(TJF Plus) Daily Details – Thursday, January 29, 2026

Current Champion

Nikolas Polsinelli, career statistics:
44 correct, 6 incorrect
2/2 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
35.96% in first on buzzer (41/114)
4/5 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $10,600)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $17,500

To win:
3 games: 64.111%
4: 41.102%
5: 26.351%
6: 16.894%
7: 10.831%
Avg. streak: 3.786 games.
(Click Here for Methodology)

Upcoming Encore Presentations

September 26-27: S42 E174 (May 7, 2026)
October 3-4: S42 E175 (May 8, 2026)
October 10-11: S42 E176 (May 11, 2026)
(Source: Bell Fibe TV program guide)

All Time Winnings

All Time Jeopardy! Winnings, Regular Play Only:

1. Ken Jennings $2,520,700
2. James Holzhauer $2,462,216
3. Matt Amodio $1,518,601
4. Amy Schneider $1,382,800
5. Jamie Ding $882,605
6. Cris Pannullo $748,286
7. Mattea Roach $560,983
8. Jason Zuffranieri $532,496
9. Scott Riccardi $455,000
10. David Madden $430,400
11. Julia Collins $428,100
12. Matt Jackson $411,612
13. Austin Rogers $411,000
14. Ray Lalonde $386,400
15. Harrison Whitaker $373,999
16. Adriana Harmeyer $349,600
17. Caleb Groen $346,968
18. Adam Remsen $306,415
19. Ryan Long $299,400
20. Arthur Chu $297,200

All Time Jeopardy! Winnings, Including Tournaments (and Consolation Prizes):

1. Brad Rutter $4,968,436
2. Ken Jennings $4,372,700
3. James Holzhauer $3,614,216
4. Matt Amodio $1,964,601
5. Amy Schneider $1,864,800
6. Yogesh Raut $1,598,403
7. Victoria Groce $1,023,801
8. Mattea Roach $897,983
9. Jamie Ding $885,605
10. David Madden $785,733
11. Cris Pannullo $754,286
12. Roger Craig $706,200
13. Andrew He $684,365
14. Larissa Kelly $671,930
15. Matt Jackson $623,612
16. Jason Zuffranieri $549,496
17. Paolo Pasco $548,717
18. Scott Riccardi $533,000
19. Jerome Vered $499,102
20. Julia Collins $495,767
21. Austin Rogers $493,000
22. Juveria Zaheer $491,000
23. Ben Ingram $449,201
24. Adriana Harmeyer $446,600
25. Buzzy Cohen $441,603

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Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:

Ashley Chan, a publicist from Lewisville, Texas

Cameron Berry, a data analyst & college administrator from Brighton, Massachusetts

Paolo Pasco, a puzzle writer originally from San Diego, California

Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:

Today sees the third and final semifinal of the 33^rd Tournament of Champions; this game is between the seeded Paolo Pasco and quarterfinal winners Cameron Berry and Ashley Chan. Paolo does come in to this game as the favorite to advance to the finals and face Scott Riccardi and TJ Fisher, but as we’ve seen over the years, absolutely anything can happen. One thing that I do want to mention here after seeing the categories in J!6: the selection of “which board appears on which day” is done completely at random and with no knowledge of who the contestants are. Thus, it is just a fortuitous coincidence for someone named Cameron Berry to face a category called “I’m your ____berry” in Double Jeopardy.

An important scheduling note: in order to start the final on Monday, the exhibition game that was taped prior to the semifinals between Scott Riccardi, Laura Faddah, and Paolo Pasco will air tomorrow evening.

One thing that I don’t really think I’ve ever seen in a ratings discussion, whenever Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! are compared: Wheel of Fortune should dominate Jeopardy! in the ratings because Wheel has an inherent time slot advantage in a large portion of the United States. As a vestige of the time when Daytime Wheel of Fortune was a thing, and NBC wanted to avoid confusion between its network daytime offering and the syndicated offering which might air on a competing station in its local markets, the syndicated Wheel is required to air in prime access (between 7:00 and 8:00 Eastern/Pacific or between 6:00 and 7:00 Central and Mountain). Jeopardy! has no such restriction as there was no possibility of confusion, so Jeopardy! often gets pushed to the afternoon (or even late morning local time) in the Central Time Zone, especially in large markets such as Chicago or Houston. The fact that the two shows are actually generally close in viewership numbers in spite of Wheel‘s built-in advantages speaks to just how much viewers prefer Jeopardy, in my opinion.

Final Jeopardy! Category: Bodies of Water

Final Jeopardy! Clue: This body of water with over 1/3 of the world’s marine mammals, like the vaquita, has been called “the aquarium of the world”

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Correct response: What is the Gulf of California (Sea of Cortez)?

More Information About Final Jeopardy!:

The Gulf of California (also known as the Sea of Cortez) is able to have such exceptional biodiversity because of its shape and location. Nearly 900 miles in length and extremely narrow, it is protected by the Baja Peninsula and mainland Mexico. Tidal mixing of the water also brings extremely nutrient-rich water to the surface, allowing for this extreme biodiversity. The nickname “The Aquarium of the World” was given to the area by Jacques Cousteau.

I like this clue as a “sometimes you just have to know things” clue for the Tournament of Champions. We’ll see how it plays in studio.

Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:

Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Thursday, January 29, 2026 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:

Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: Scottish Geography Everywhere; A Biblical Bestiary; Phrases From Sports; Music Of The Spheres; From The Magazine.Com; Somebody Call Me A Doctor!)

