‘Jeopardy!’ Fans Choose ‘Player of the Season’ & Think One Contestant Was Treated Unfairly

Martin Holmes August 3, 2023, 9:16 am

Ben Chan, Hannah Wilson, and Cris Pannullo on Jeopardy! — Jeopardy, Inc!

Jeopardy!‘s 39th season wrapped up last week (July 28), and now fans are voting on their “player of the season,” with two of the most dominant contestants currently leading the pack.

A poll was opened on the Jeopardy! Reddit forum earlier this week, with 745 votes tallied at the time of writing. Customer success operations manager Cris Pannullo, who won 21 games and $748,000, is currently leading the poll with 371 votes.

“Cris won the most games and was a likable contestant. He has to take the trophy,” wrote one fan, while another added, “Absolutely loved watching Cris. Hope they do the TOC!”

In second place with 192 votes is fan favorite Ben Chan (9 wins), who many viewers think was unfairly eliminated from the show after a controversial ruling.

“Not to take anything away from Cris, but Ben coming back from a long, unanticipated interruption for illness, taking on a multi-day champion, and absolutely dominating was just incredibly impressive to watch,” said one commenter.

“I just thought Ben Chan was the most self effacing and as others have pointed out, if it was not for that Benedick FJ situation, he might still be going strong,” wrote another.

“Ben. The Benedick rule was unfair and he could still be on as champ if it weren’t for that,” said one fan.

Jeopardy! Reddit

Scenic artist Ray LaLonde (13 wins) currently sits in third place with 78 votes, followed closely by data scientist Hannah Wilson (8 wins) at 77 votes.

“As part of the unofficial rule to unconditionally support the person who beat you, Hannah Wilson gets my vote,” commented former Jeopardy! champ Kevin Belle, who Wilson defeated to start her eight-game streak.

“Gotta go with my fellow Canuck and sexagenarian, Ray Lalonde!” wrote another commenter, while another said, “I voted for Ray for both his impressive win streak and his willingness to speak out in support of the writers.”

LaLonde was the first Season 39 champion to announce he wouldn’t participate in the 2023 Tournament of Champions until the ongoing WGA strike was resolved. He received support from many of his fellow Season 39 champs, including Pannullo, Chan, and Wilson.

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Music executive Troy Meyer (6 wins) currently sits at 13 votes, while 14 people have voted for “Others,” with write-in suggestions for networking engineer Suresh Krishnan (6 wins), Episcopal priest David Sibley (4 wins), and attorney Luigi de Guzman (5 wins).

The vote is still ongoing and closes in two days.

Who was your Season 39 player of the season? Let us know in the comment section below.

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