‘Jeopardy!’: Matt Amodio Is ‘Game Show Villain’ in Invitational Tournament Thriller

This… Is… Jeopardy!

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Monday (February 17) saw the start of the second annual Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament, which features 27 players representing six different decades of the long-running game show.

In the first game of the tournament, two modern Jeopardy! icons returned to the Alex Trebek Stage alongside an old-school legend from the 1970s era. That’s right, Doug Molitor, a novelist from Altadena, California, first appeared on The All-New Jeopardy, hosted by Art Fleming in 1978 and 1979, before going on to win four times on the Alex Trebek version and reaching the semifinals of the third Tournament of Champions.

Molitor faced off against Hannah Wilson, an 8-time champion in Season 39 in 2023 and 2024 TOC quarterfinalist, and Matt Amodio, a 38-time champion in 2021 and 2022 TOC semifinalist. Amodio also placed third in the first-ever Jeopardy! Masters tournament and sixth place in last year’s second edition of the Masters spinoff.

Amodio came into Monday’s game as the favorite and lived up to the billing. In fact, he was feeling so confident that he told host Ken Jennings he wanted to be the “game show villain,” a nod to his frenemy James Holzhauer, the self-declared bad boy of Jeopardy!.

While Wilson led the way after the first round with $9,600, Amodio followed closely behind with $6,800, while Molitor trailed with $800. The Double Jeopardy round saw a turnaround, as Amodio doubled up through the last Daily Double, giving him the lead with $30,400 over Wilson’s $22,400 heading into Final Jeopardy. Molitor, unfortunately, wound up in the red after a failed Daily Double, ending the game with -$3,200.

Jennings read out the Final Jeopardy clue: “Still around today, this strep infection that causes a rash has terrible effects in “Little Women” & the “Little House on the Prairie” books.”

Both Amodio and Wilson were correct with “What is Scarlet Fever?” and with his wager of $15,000, Amodio won the episode with $45,400, earning his spot in the JIT! semifinals.

“Great game, congrats, Matt,” Jennings told Amodio.

“Hannah made Matt work for that win. Poor Doug,” wrote one Reddit commenter after the episode.

“Welcome back, Amodio Rodeo!!!” said another.

“Matt calling himself a jeopardy villain made me laugh. he’s anything but,” added one fan.

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Another wrote, “Congrats to Matt! I feel bad for Doug, I hate seeing people not make it to Final Jeopardy. Hannah definitely put up quite the competition. I think in a different matchup, Hannah could’ve been a semifinalist. There’s always a future JIT!”

“Crushed for Hannah, especially since she played so well in tournament gameplay again, but there’s really no contesting that Matt is one of the best to ever play the game and deserved this win,” said one fan. “I feel pretty bad for Doug though, since he certainly has a unique legacy on the show. He may have gotten the toughest draw in the tournament, all things considered.”

The JIT sees 27 familiar faces competing across nine quarterfinal games, three semifinals, and a multiple-game finals series. The first Jeopardy! alum to win two games wins the whole competition, the $150,000 prize, and a spot in the 2025 Jeopardy! Masters.

What did you think of Monday’s episode? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below.