Today’s Final Jeopardy – Thursday, August 8, 2024

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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 Word Origins) for Thursday, August 8, 2024 (Season 40, Game 131):

A radical in an 1833 failed uprising in Germany, Ludwig von Rochau coined this term for acts taken for practical reasons not ethics

(correct response beneath the contestants)

Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:

Brian Henegar, a guest services agent from LaFollette, Tennessee

Troy Meyer, a music executive from Tampa, Florida

Luigi de Guzman, an attorney from Arlington, Virginia

Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:

The encore presentation of the 31^st Tournament of Champions continues today with semifinal #3, as Luigi de Guzman, Troy Meyer, and Brian Henegar battle for the right to face off against Ben Chan and Yogesh Raut in the first-to-three-victories final.

I’ll have more thoughts about this in my weekend editorial, but I am certainly bewildered by the fandom’s recent reaction to the concept of reruns.

I have an occasional mailbag column where I answer fan & viewer questions regarding the show. If you have a question, feel free to send it to mailbag@thejeopardyfan.com!

Correct response: What is realpolitik?

More information about Final Jeopardy:

(The following write-up is original content and is copyright 2024 The Jeopardy! Fan. It may not be copied without linked attribution back to this page.)

The term Realpolitik is generally seen as a pragmatic or practical political position, as opposed to politics that follows strictly ideological lines; it’s certainly a term used more often to refer to diplomatic and foreign policy positions today. Ludwig von Rochau coined it in his Grundsätze der Realpolitik angewendet auf die staatlichen Zustände Deutschlands.

This is certainly a more difficult “Word Origins” Final Jeopardy clue; however, I will say that this is the sort of clue that the Tournament of Champions or other high-level tournaments are certainly known for. I think most viewers would have most likely recently encountered the term upon the passing of Henry Kissinger; he was often associated with Realpolitik and the term was mentioned in numerous obituaries written about him. Back in March, I predicted that while I thought the clue was difficult, I did not think it was going to be a Triple Stumper. As you’ll see when the game plays out, though, I was wrong.

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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:

Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! today? Here’s the Thursday, August 8, 2024 Jeopardy! by the numbers, along with a recap:

Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: Renaissance Women; Down In The Valley; On Wheels; Resistance Is Futile; Dealing With TV Reality; Enigmatic Anagrams)

Luigi absolutely dominated the opening segment, picking up 10 correct and the Daily Double to jump out to a big lead.

Statistics at the first break (15 clues):

Luigi 10 correct 0 incorrect
Troy 1 correct 0 incorrect
Brian 1 correct 1 incorrect

Today’s interviews:

Brian had a day declared after him in his home county.
Troy took a babymoon in Paris with his winnings. He was sick a lot.
Luigi tried flashcarding on a treadmill.

While all three players were more even in this part of the round, Luigi extended his lead slightly after the interviews. With the way this tournament has gone, though, this one is definitely not over yet!

Statistics after the Jeopardy round:

Luigi 15 correct 1 incorrect
Troy 4 correct 0 incorrect
Brian 6 correct 3 incorrect

Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:

Luigi $10,600
Troy $2,400
Brian $1,000

Double Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: The Civil War; Behind The Music; Nature; It’s Curtains; World Of Lit; “AI”)

In a Double Jeopardy round that saw all 30 clues responded to correctly, Troy gave 15 correct to pull into the lead after the round’s first Daily Double. However, he bet just clue value on the second one—which put him into a “crush” position, but not a runaway. Luigi will need to get Final Jeopardy correct, with Troy incorrect, to advance.

Statistics after Double Jeopardy:

Troy 19 correct 0 incorrect
Luigi 22 correct 1 incorrect
Brian 14 correct 5 incorrect
Total number of unplayed clues this season: 0 (0 today).

Scores going into Final:

Troy $28,400
Luigi $18,600
Brian $6,200

Both Luigi and Troy went for some variant of “pragmatic”—which means that Troy’s score after Double Jeopardy was enough to put him through to the final!

Tonight’s results:

Brian $6,200 – $6,195 = $5 (What is I love you Mom, Dad, Katie, Danny + Dave! GG :))
Luigi $18,600 – $18,599 = $1 (What is pragmatism?)
Troy $28,400 – $8,801 = $19,599 (What is pragmatic?) (Semi-Finalist)

Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:

Daily Double locations:

1) DOWN IN THE VALLEY $600 (clue #7)
Luigi 2600 +2600 (Troy 0 Brian 200)
2) THE CIVIL WAR $800 (clue #7)
Troy 6800 +6800 (Luigi 12200 Brian 2600)
3) “AI” $2000 (clue #24, $2800 left on board)
Troy 25600 +2000 (Luigi 18200 Brian 4600)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 208

Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:

J! Round:
Luigi 5 5 4 3*
Troy
Brian 3 4 4

DJ! Round:
Luigi 5 3 4 2 3 3
Troy 4 3 2* 4 5 3 5 4 5 2 2 5*
Brian 5 4 3 4 2 1

Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:

Troy 3.67
Brian 3.33
Luigi 3.70

Unplayed clues:

J! Round: None!
DJ! Round: None!
Total Left On Board: $0
Number of clues left unrevealed this season: 0 (0.00 per episode average), 0 Daily Doubles

Game Stats:

Troy $22,400 Coryat, 19 correct, 0 incorrect, 24.56% in first on buzzer (14/57), 3/3 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Brian $6,200 Coryat, 14 correct, 5 incorrect, 33.33% in first on buzzer (19/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 1 rebound opportunity)
Luigi $16,600 Coryat, 22 correct, 1 incorrect, 36.84% in first on buzzer (21/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 5 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $45,200
Lach Trash: $3,800 (on 5 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $5,000
Lead Changes: 2
Times Tied: 0

Player Statistics:

Luigi de Guzman, career statistics:

205 correct, 30 incorrect
11/14 on rebound attempts (on 34 rebound opportunities)
44.03% in first on buzzer (199/452)
12/14 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $41,600)
6/8 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $19,375

Troy Meyer, career statistics:

247 correct, 18 incorrect
17/19 on rebound attempts (on 34 rebound opportunities)
43.86% in first on buzzer (225/513)
12/12 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $53,600)
6/9 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $23,689

Brian Henegar, career statistics:

151 correct, 32 incorrect
6/8 on rebound attempts (on 22 rebound opportunities)
47.35% in first on buzzer (161/340)
5/8 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $4,000)
1/6 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $17,200

Andy’s Thoughts:

• Today’s box score will be linked to when posted by the show.

Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:

(Scores: Troy $28,400 Luigi $18,600 Brian $6,200)

Luigi: If Troy makes the cover bet here and gets Final Jeopardy incorrect, he falls to $19,599. Because that’s above your score, you have to be correct to win. You might as well go all in to force the cover bet out of Troy here. (Actual bet: $18,599)

Troy: Cover bet over Luigi is $8,801. (Actual bet: $8,801)

Brian: Bet whatever you like—you can’t win unless Troy significantly overbets. (Actual bet: $6,195)

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