Today’s Final Jeopardy – Thursday, August 24, 2023

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Current Champion

Matthew Riggle, career statistics:
47 correct, 6 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
41.23% in first on buzzer (47/114)
3/3 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $7,600)
1/2 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $21,300

To win:
3 games: 68.027%
4: 46.277%
5: 31.481%
6: 21.415%
7: 14.568%
Avg. streak: 4.128 games.
(Next game: September 14)
(Click Here for Methodology)

Upcoming Encore Presentations

August 12: S42 E98 (January 21, 2026)
August 13: S42 E99 (January 22, 2026)
August 14: S42 E100 (January 23, 2026)
August 15-16: S41 E141 (March 24, 2025)
August 17: S42 E101 (January 26, 2026)
August 18: S42 E105 (January 30, 2026)
August 19: S42 E102 (January 27, 2026)
August 20: S42 E103 (January 28, 2026)
August 21: S42 E104 (January 29, 2026)
August 22-23: S41 E142 (March 25, 2025)
August 24: S42 E106 (February 2, 2026)
August 25: S42 E107 (February 3, 2026)
August 26: S42 E108 (February 4, 2026)
August 27: S42 E109 (February 5, 2026)
August 28: S42 E110 (February 6, 2026)
August 29-30: S41 E143 (March 26, 2025)
(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 $1,098,403
7. Mattea Roach $897,983
8. Jamie Ding $885,605
9. David Madden $785,733
10. Victoria Groce $773,801
11. Cris Pannullo $754,286
12. Roger Craig $706,200
13. Larissa Kelly $671,930
14. Matt Jackson $623,612
15. Jason Zuffranieri $549,496
16. Andrew He $534,365
17. Scott Riccardi $533,000
18. Jerome Vered $499,102
19. Julia Collins $495,767
20. Austin Rogers $493,000
21. Ben Ingram $449,201
22. Paolo Pasco $448,717
23. Adriana Harmeyer $446,600
24. Buzzy Cohen $441,603
25. Juveria Zaheer $441,000

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Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category Geographic Pairs) for Thursday, August 24, 2023 (Season 39, Game 44):

By ferry, the distance between these 2 paired Mediterranean islands is about 40 miles from Alcudia to Ciutadella

(correct response beneath the contestants)

Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:

Sam Buttrey, an associate professor of operations research at the Naval Postgraduate School from Pacific Grove, California

John Focht, a software team lead originally from El Paso, Texas

Matt Amodio, a postdoctoral researcher from Cambridge, Massachusetts

Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:

Yesterday, Amy Schneider played her way into the finals. Today, Matt Amodio makes his competitive return to the Jeopardy! stage. His opponents today are John Focht and Sam Buttrey, both of whom put up incredibly impressive quarterfinal performances. Both John and Sam looked very ready for the Tournament of Champions. My prediction model still thinks Matt is the favorite, and his buzzer timing seems good—he got in first most often during the exhibition match on Tuesday. However, both John and Sam proved in the quarter-finals that they could pull off a victory in today’s game. Things could get very interesting!

Back when these games first aired in November, I had a great chuckle at the third category in Double Jeopardy. This definitely feels like a callback to the 2013 Tournament of Champions, where Keith Whitener ran a semifinal category called DRUMMER FOR THE BAND en route to victory, much to top seed Jason Keller’s chagrin. Jason was very vocal online afterward in his disdain for the category, referring to the category as “Rock Drummers”.

Correct response: What are Majorca and Menorca (Minorca)?

More information about Final Jeopardy:

(The following write-up is original content and is copyright 2023 The Jeopardy! Fan. It may not be copied without linked attribution back to this page.)

Here’s what I really like about this clue in a Tournament of Champions context: in regular play, one would see “2 paired Mediterranean islands” and “about 40 miles”, immediately go to Corsica and Sardinia, and be done. If you did that here, you’d be wrong. Of course, Majorca and Menorca are also two paired islands, part of the Balearic Islands (which are a part of Spain). That’s certainly been a theme of this tournament, though—the writers seem to be trying to catch players who are relying too much on the “regular play” canon, almost saying, “Your Pavlovs will not work here!” (For the uninitiated, I use the term the same way Bob Harris used it in his Prisoner of Trebekistan.)

One other thing I found interesting: While Google Maps does not believe that there is a ferry between the two locations, a ferry definitely exists and can be booked. (Which is good, because it takes less than two hours direct; according to Google, it would take nearly eight.

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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:

Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Thursday, August 24, 2023 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:

Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: All Over The Map; Organizations; Nutrition; 21st Century Bestsellers; Celebs; Drop The Mic)

This was a very close game for the entire round—by the end of it, Sam had a very tiny lead over Matt.

Statistics at the first break (16 clues):

Sam 4 correct 0 incorrect
John 5 correct 0 incorrect
Matt 4 correct 1 incorrect

Today’s interviews:

Sam went viral because he looks like Steve Martin.
John was interviewed by an MLB show after his wins.
Matt fixed his air conditioner and hired an accountant after his wins.

