‘Jeopardy!’: How Does Greg Jolin Compare to Recent Champs?

Darian Lusk November 6, 2024, 7:30 pm

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[Warning: The below contains MAJOR spoilers for the Wednesday, November 6 episode of Jeopardy!]

Greg Jolin has been dominating Jeopardy! this week. On Wednesday, November 6, he hit the buzzworthy milestone of qualifying for the 2025 Tournament of Champions. So, how does Jolin compare to his fellow ToCers? Fans were left wondering and got an answer from the man himself.

Jolin, who arrived on his 40th birthday and has taken a page from Ben Chan’s book with a perfect Final Jeopardy record, entered with a four-day total of $110,402. Ken Jennings noted this was a big one for the professional Magic: The Gathering player, as a fifth win meant a ToC invite was in the cards. With that, the system specialist and accountant from Raymond, New Hampshire, faced Adrienne Clermont, an ER doctor originally from Ithaca, New York, and Derek Hieronymus, a sales director from Hutto, Texas.

In the Jeopardy! round, the ponytailed power player bounced back from a miss on the first clue to nearly sweep a TV category. Meanwhile, Hieronymus found the first Daily Double with a momentary lead, wagering $3,000 or half his earnings proved wise as he missed the clue. Jolin led with $5,800, Hieronymus had $3,400, Clermont $1,800.

In Double Jeopardy, Hieronymus found the second Daily Double with a chance to retake the lead. However, in perhaps a once bitten twice shy moment, he only wagered $2000 of his $5,400, getting the “ALL THE LIGHT WE CAN SEE” clue correct as “solar wind,” remaining in second place. Clermont found the last Daily Double, nearly going all in with $4,000, and she aced the “ORDINAL PHRASES” clue as “Eighth Wonder of The World.” Jennings noted it was a “much tighter game.” But much like her fellow challenger, an all-in wager against a strong champ would have been the best bet and prevented a runaway.

Jolin tore into the remainder of the game board and entered Final Jeopardy with a slight but definitive runaway at $24,600, Clermont at $12,200, Hieronymus at $10,600.

The “COUNTRIES” clue was, “This country has the most time zones in the world, including its territories in South America & off the coast of Africa.” Everyone correctly responded “France.”

Greg wagered a goose egg to win with $24,600, maintain his pristine Final Jeopardy record and net a five-day total of $135,002 — and a guaranteed entry to the ToC. The audience, seeming to be buying what he was selling, roared for him.

Fans flooded the Reddit thread for the episode, sharing their thoughts on the opponents not going all-in in Double Jeopardy, but mostly celebrating the big win.

“In DJ, if either Derek or Adrienne had gone all-in on their DD opportunities, they would have prevented Greg from having a runaway,” one user pointed out.

“Great playing all round!” wrote another. “It looked like Greg wasn’t going to ring in on that last clue, but then he realized it would give him a runaway if he got it right and not risk his lead if he got it wrong.”

A third asked, “How is Greg’s Coryat comparing to other recent 5+ day winners?”

“Pretty good! His five game Coryat average is $19,120,” another fan replied, sharing that he has the second highest average Coryat of any player in the next ToC (based on the first five games). “Recent 5+ day winners: Matt Fitzpatrick: $17,067 Isaac Hirsch: $20,400 Drew Basile: $16,800 Adriana Harmeyer: $16,363 Amy Hummel: $14,700 Alison Betts: $13,667.”

Jolin chimed in to share that he also observed that he was only behind Isaac Hirsch in terms of his stats.

“I am a gigantic nerd so I started compiling my own spreadsheet of potential TOC opponents after I knew I qualified for the TOC,” he wrote. “At the moment my average Coryat ($19,120) is second to Isaac Hirsch’s ($20,400) among 3+ game winners this season.”

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The fan who posted their findings took a moment to nerd out, “Holy sh** I didn’t expect the man himself to respond to me! Appreciate the context! Good luck with your run and hope it continues!”

What did you think of the game? Can Greg Jolin keep it going? And how was that Shampoo (1975) photo clue a wash? Let us know in the comments section!