Paolo found the Daily Double early and doubled up through it before either of his opponents had been correct yet, continuing to lead after 15 clues. At the interviews, the scores were Paolo $7,600 Cameron $2,800 Ashley $200.

Statistics at the first break (15 clues):

Paolo 9 correct 0 incorrect
Cameron 5 correct 1 incorrect
Ashley 1 correct 1 incorrect

Today’s interviews:

Ashley was honored in her hometown with an Ashley Chan Day.
Cameron is a Boston University alumni, but works for Boston College.
Paolo received citizenship in Slowjamastan.

Paolo picked up another handful of correct responses to keep his lead through 30 clues. On the opening board, Paolo ran Biblical Bestiary and went 3/5 in magazines, while Cameron went 4/5 in music and 3/5 in doctors.

Statistics after the Jeopardy round:

Paolo 14 correct 1 incorrect
Cameron 10 correct 2 incorrect
Ashley 2 correct 1 incorrect

Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:

Paolo $9,200
Cameron $4,200
Ashley $800

Double Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: Vice Presidents; Self-Help Through The Ages; I’m Your ____Berry; Inventors & Inventions; Pacific Northwest Entertainment; “E” Before “I”)

Potentially spooked by what happened to Steven yesterday, Paolo didn’t go all-in on DD2 when he found it, only for Cameron to find DD3, go all in, and get a correct response in just under the wire. This meant things were incredibly close entering today’s 61st clue. On this second board, Paolo (ironically) went 3/5 in the berry category and 4/5 in “E Before I”, while Cameron Berry ran the Pacific Northwest Entertainment category.

Statistics after Double Jeopardy:

Paolo 24 correct 2 incorrect
Cameron 22 correct 2 incorrect
Ashley 3 correct 2 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 8 (0 today).

Scores going into Final:

Paolo $24,800
Cameron $22,000
Ashley $400

Final Jeopardy was a Triple Stumper, which ordinarily would be advantage Cameron. But Paolo predicted that it might be a hard one, betting $0 and advances to the final as a result!

Tonight’s results:

Ashley $400 – $400 = $0 (What is Lake Baikal?)
Cameron $22,000 – $21,199 = $801 (What is the Mariana trench)
Paolo $24,800 – $0 = $24,800 (What a fun time! I dunno though sorry) (Finalist)

Chances of winning the Tournament of Champions:

Scott Riccardi: 46.573%
Paolo Pasco: 36.871%
TJ Fisher: 16.556%

Chances of 3 games: 12.287%
Chances of 4 games: 23.786%
Chances of 5 games: 30.122%
Chances of 6 games: 23.174%
Chances of 7 games: 10.631%

(The following chances will change as I will be including the exhibition game in the prediction model before the final.)

Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:

Daily Double locations:

1) PHRASES FROM SPORTS $800 (clue #4)
Paolo 2400 +2400 (Cameron -800 Ashley 0)
2) “E” BEFORE “I” $1600 (clue #3)
Paolo 10400 +6000 (Cameron 5400 Ashley -400)
3) VICE PRESIDENTS $1200 (clue #5, $29600 left on board)
Cameron 6600 +6600 (Paolo 16400 Ashley -400)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 258

Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:

J! Round:
Paolo 4 5 3 4*
Cameron
Ashley

DJ! Round:
Paolo 4* 3
Cameron 3 3*
Ashley 3

Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:

Paolo 3.83
Cameron 3.00
Ashley 3.00

Unplayed clues:

J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 8 (0.08 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles

Game Stats:

Paolo $18,800 Coryat, 24 correct, 2 incorrect, 36.84% in first on buzzer (21/57), 3/3 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Cameron $16,600 Coryat, 22 correct, 2 incorrect, 38.60% in first on buzzer (22/57), 0/1 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Ashley $400 Coryat, 3 correct, 2 incorrect, 8.77% in first on buzzer (5/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $35,800
Lach Trash: $13,000 (on 11 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $5,200
Lead Changes: 2
Times Tied: 0

Player Statistics:

Paolo Pasco, career statistics:

224 correct, 15 incorrect
13/13 on rebound attempts (on 33 rebound opportunities)
39.57% in first on buzzer (203/513)
12/14 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $33,400)
6/9 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $20,089

Cameron Berry, career statistics:

164 correct, 28 incorrect
9/14 on rebound attempts (on 35 rebound opportunities)
35.53% in first on buzzer (162/456)
5/7 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $18,000)
2/8 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $14,875

Ashley Chan, career statistics:

112 correct, 23 incorrect
1/3 on rebound attempts (on 20 rebound opportunities)
29.57% in first on buzzer (118/399)
5/7 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $8,500)
2/7 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $10,571

• I feel that at some point the betting meta is going to move more conservatively in Final Jeopardy—and the way to respond to that will be for the writers to make Final Jeopardy slightly easier in response.
• Today’s J!6 clues can be found at the monthly archive.

Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:

(Scores: Paolo $24,800 Cameron $22,000 Ashley $400)

Paolo: Standard cover bet here is $19,201. If you do want to force Cameron to be correct here, I would bet between $2 and $2,799—that way, he actually has to bet twice the score difference and just not just bet to pass you by $1. (Actual bet: $0)

Cameron: Your best chance of winning here comes with a bet between $5,601 (in case Paolo bets to force you to be right) and $16,399 (in case Paolo covers). (Actual bet: $21,199)

Ashley: You need a pair of overbets to have any hope. Bet whatever you like. (Actual bet: $400)

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