Matt Amodio's historic 'Jeopardy!' run ends with second-longest winning streak
LOS ANGELES -- Spoiler alert!
Matt Amodio's historic run on 'Jeopardy!' came to an end on Monday, but not before recording the second-longest winning streak in the game show's history.
The Yale doctoral student finished with 38 wins and more than $1.5 million in prize winnings.
Before that, he became only the third person to surpass $1 million in earnings during non-tournament play on the syndicated game show.
"This was beyond my wildest dreams going in," he said. "I knew it was a possibility, but I thought it was a very remote possibility, and to have it actually happen is unbelievable."
Amodio failed to answer the Final Jeopardy! clue correctly and came third on Monday's show, his streak cut short by new champion Jonathan Fisher, an actor originally from Coral Gables, Florida.
Amodio sits only behind Ken Jennings on the show's all-time consecutive wins list. Jennings had 74.
He won a total of $1,518,601, which puts him third on the all-time non-tournament cash winnings list behind James Holzhauer ($2,462,216) and Jennings ($2,520,700).
Brad Rutter currently holds the all-time winnings record, which includes tournament shows, at $4,938,436.
Amodio became known for starting all of his questions with "What's..." instead of using suitable alternatives such as "Who is...," an unorthodox approach that made some longtime viewers groan.
But it was within the quiz show's rules and, as Amodio explained, helped him limit any "unnecessary moving parts" that might undermine his effectiveness.
The contestant's run even garnered the praise of Connecticut Governor Ned Lamont.
"Second-longest winning streak in Jeopardy history. You did Connecticut proud Matt Amodio! You're a great sport and fun to watch," Lamont tweeted on Monday.
The Associated Press contributed to this story
