Ken Jennings
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Ken Jennings (born 1973 or 1974) holds the records for the longest winning streak and the most money won on the syndicated game show Jeopardy!.
Biography
From Salt Lake City, Utah, Jennings is a Mormon, teetotaler and a graduate in computer science and English of Brigham Young University, where he played on the school's quizbowl team for three years. According to newspaper reports, Jennings was 30 years of age in July 2004. He also identifies himself as an avid comic book and movie buff with a Web site listing his top 2000 favorite movies. He achieved "honors" at both University of Washington and Brigham Young University. He currently writes and edits literature and mythology questions for NAQT, a quizbowl organization. He is now a software engineer for a healthcare-placement firm.
Jennings grew up in Seoul, South Korea, where his father worked for an international law firm from 1981 to 1992 when the family moved to Singapore. He watched Jeopardy! on Armed Forces Television while growing up. Jennings served a two year LDS mission in Madrid, Spain.
Ken Jennings' streak on Jeopardy!
Including shows aired through July 20, 2004, Jennings had won US $1,164,660 through 35 episodes. Since the show is taped months in advance, additional results have been determined but are not yet publicly known.
In addition to his daily winnings, Jennings will certainly return for the "Tournament of Champions", where he will likely be the odds on favorite to win an additional $250,000. Should he remain champion by the end of the 2003-04 season, he would have to wait until 2005 to compete in the ToC; otherwise he will return during the fall of 2004.
In 2003 at the start of the syndicated show's 20th season, Jeopardy!'s rules were changed to allow a contestant to remain on the show for as long as he or she continued to win. Previously, contestants could not return after winning five-consecutive games. After the rule change, and until Jennings's run, the record winning-streak was set by Tom Walsh, who won $184,900 in seven games in January 2004.
Jennings's winning streak on Jeopardy! has made him something of a celebrity; he has received a good deal of national media coverage and appeared on The Late Show with David Letterman to present Letterman's "Top 10 List". Jeopardy! ratings have gone up 41 percent during Jennings's run on the show.
When asked what he intends to do with his winnings, Jennings has said that he intends to tithe to his church, donate to public television and NPR, and other than perhaps "splurging" on a trip to Europe, invest the rest for his family.
Trademarks
In addition to his remarkable performance, Jennings has also become known for his quirky behaviors, some of which are frequently commented on by host Alex Trebek.
- Ken writes his name in a different style each day.
- In any cases where Ken can choose how much money he will wager (Daily Doubles and Final Jeopardy), Ken will almost always pick a number such that, if he wins, his total for the day will be a rounded thousand.
Records
Jennings has already broken or tied the following records:
- Most consecutive appearances on Jeopardy!: 35 episodes (broken)
- Highest total winnings ever won on Jeopardy!, including special tournaments: US $1,164,660 (broken)
- Highest total winnings in one day on Jeopardy!: US $52,000 (tied - twice)
- Highest 5-game total on Jeopardy!, consecutive: US $216,000 (games 26-30 - more than twice the record before board values were doubled)
- Highest 5-game total on Jeopardy!, best 5 games: US $254,000 (games 7, 10, 28, 29, and 33)
- Highest total winnings on a syndicated game show: (previously US $1,155,102 by Brad Rutter on Jeopardy! in 2001-2002) (broken)
Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek often mentions the other possible records that Jennings could break. Included in the records Jennings still has ahead of him (not all of which Trebek has mentioned):
- Most consecutive appearances on a syndicated game show (currently 46 days by Thom McKee on Tic Tac Dough in 1980)
- Most consecutive appearances on a game show (currently 75 days by Ian Lygo on 100% in 1998)
- Highest total winnings on a game show: (currently US $2,180,000 by Kevin Olmstead on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in 2001)
Jennings and previous Jeopardy! champions
Jennings won US $156,000 in his first five days on Jeopardy!, so if the five-day rule had not been eliminated, he would still be the all-time non-tournament winner in Jeopardy! history. The previous record holder, Tom Walsh, won $184,900 in seven days, but only $118,100 of that came in the first five days. No other Jeopardy! contestant has won more than $150,000 in non-tournament play.
