Another Jeopardy contestant is making a name for themselves. As their winnings grow, so do the amount of consecutive wins. Here’s a look at the players that have the longest winning streaks in the history of Jeopardy.
In April 2019, James Holzhauer made headlines daily with multiple record-breaking single-day winnings and pitching a perfect game along the way.
On October 4th, 2016 Seth Wilson won his 12th consecutive Jeopardy! match. With total winnings now over $265,000. The teacher is steadily climbing up the rankings joining recent winners to make waves in the last three years — including Matt Jackson, Julia Collins and Arthur Chu.
Seth Wilson is a a University of Georgia Ph.D. theater student living in Chicago and is the latest contestant making a name for himself on Jeopardy!
With his twelfth win in the bag, Wilson passed up Chu, the notorious Jeopardy! Champion that made waves with his unorthodox and jarring techniques, in total wins. Here are the players with the longest winning streaks (data coming from j-archive — the Jeopardy online resource)
Longest Winning Streaks on Jeopardy! (by Total Wins)
There’s all kinds of records to be had on Jeopardy from biggest single-day winnings to perfect games, here are the players that have won the most consecutive games on the syndicated game show.
| Rank | Contestant | Win | Year of Streak |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ken Jennings | 74 | 2004 |
| 2 | James Holzhauer | 32 | 2019 |
| 3 | Julia Collins | 20 | 2014 |
| 4 | Dave Madden | 19 | 2005 |
| 5 | Matt Jackson | 13 | 2015 |
| 6 | Seth Wilson | 12 | 2016 |
| 7 | Arthur Chu | 11 | 2014 |
| 8 | Jason Keller | 9 | 2011 |
| 8 | Dan Pawson | 9 | 2007-08 |
| 8 | Buzzy Cohen | 9 | 2016 |
| 11 | Ben Ingram | 8 | 2013 |
| 11 | Tom Nissley | 8 | 2010 |
| 11 | Austin Rogers | 8 | 2017 |
| 11 | Tom Kavanaugh | 8 | 2005-06 |
| 15 | Jason Keller | 7 | 2011 |
| 15 | Joon Pahk | 7 | 2011 |
| 15 | Justin Bernbach | 7 | 2009 |
| 15 | Tom Walsh | 7 | 2004 |
| 15 | Stephanie Jass | 7 | 2012 |
| 15 | Keith Whitener | 7 | 2012 |
* data last updated 05/31/2019 3PM EST
Depending on how much he takes home in his next couple wins, Wilson is still behind Chu for a top five spot in all time winnings; approximately $30,000 behind Chu. And of course, after that it doesn’t get easier with Matt Jackson, Julia Collins and Dave Madden another $100,000 plus in front not to mention Ken Jennings 2.5 million over 74 wins. Take a gander at the creme de la creme of Jeopardy winnings:
| Rank | Contestant | Most Winnings | Year of Streak |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ken Jennings | $ 2,520,700 | 2004 |
| 2 | James Holzhauer | $ 2,464,216 | 2019 |
| 3 | Dave Madden | $ 430,400 | 2005 |
| 4 | Julia Collins | $ 429,100 | 2014 |
| 5 | Matt Jackson | $ $411,612 | 2015 |
| 6 | Austin Rogers | $ 306,900 | 2017 |
| 7 | Arthur Chu | $ 298,200 | 2014 |
| 8 | Seth Wilson | $ 265,002 | 2016 |
| 9 | Tom Nissley | $ 235,405 | 2010 |
| 10 | Roger Craig | $ 230,200 | 2010 |
| 11 | Larissa Kelly | $ 223,597 | 2008 |
| 12 | Jason Keller | $ 213,900 | 2011 |
| 13 | Joon Pahk | $ 199,000 | 2011 |
| 14 | Tom Walsh | $ 184,900 | 2004 |
The only two players that are on the total winnings list and not on the winning streak list above it are Larissa Kelly and Roger Craig, both of notched big winnings during their “short” six game winning streak.
Our bulleted list of winners, winnings and winning streaks only include “standard” Jeopardy! matches and do not include Tournament of Champions or Teen Jeopardy! wins. For that information, you can go here.
Where’s Buzzy???