his response to the traditional "Who is..." or "What is..." depending on the answer. Yet, Amodio won over a large majority of fans with his impressive feat and boyish charm. 

This isn't the last we'll see of Matt. Amodio will likely be back soon for the Jeopard Tournament of Champions. In the mean-time, former contestants will be heads down in Jeopardy study guides to prepare to take on the trivia behemoth.

 

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