Adriana Harmeyer Is Coming for James Holzhauer’s ‘Jeopardy!’ Record

Kelli Boyle June 18, 2024, 8:39 pm

Adriana Harmeyer and James Holzhauer on 'Jeopardy!' — Jeopardy, Inc.

Jeopardy! champ Adriana Harmeyer is on quite the winning streak. The archivist from West Lafayette, Indiana has won every game for the last 15 episodes in a row now. Her latest win puts her in second place behind one of Jeopardy‘s most successful players of all time, James Holzhauer, and once again she won without the help of Daily Doubles.

This record isn’t related to her total winnings, but rather her Final Jeopardy streak. Out of 15 games, Harmeyer has gotten 11 Final Jeopardy clues right in a row. She’s only the second player to accomplish this in regular game play. Holzhauer currently holds the record at 27. Here’s how the game went down.

Harmeyer was playing against Colleen Matthews, a speech-language pathologist from Portland, Oregon, and Mark Gagliardi, an actor and podcaster from Knoxville, Tennessee, in the Tuesday, June 18 episode. The scores were pretty even at the first break, with Harmeyer at $1,600, Gagliardi at $2,200, and Matthews at $2,400. While Harmeyer trailed behind in that first face-off, she took the lead and ended the first round with $6,800, with Gagliardi at $2,800 and Matthews at $3,400.

Matthews found two of the Daily Doubles, and Gagliardi found one, but neither of them answered the prompts correctly. Matthews could have taken the lead in the last clue before the final round had she answered correctly. Going into the final, it was Harmeyer with $13,600, Matthews with $10,600, and Gagliardi with $7,200, not nearly a runaway game like Harmeyer has been getting used to during her winning streak.

The final clue only stumped Gagliardi. Harmeyer ended the game with $23,600, Matthews closed out with $14,600, and Gagliardi ended with $5. Harmeyer’s 15-day winnings amount to $349,600.

'Jeopardy!': Adriana Harmeyer Reveals Lucky Charm Amid Historic Run

Jeopardy fans in the show’s Reddit discussion board noted how “unbeatable” Harmeyer seems to be, and noted the new milestone she’s crossed with her June 18 win.

“In regular play, Adriana is the 2nd person in the show’s history to have at least 11 consecutive [Final Jeopardy’s] correct (James Holzhauer is 1st at 27),” a fan wrote. A reply noted that former champ Jennifer Quail reached this milestone, but it was during a tournament, not a regular season.

“Wow, even without runaways, Adriana seems unbeatable right now at this point,” one comment reads. As one reply reads, “I know someone who’s appearing this week and as much as I want to root for the person I know, I’m genuinely torn, hah.”

Another fan complimented Harmeyer’s playing for a more personal reason. “Adriana does it again!” they wrote. “What I really like about Adriana is the fact that her play-style feels relatable to watch as a viewer. There’s no DD seeking, all in wagers, or any crazy stuff like that. It’s simply buzzing in quickly and just knowing the content really well.”

Do you think Harmeyer can catch up to Holzhauer’s record? She’s a ways away, but her lower-risk playing has got her this far! It would certainly make for a great game to see Harmeyer and Holzhauer face off. Let us know what you think of Harmeyer’s run in the comments below.

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