‘Jeopardy!’ Champ Matt Amodio Chimes In After Contestant Makes Brutal Mistake

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Jeopardy! super-champ Matt Amodio has come to the defense of a fellow contestant who lost Tuesday’s (April 16) game after an unfortunate Daily Double blunder.

On Tuesday’s episode, Eric Reimund, a substitute teacher originally from Collegeville, Pennsylvania, took on Veronica Tabor, a study abroad advisor from Ann Arbor, Michigan, and reigning champion Alison Betts, who at that point had won three consecutive games.

Reimund gave Betts a run for her money, answering multiple clues correctly and finding both Daily Doubles during the Double Jeopardy! round. However, he found himself having to rebuild his score after he forgot to phrase his (correct) answer in the form of a question.

Amodio took to X (formerly Twitter) to share his thoughts on the brutal mistake, noting that the pressure can get to you under the bright lights. He also used the moment to explain the unusual strategy he adopted during his 38-game winning streak.

“Losing a #Jeopardy game because I forgot the phrasing at a pivotal time is the fear that led to me adopting the instinctual “what’s”. There’s enough going on under the bright lights as it is,” the Jeopardy! Masters finalist shared.

Losing a #Jeopardy game because I forgot the phrasing at a pivotal time is the fear that led to me adopting the instinctual “what’s”. There’s enough going on under the bright lights as it is!

— Matt Amodio (@AmodioMatt) April 17, 2024

Amodio was referencing how he started every response with “What’s,” regardless of how the clue was worded. For example, when the answer was a person’s name, like Anna Faris or John Cleese, Amodio would say “What’s Faris” and “What’s Cleese” rather than “Who’s Faris” or “Who’s Cleese.”

At the time, some viewers found this quirk frustrating, with one fan going so far as to say, “Is Matt the most annoying contestant ever? Is it so hard to say “who is”?”

However, Amodio’s technique wasn’t against the rules, which simply state, “all contestant responses to an answer must be phrased in a form of a question.”

Speaking to the official Jeopardy! website back in 2021, Amodio explained, “I have watched a lot of Jeopardy!, and I have seen rulings on individual questions here and there. So, I have known from experience what is acceptable and what is not.”

He added, “I went about the approach of saying the fewer things to think about, the better. I found the simplest, most repeatable approach I could and went with it.”

Fans responded to Amodio’s latest social media post with respect for his tactics.

“That makes total sense now. I have ADHD and I need structure. That’s an easy way to make sure you don’t have to keep up with it,” replied one commenter.

“You tapped into a legit hack that works very effectively yet nobody (very few?) has followed your lead and I don’t know why,” said another.

Another added, “I always have respected this. It’s one less thing to think about. I know you’ve been raked over the coals for it so to speak, but I understand completely.”

Despite his Daily Double screw-up, Reimund was able to claw back his lead heading into Tuesday’s Final Jeopardy. Unfortunately, neither he nor Betts could come up with the correct answer, and Bett’s smaller wager saw her become a four-day champion.

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