recaps
Season 42
Today’s Final Jeopardy – Thursday, May 7, 2026
Warning: This page contains spoilers for the May 7, 2026, game ofJeopardy!— please do not scroll down if you wish to avoid being spoiled. Please note that the game airs as early as noon Eastern in some U.S. television markets.
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 Plays & Playwrights) for Thursday, May 7, 2026 (Season 42, Game 174):
The first version of a 1960s play by this man had a slightly different title, ending with “Meet King Lear”
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Robert Yan, a language expert from Huntsville, Alabama
Helen Yoas, a retired librarian from Williamsport, Pennsylvania
Tristan Williams, a data scientist originally from Lincoln, Nebraska (1-day total: $20,000)
Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Tristan Williams picked up 30 correct responses on yesterday’s episode despite going only 1-for-4 on the major clues. Today, he faces off against Alabama’s Robert Yan and Pennsylvania’s Helen Yoas.
The Unified Prediction Model, not particularly impressed with the net -$5,000 on the Daily Doubles from Tristan yesterday, is only giving our champion a 52% chance of victory today. That said: if Tristan does manager to turn that negative number into a positive (and can do so consistently), we might be setting up for a run as champion. If not, though, our carousel of champions may very well continue today.
(Content continues below)
Are you going on the show and looking for information about how to bet in Final Jeopardy? Check out my Betting Strategy 101 page. If you want to learn how to bet in two-day finals, check out Betting Strategy 102. In case the show uses a tournament with wild cards in the future, there is also a strategy page for betting in tournament quarterfinals.
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You can find game-by-game stats here at The Jeopardy! Fan of all 23 players, including Caleb Groen, Adam Remsen, Tristan Williams and Jamie Ding, that have won 10 or more games on Jeopardy!
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Correct response: Who is Tom Stoppard?
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.)
Tom Stoppard’s famous absurdist play Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead was originally titled Rosencrantz and Guildernstern Meet King Lear and was a one-act short play, before Stoppard took the characters out of the dementia-suffering Lear’s universe and expanded it into a full-length play, named after the Ambassador’s announcement to the Danish court shortly after Hamlet’s death in Act 5, Scene 2 of Hamlet.
This play has always been a favorite of the Jeopardy! writers; this would definitely be one of those “this will be easier to those who have been longtime fans of the show” clues.
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Game Recap:
Today’s game was a very closely contested match by all three players that saw our retired librarian Helen lead going into Final Jeopardy by virtue of incorrect Daily Doubles by both Robert and Tristan in the second half of the Double Jeopardy! Round. To make things even more interesting, Tristan and Robert were tied entering Final Jeopardy, which meant that if things went the right way, we might even see a Tiebreaker Round today.
The show, trying to ramp up the suspense, revealed Tristan’s correct response and all-in bet in Final Jeopardy first. Then, Robert’s correct response was also revealed, only for his medium-sized bet to take him out of contention. To complete Tristan’s comeback after the Daily Double miss, Helen went for David Mamet instead of Tom Stoppard, and that handed a second victory to Tristan, who will go for win #3 tomorrow.
Scores going into Final:
Helen $12,600
Robert $9,200
Tristan $9,200
Tonight’s results:
Tristan $9,200 + $9,200 = $18,400 (Who is Stoppard?) (2-day total: $38,400)
Robert $9,200 + $3,402 = $12,602 (Who Stoppard!)
Helen $12,600 – $5,861 = $6,739 (Who is Mamet?)
Game Stats:
Tristan $11,600 Coryat, 18 correct, 4 incorrect, 31.58% in first on buzzer (18/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Robert $12,200 Coryat, 19 correct, 4 incorrect, 36.84% in first on buzzer (21/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Helen $12,600 Coryat, 13 correct, 2 incorrect, 21.05% in first on buzzer (12/57), 2/3 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $36,400
Tristan Williams, to win:
3 games: 47.516%
4: 22.578%
5: 10.728%
6: 5.098%
7: 2.422%
Avg. streak: 2.905 games.
Andy’s Thoughts:
- I absolutely think Helen deserves an invite back for Second Chance, by virtue of her lead entering Final and her incorrect response on that clue. However—and this may be a controversial opinion here—from what I’ve seen in past iterations of Second Chance, people who lose simply because of wagering mistakes have not made any effort to learn from their past mistakes in that department, and therefore I think there may be more deserving candidates than Robert.
- This is a reminder that contestants are permitted to request seating on stage for any reason they choose, and do not need to disclose that reason to home viewers.
- Today’s J!6 clues can be found at the monthly archive.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Helen $12,600 Tristan $9,200 Robert $9,200)
Tristan: If you think your chances of getting Final Jeopardy correct are less than 50%, bet $0. If you think they are 50% or higher, go all in. Because you’re between two-thirds and three-quarters of Helen in the lead, a bet in the $3,401 or $3,402 neighborhood succumbs to Zerg’s Fallacy and does more harm than good for your chances of victory today. (Actual bet: $9,200)
Helen: Standard cover bet today is $5,801. Counting on two people to bet small here probably won’t happen. (Actual bet: $5,861)
Robert: The suggestions I made for Tristan hold true for you as well. (Actual bet: $3,402)
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