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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Warning: This page contains spoilers for the December 30, 2025, game of Jeopardy! — 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.
Here’s today’s Final Jeopardy (in the category Animal Names) for Tuesday, December 30, 2025 (Season 42, Game 82):
Those returning from a 1920s expedition to Asia popularized this name for the buaja darat, or land crocodile
(correct response beneath the contestants)
Today’s Jeopardy! contestants:
Ricky Chandak, a financial assurance senior from Boston, Massachusetts
Dondi DeMarco, an operations executive from New York, New York
Emily Johnson, a dog walker from Honolulu, Hawai’i
Andy’s Pregame Thoughts:
Today’s Second Chance returnees are Hawaii’s Emily Johnson, New York’s Dondi DeMarco, and Massachusetts’s Ricky Chandak. The Unified Prediction Model does have Ricky as a favorite here; he did have a very strong game against Scott Riccardi
One thing that I would like to say: even though the general community tenor towards Second Chance has trended positively as of late, there is still a loud and vocal minority who chooses to express their displeasure. In my own investigations last evening, it appears the complaints are coming from users posting their views across multiple forums to make it appear that anti-tournament sentiment is more widespread than it is. (As I have said multiple times over the last five years to these sorts of users, this belief stems from their own inability to charm their way out of a wet paper bag with the contestant coordinators, yet they still believe they have some preordained right to contestanthood.)
(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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Correct response: What is the Komodo dragon?
More information about Final Jeopardy:
(The following write-up is original content and is copyright 2025 The Jeopardy! Fan. It may not be copied without linked attribution back to this page.)
The Komodo dragon got its Western name after the Dutch colonial leaders were made aware of the reptile on the island of Komodo; the first live Komodo dragons to arrive in Europe ended up at the London Zoo in 1927. An endangered species, Komodo National Park in Indonesia was formed in 1980 to assist in protection efforts.
Not that I’m saying there’s anything wrong with this type of Final, but this feels rather “you either know it or you don’t” to me—but sometimes you just have to know things.
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Game Recap:
Our opening pair of boards saw Dondi DeMarco pick up 20 correct and 0 incorrect, ensuring he led entering Final Jeopardy without having found a Daily Double.
Final Jeopardy saw Emily and Dondi both be correct, as Dondi is now a finalist. He’ll be back Thursday and Friday.
Scores going into Final:
Dondi $17,200
Emily $13,600
Ricky $12,400
Tonight’s results:
Ricky $12,400 – $5,000 = $7,400 (What is a cayman?)
Emily $13,600 + $13,000 = $26,600 (What is Komodo dragon? Congrats Meg + Court!)
Dondi $17,200 + $10,001 = $27,201 (What is Kimodo dragon?) (Finalist)
Chances of winning Second Chance:
Abigail Arnold 33.783%
Dondi DeMarco 28.285%
Ryan Sharpe 17.696%
Jenna Hayes 9.558%
Dan Puma 10.678%
Andy’s Thoughts:
Because “Kimodo” and “Komodo” can be prounced the same way, as Ken said on the show itself, the ruling in Final Jeopardy is consistent with past rulings. Tabloids who report on this have the journalistic responsibility as well to inform fans that the specific rule covering this is even on the show’s website. “Written responses to the Final Jeopardy! clue do not have to be spelled correctly, but they must be phonetically correct and not add or subtract any extraneous sounds or syllables.”
- Today’s J!6 clues can be found at the monthly archive.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Dondi $17,200 Emily $13,600 Ricky $12,400)
Emily: You’re in Stratton’s Dilemma; you can’t both cover Ricky and win a Triple Stumper. If you’d rather play for the Triple Stumper, bet between $0 and $1,199 (therefore forcing Ricky to be correct to pass you). Otherwise, bet at least $11,201. (Actual bet: $13,000)
Dondi: Standard cover bet is $10,001. (Actual bet: $10,001)
Ricky: Bet between $4,801 (in case Dondi bets $0) and $5,199 (thereby winning a Triple Stumper if Emily makes a big bet and Dondi covers.) (Actual bet: $5,000)
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