Amodio’s streak has been both incredibly impressive and a genuinely important bit of stability for the venerated quiz show undergoing a hosting crisis. In fact, when Amodio made his first TV appearance since the streak began on Monday morning’s episode of Good Morning America, two former Jeopardy! guest hosts were among his interviewers: Robin Roberts and George Stephanopolous. It was actually under Roberts that Amodio’s streak began, on an unassuming Wednesday episode. “I thought there was no chance I’d be on Jeopardy! longer than you,” Amodio told Roberts during their interview. But Amodio did outlast Roberts … and then LeVar Burton, David Faber, and Joe Buck. He even outlasted Mike Richards’ very brief tenure as “permanent” host. He is now continuing his reign of terror under Mayim Bialik’s second hosting stint and if he keeps this up, he will have a chance to break Jennings’ record when Jennings actually serves as guest host beginning November 5. Now that Amodio has passed Holzhauer in consecutive games won, he must be pretty close to passing him in most money won, right? Nope. Not even close. After 33 wins, Amodio’s “regular season” (excluding special tournaments) total stands at $1,267,801. Respectable to say the least. Holzhauer’s winnings in roughly the same time frame, however, amount to $2,462,216. That is only $58,484 less than Ken Jennings’ final number … in 42 fewer games played. How did Holzhauer build up such a formidable warchest in such a relatively limited amount of time? By using his professional gambling skills. Holzhauer was notable for seeking out Daily Doubles and then going “all-in” on them, even if it risked ending his win streak altogether. To say the strategy was successful is to put it lightly. Every spot in Jeopardy!’s top 10 highest single episode winnings is taken up by a different Holzhauer game. Holzhauer rightfully realized that betting the max was the right move for a talented player. Worried about missing those Daily Doubles? Well, the answer to that is to just not miss them. It was a risky strategy to be sure, but it never failed, not even at the end. When Holzhauer’s streak was finally broken, going all in would not have saved him. Challenger Emma Boettcher had enough of a lead that her $20,201 wager would take her one dollar ahead of Holzhauer in Final Jeopardy! Now Amodio is the first Jeopardy! contestant in a post-Holzhauer landscape who has a chance to take down King Jennings and it’s been fascinating to watch him try to incorporate some of Holzhauer’s strategies. Amodio only began placing aggressive bets for Final Jeopardy! roughly halfway through his streak when it became apparent that he was competing against himself more than the other challengers. As such, Amodio’s current winnings total puts him on pace to win much more money than Jennings should he reach his record of 72 consecutive games. And yet, he still has a long way to go to even get to second place in earnings behind Holzhauer. Jeopardy! has been around for a long time and God (or Mayim Bialik)-willing it will continue to be. We will likely see more Ken Jennings-esque runs of consecutive wins. Seeing the pure in-game dominance of Holzhauer, however? That’s another thing entirely.