If winnings are further adjusted to make them comparable to the seasons before the clue values were doubled, Jennings' adjusted total of $78,000 would place him 11th in the Trebek era of Jeopardy!, behind Frank Spangenberg ($102,597) and nine others.
See also
As Jennings has captured the imagination of pundits across the nation, he naturally invites comparisons to characters in pop culture
- David Foster Wallace wrote a fictional short story called Little Expressionless Animals well before Jennings first appeared on Jeopardy! in which the main character is a woman who wins on the show every day for a year.
- The movie Quiz Show chronicles the winning streak of Charles Van Doren, who captures the attention of the nation, and is later found out to be a fraud
Daily winnings
| Day | Air Date | Winnings | Running Total |
|---|---|---|---|
| Day 1 | Wednesday, June 2 | $37,201 | $37,201 |
| Day 2 | Thursday, June 3 | $22,000 | $59,201 |
| Day 3 | Friday, June 4 | $37,000 | $96,201 |
| Day 4 | Monday, June 7 | $30,000 | $126,201 |
| Day 5 | Tuesday, June 8 | $29,799 | $156,000 |
| Day 6 | Wednesday, June 9 | $25,000 | $181,000 |
| Day 7 | Thursday, June 10 | $50,000 | $231,000 |
| Day 8 | Friday, June 11 | $35,158 | $266,158 |
| Day 9 | Monday, June 14 | $25,000 | $291,158 |
| Day 10 | Tuesday, June 15 | $50,000 | $341,158 |
| Day 11 | Wednesday, June 16 | $35,000 | $376,158 |
| Day 12 | Thursday, June 17 | $34,000 | $410,158 |
| Day 13 | Friday, June 18 | $30,000 | $440,158 |
| Day 14 | Monday, June 21 | $31,601 | $471,759 |
| Day 15 | Tuesday, June 22 | $15,200 | $486,959 |
| Day 16 | Wednesday, June 23 | $26,000 | $512,959 |
| Day 17 | Thursday, June 24 | $40,000 | $552,959 |
| Day 18 | Friday, June 25 | $48,801 | $601,760 |
| Day 19 | Monday, June 28 | $21,000 | $622,760 |
| Day 20 | Tuesday, June 29 | $40,000 | $662,760 |
| Day 21 | Wednesday, June 30 | $35,000 | $697,760 |
| Day 22 | Thursday, July 1 | $40,000 | $737,760 |
| Day 23 | Friday, July 2 | $17,600 | $755,360 |
| Day 24 | Monday, July 5 | $19,600 | $774,960 |
| Day 25 | Tuesday, July 6 | $14,000 | $788,960 |
| Day 26 | Wednesday, July 7 | $40,000 | $828,960 |
| Day 27 | Thursday, July 8 | $40,000 | $868,960 |
| Day 28 | Friday, July 9 | $52,000* | $920,960 |
| Day 29 | Monday, July 12 | $52,000* | $972,960 |
| Day 30 | Tuesday, July 13 | $32,000 | $1,004,960 |
| Day 31 | Wednesday, July 14 | $17,500 | $1,022,460 |
| Day 32 | Thursday, July 15 | $28,000 | $1,050,460 |
| Day 33 | Friday, July 16 | $50,000 | $1,100,460 |
| Day 34 | Monday, July 19 | $35,000 | $1,135,460 |
| Day 35 | Tuesday, July 20 | $29,200 | $1,164,660** |
* Tied for the largest Jeopardy! one-day winning total (the theoretical maximum win for a single day of Jeopardy! is $566,400)
** Broken record of highest overall winnings ever won on Jeopardy!, including special tournaments
Daily average: US $33,276.00
External links
- Jeopardy! web site
- JEOPARCHIVE!: Full recaps of all 20th season episodes
- Statistics from Jennings' run on Jeopardy! (updated daily)
- Yahoo! Group for fans of Ken Jennings
- Ken's Top 2000 Favorite Movies Page
- "O.K., Alex, Smart Nerds for $1 Million," The New York Times, July 13, 2004.
- Jeopardy Ratings Skyrocketing
- tvgameshows.net
- The Cult of Ken Jennings