Reigning Jeopardy! champion, Scott Riccardi, attempted to continue his winning ways on Friday, as he returned to defend his spot at the podium, and needed a locked-in performance to extend his streak.
The engineer from Somerville, New Jersey, had won six consecutive appearances, but in his latest game, it looked like someone might replace him as champion.
His latest opponents were Winnetka, Illinois, medical student Andrew Wang and Edaureen Muhamad Nor, a book critic from Silver Spring, Maryland.
Both gave Scott a run for his money as host Ken Jennings presented the various Jeopardy! and Double Jeopardy! categories on Friday.
And after just the first round, Scott was losing by nearly $3,000 to Andrew, but he mounted a comeback to take over in Double Jeopardy! before winning in the end.
After Scott was triumphant once again, fans sounded off about the Jeopardy! champion’s impressive game and extended reign.
Champ conquered Final Jeopardy to win again
On game shows like The Price Is Right and Wheel of Fortune, contestants can win large sums of money through just one quick event, like a Plinko chip drop or wheel spin. However, it typically takes more brainpower and skill to achieve a multi-day winning streak on Jeopardy! by correctly providing the questions to match the clues.
After the first Jeopardy! round, the reigning champ, Scott, had just $5,400. Andrew led with $8,100 while Edaureen was right behind Scott at $4,800.
However, the Double Jeopardy! round went in Scott’s favor as he racked up lower-value wins and moved back into the lead with $18,200. Andrew had $16,300 and Edaureen had $12,000.
While Scott held the lead as players headed into Final Jeopardy!, it was really anyone’s game. Ken revealed the category, Historic Objects, and then shared the clue.
“Described as both ‘Beautiful Violet’ & ‘French Blue’ in the 1600s, this object went on tour in the 1900s before landing in the Smithsonian,” Jennings said.
All three contestants then wrote down their questions, and all three had the correct one: “What is the Hope Diamond?”
It would come down to wagers, and the woman in third place jumped into the lead after wagering most of her money. Andrew then took over, wagering all $16,300 of his total, which bumped his total to $32,600.
However, Scott was not to be outdone. He, too, had the correct question. He also wagered quite a bit and was able to win with $33,000, which was just $400 more than Andrew.
Fans were buzzing after Scott’s latest win
Jeopardy! fans expressed their opinions on social media after watching the champion extend his streak, despite appearing he might be in trouble earlier.
“Dude jeopardy is f***ing ELECTRIC television. I’ll tell my kids about what Scott Riccardi just did. Unbelievable comeback,” someone commented on X.
“This was one of the best episodes of Jeopardy! I’ve seen in quite a while,” someone commented on Reddit.
“Damn that was an absolutely epic game, Scott’s comeback in DJ was legendary, dude was 100% locked in,” another Reddit comment said.
With the win, Scott is now a seven-time Jeopardy! champion. After Friday’s victory, his total winnings on the game show increased to $182,901.
As of July 10, Jeopardy! revealed that Scott is part of their Tournament of Champions. It’s certainly been an impressive run by the reigning champion!
