Today’s Final Jeopardy – Thursday, April 23, 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

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

Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category The 1950s) for Thursday, April 23, 2026 (Season 42, Game 164):

The announcement declaring this safe & effective was made April 12, 1955, the 10th anniversary of the death of a famous American

(correct response beneath the contestants)

Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:

Patrick Nolan, an actuary from Wheaton, Illinois

Leighanna Mixter, an attorney originally from Fresno, California

Jamie Ding, a bureaucrat & law student from Lawrenceville, New Jersey (29-day total: $793,602)

Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:

Jamie Ding’s win streak keeps on rolling along as he goes for victory #30 today against Leighanna Mixter and Patrick Nolan. Patrick does appear to be friends with some acquaintances of mine who are all quite excited for today’s game, which makes me feel like Patrick may be capable of taking things to Jamie today.

There’s one thing that I want to say this morning in terms of Jeopardy! analytics: the more minds we have in the analytics space, the better the analytics will end up being overall, as each new mind brings a fresh perspective. As long as the community doesn’t treat one of us as the only true correct person in the space at the expense of others, and realizes that we are all doing our best to model an incredibly high-variance game, everything will be great. None of us are going to be perfect in our respective analyses, and none of us are going to be completely incorrect, either.

Due to ABC’s coverage of the NFL Draft today and tomorrow, there will be pre-emptions if you watch the show on an ABC local affiliate. Make sure to check your local listings, or Matt Carberry’s Google sheet, for the rescheduled time.

Correct response: What is the polio vaccine?

More information about Final Jeopardy:

(The following write-up is original content and is copyright 2026 The Jeopardy! Fan. It may not be copied without linked attribution back to this page.)

April 12, 1955 was chosen to announce the effectiveness of Jonas Salk’s vaccine against polio in order to commemorate the 10^th anniversary of President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, who suffered from polio himself and who passed away in 1945. Certainly, in the post-COVID era, Jeopardy! has liked to draw various parallels between the two; Final Jeopardy! clues in the past have detailed post-polio syndrome (and its parallels to Long COVID) as well as letting people associate 1955 with Jonas Salk.

This was a relatively straightforward Final Jeopardy clue for me at home; let’s see if it plays the same way for our players.

In order to redesign our merchandise area to serve you better in 2026, all merchandise sales have been temporarily taken offline. Look for a return in late 2026! All previous orders will still be supported.

Game Recap:

What was already shaping up to be a great game turned into one of the most memorable in the history of the show in a four clue stretch in the Double Jeopardy Round, after Patrick and Jamie traded five-figure True Daily Doubles, putting their scores both over $24,000 with half a round still to play. By the end of the round, Jamie had a very slim lead, while Patrick’s total was at $28,000 himself.

Jamie needed to be correct in Final Jeopardy to extend his run after Patrick made a smart wager, and correct Jamie was, bringing his win total up to 30 and adding $56,001 to his total. He’ll go for win #31 tomorrow, while Patrick should be the first player selected for Second Chance at this point.

Scores going into Final:

Jamie $30,800
Patrick $28,000
Leighanna $5,400

Tonight’s results:

Leighanna $5,400 + $5,000 = $10,400 (What is Nuclear power? polio vax)
Patrick $28,000 – $10,000 = $18,000 (What is penicillin)
Jamie $30,800 + $25,201 = $56,001 (What was…the polio vaccine? (Salk’s)) (30-day total: $849,603)

Game Stats:

Jamie $19,400 Coryat, 21 correct, 0 incorrect, 29.82% in first on buzzer (17/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Patrick $17,600 Coryat, 19 correct, 1 incorrect, 33.33% in first on buzzer (19/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Leighanna $5,400 Coryat, 11 correct, 2 incorrect, 22.81% in first on buzzer (13/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
Combined Coryat Score: $42,400

If you are looking for more detailed statistics about today’s game of Jeopardy!, as well as the ability to leave a comment, make sure to check out the Daily Details section.

Jamie Ding, to win:

31 games: 80.193%
32: 64.309%
33: 51.571%
34: 41.357%
35: 33.165%
Avg. streak: 34.049 games.

Andy’s Thoughts:

• With $28,000, Patrick surpasses Tom Devlin’s record ($27,200) as the highest non-leading score entering Final Jeopardy.
• This is the first time in Jamie’s run in which he was shut out of two categories in the same game. (Recent hitmakers and celebrity chefs.)
• Today’s J!6 clues can be found at the monthly archive.

Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:

(Scores: Jamie $30,800 Patrick $28,000 Leighanna $5,400)

Jamie: Standard cover bet today is $25,201.(Actual bet: $25,201)

Leighanna: To have any chance of winning, bet at least $200. I would at least leave a few hundred dollars back as well, just in case Patrick goes all in.(Actual bet: $5,000)

Patrick: Bet between $5,601 (in case Jamie bets small) and $17,199 (thereby keeping Leighanna locked out.) (Actual bet: $10,000)

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