By the numbers: How Scott Riccardi compares to Top 10 ‘Jeopardy!’ champions
Scott Riccardi’s “Jeopardy!” winning streak has reached 16 games, moving the New Jersey native to a place among the long-running quiz show’s all-time greats.
Riccardi, an engineer Somerville, won $24,090 on the July 24 episode, earning him a 16th consecutive win that has resulted in $455,000 and counting. He already has the longest run of Season 41, ahead of eight-time champ Laura Faddah, and has accrued the most money, way more than the previous high mark of $137,804.
Riccardi is averaging about $28,000 per victory. The lofty total is due not only to his trivia prowess but also for his repeated willingness to bet big, and often correctly, despite insurmountable leads heading into Final Jeopardy.
Riccardi is now among the Top 10 “Jeopardy!” contestants all time in terms of consecutive games won during the regular season. He is tied with Ryan Long, who won 16 straight games during Season 38 in 2022.
How does Riccardi’s pace stack up to some of the “Jeopardy!” legends? Here is how the Top 10 so-called “superchampions” performed through 13 games, courtesy of the show’s archive website.
Longest ‘Jeopardy!’ winning streaks
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Ken Jennings: The current “Jeopardy!” host holds the record for most consecutive wins, by far, with 74 across Seasons 20 and 21 in 2004. Thus, it should come as no surprise that Jennings was already on an impressive run by his 13th game, earning $440,158 in that time.
Amy Schneider: The runner-up on the all-time leaderboard with 40 wins, Schneider got off to an even hotter start than Jennings in Season 38. Her winnings after her 13th game totaled $536,400.
Matt Amodio: The eventual 38-game champ in Seasons 37 and 38 had a pace slightly below Jennings by game 13, earning $430,200.
James Holzhauer: No surprise for a contestant who has the 10 highest single-game scores in “Jeopardy!” history, Holzhauer had accrued a whopping $942,738 after his 13th win during Season 35 in 2019. Holzhauer’s streak stretched to 32 games and more than $2.4 million before he finally lost.
Mattea Roach: The contestant with the fifth-longest win streak is also the first whose pace is below Riccardi’s. Roach, who would go on to win 23 games in Season 38, had earned $286,081 following game 13.
Cris Pannullo: A fellow New Jerseyan, Ocean City native Pannullo is the highest-grossing champion from the Garden State. He had already earned $416,102 after his 13th win in Season 39 and would run his streak to 21 games.
Julia Collins: Collins’ 20-game run in Season 30 made her the winningest female contestant in “Jeopardy!” history at the time. She won $261,410 over her first 13 games, more than $100,000 behind Riccardi’s total over the same time span.
Jason Zuffranieri: Zuffranieri won 19 consecutive games across Seasons 35 and 36. He earned $361,943 following his 13th win, narrowly trailing Riccardi’s pace by less than $1,000.
David Madden: Another 19-game winner, Madden compiled his wins in Seasons 21 and 22. His earnings at the time of his 13th game totaled $305,101, more than $50,000 less than Riccardi.
Ryan Long: After 13 wins of his aforementioned 16-game streak in Season 38, Long had won $252,700, the lowest total of any champion in the top 10.