Matt Amodio became the ninth-highest-ranking person on Jeopardy!’s all-time winnings list on Thursday with his seventh consecutive win. The graduate student won $74,000 to bring his total winnings to $268,800.
“Once you [win] once, that’s just such a great accomplishment,” Amodio said in a statement. “Nobody can ever take that away from you.”
Amodio will attempt to win his eighth game on Friday when he faces off against Andrew Kleinschmidt of La Jolla, California, and Rachel McMullen of Denton, Texas.
The game’s top-money winner remains Brad Rutter, who has won nearly $5 million playing Jeopardy!, although Ken Jennings is the game’s Greatest Player of All Time after winning a primetime tournament on ABC against fellow big winners Rutter and James Holzhauer. Jennings has also won the most money in regular-season play at $2.5 million and has won the most consecutive games at 74, a record he set in 2004 that has stood ever since. Holzhauer, a professional gambler from Las Vegas, holds the record for single-day earnings at $131,127.
Jeopardy! is currently being hosted by fan-favorite LeVar Burton. This week of play also was highlighted by the biggest loser in the show’s history. That honor is now held by Patrick Pearce of Fountain Valley, California, who ended his appearance on Wednesday down $7,400 after missing a question that showed a house that was used by former U.S. ambassador to Ireland, Jean Kennedy Smith, and asked where it was located.
Burton, who widely lobbied for a chance to host the syndicated game show, is the latest in a spate of guest hosts who have hosted the show after the death of longtime host Alex Trebek in November. Those hosts have included Jennings, Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers, Today anchor Savannah Guthrie, CNN anchor Anderson Cooper, CNN’s Dr. Sanjay Gupta and more.
Jeopardy! is expected to announce who will become the show’s next permanent host before the start of next season, which will be the show’s 38th.
Jeopardy! is produced by Sony Pictures Television and executive produced by Mike Richards, who took his turn guest-hosting the show last winter. CBS Media Ventures distributes the show in syndication.