Statistics after the Jeopardy round:

Sam 7 correct 0 incorrect
John 9 correct 0 incorrect
Matt 8 correct 1 incorrect

Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:

Sam $4,600
John $4,200
Matt $4,000

Double Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: The Lore Of The Land; Scientific Trios; The Rock Bassist’s Group; We Spy; With Our Little “I”; Something That Is…)

Matt seemed nervous at the start of Double Jeopardy, but he did double up on the opening clue! He needed to find the last one, though, and he didn’t! Sam did and picked up $6,000 to jump into a huge lead! Sam carried that lead through to Final Jeopardy.

Statistics after Double Jeopardy:

Sam 20 correct 1 incorrect
Matt 19 correct 2 incorrect
John 15 correct 1 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 12 (0 today).

Scores going into Final:

Sam $23,000
Matt $16,800
John $12,600

All three players got Final correct today — which means, in a monumental upset, Sam Buttrey is now a finalist!

Tonight’s results:

John $12,600 + $11,400 = $24,000 (What are Majorca and Minorca?)
Matt $16,800 + $0 = $16,800 (What Minorca & Mallorca)
Sam $23,000 + $10,601 = $33,601 (What are Majorca & Minorca?) (1-day total: $33,601)

Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:

Daily Double locations:

1) ORGANIZATIONS $1000 (clue #11)
Sam 1600 +1600 (Matt 2400 John 1000)
2) THE LORE OF THE LAND $1600 (clue #1)
Matt 4000 +4000 (John 4200 Sam 4600)
3) SCIENTIFIC TRIOS $800 (clue #6, $27600 left on board)
Sam 8600 +6000 (Matt 8000 John 6200)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 270

Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:

J! Round:
Matt 4 5 3 4 4 5 4
John 4
Sam 5 5 5*

DJ! Round:
Matt 4* 3
John 3
Sam 4 5 2*

Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:

Sam 4.33
John 3.50
Matt 4.00

Unplayed clues:

J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 12 (0.27 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles

Game Stats:

Sam $17,200 Coryat, 20 correct, 1 incorrect, 29.82% in first on buzzer (17/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
John $12,600 Coryat, 15 correct, 1 incorrect, 26.32% in first on buzzer (15/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 3 rebound opportunities)
Matt $14,400 Coryat, 19 correct, 2 incorrect, 33.33% in first on buzzer (19/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $44,200
Lach Trash: $5,000 (on 6 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $4,800

Player Statistics:

Matt Amodio, career statistics:

1343 correct, 135 incorrect
57/66 on rebound attempts (on 128 rebound opportunities)
55.24% in first on buzzer (1281/2319)
79/89 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $312,000)
30/41 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $26,956

John Focht, career statistics:

156 correct, 14 incorrect
7/9 on rebound attempts (on 19 rebound opportunities)
36.09% in first on buzzer (144/399)
9/10 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $31,300)
4/7 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $18,200

Sam Buttrey, career statistics:

157 correct, 12 incorrect
10/11 on rebound attempts (on 25 rebound opportunities)
42.69% in first on buzzer (146/342)
5/6 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $10,600)
4/6 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $19,467

Remaining Players’ Tournament of Champions Chances (after 100,000 Simulations)

Amy Schneider: 46.326% Sam Buttrey: 20.961%

Mattea Roach: 6.207%
Andrew He: 14.344%
Eric Ahasic: 12.162%

Andy’s Thoughts:

• At the time this episode had aired, Matt Amodio had still yet to win a game with Michael Davies as Executive Producer. Clearly, Mr. Davies was a jinx.
• More seriously, though, today’s result happened because Matt was already incredibly close to his “ceiling” in regular play, whereas the rest of the field had much more room for improvement. And, knowing that Matt was in the field, a number of players raised their game close to Matt’s level—and it’s paid off.

• Today’s box score: August 24, 2023 Box Score.

Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:

(Scores: Sam $23,000 Matt $16,800 John $12,600)

Matt: You’re in Stratton’s Dilemma; you can’t both cover John and beat Sam in a Triple Stumper. If you think a diabolical clue is more likely, bet no more than $3,999—just in case John also plays for the Triple Stumper. If you think a softball is more likely, go all in to force Sam to cover. (Actual bet: $0)

John: If Sam bets to cover Matt, he falls to $12,399 if he’s incorrect. Thus, your low range is “up to $200”. If you’re going big, you should go all-in, just in case Sam makes a small bet to try to finesse Matt. (Actual bet: $11,400)

Sam: You have the easiest choice—the standard cover bet over Matt is $10,601. Going small (up to $2,200) won’t work today, as staying ahead of Matt’s small bet range leaves you open to being passed by John if he doubles up.(Actual bet: $10,601)

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