‘Jeopardy!’ Fans Debate if Ken Jennings Would Still Win Big if He Competed on Show

Brittany Sims February 20, 2025, 3:04 pm

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Ken Jennings is the highest-earning American game show contestant ever thanks to his stunning success on Jeopardy! and its spinoff shows.

But now fans are wondering if the GOAT would still win if he was suddenly thrust back into the spotlight as a contestant, or would ring rust from not competing for years drag him back to being a mere mortal against other players?

King Ken has racked up $4,522,700 just on the syndicated game show. His original appearance on Jeopardy! marks the longest winning streak and he holds the record for the highest average of correct responses per game.

In 2020, Jennings was awarded the first-place prize in Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time. Before 2003, contestants on Jeopardy! were only allowed to win five consecutive games. At the beginning of the show’s 20th season in 2003, the rules were changed to allow contestants to continue playing for as long as they won.

Until Jennings appeared, the longest streak was held by Tom Walsh, who won $186,900 in eight games in 2004. Jennings’ run began in June 2004 on Season 20. After his initial run, Jennings joined the show multiple times for Tournament runs including the Ultimate Tournament of Champions in 2005, IBM Challenge in 2011, Battle of the Decades in 2014, 2019 All-Star Games, and the 2020 Greatest of All Time.

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After 2020, his reign ended, but he joined Jeopardy! as a consulting producer for Season 37. He and Mayim Bialik took over as co-hosts after Alex Trebek‘s death in 2020. Bialik withdrew from hosting in 2023, due to the Hollywood labor disputes, leaving Jennings to host on his own. In December 2023, she was fired from the show, which made Jennings the sole host. No replacement was picked for a co-host.

Having not played in five years, fans wonder if Jennings could still crush the opposition like he did in the old days. Reddit users debated the topic on Wednesday, February 19, on the platform.

“Would Ken still dominate? Just curious if people think Ken Jennings could swap positions and still be a very dominant contestant? I wonder if he is no longer constantly prepping, if the knowledge base inevitably starts to fade?” the original poster asked.

“Although I suppose he does get a nice little refresher each day as the host. Regardless, I really enjoy Ken because I know that he is not just the host, but also actually very knowledgeable about the topics.”

Fans chimed in and say they believe he could with prep time.

“His command of the trivia is vast. Only question would be if he’s slowed down at all on buzzer and recall. I still think he’d dominate,” one user said.

“Running the show definitely keeps things pretty fresh,” wrote another.

“His command of the game and his knowledge is what makes him an exceptional Jeopardy host,” a Reddit user said.

“The GOAT tournament was only five years ago. Of course he’d still dominate. The only question would be if he’d best 74 games or not. He probably wouldn’t even have to play the modern style to win against regular contestants,” a fan credited him.

“He’d slaughter them all,” commented a Reddit user.

However, other fans think that some recent contestants could give him a run for his money. James Holzhauer is one of the names that was brought up. He is the third-highest winning game show contestant of all-time, with a 32-game winning streak. Holzhauer and Jennings competed against each other in the Greatest of All Time Tournament.

“He won the GOAT tournament against a still fresh James Holzhauer, so he’d undoubtedly still do really good and perhaps even win,” a fan said.

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Another contestant that fans think might take down Jennings would be Victoria Groce, who competed on The Chase. She also won the Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament and Jeopardy! Masters in 2024.

Yogesh Raut is the third name that was brought up. He is the 2024 Tournament of Champions winner and a three-time champion on Season 39.

Do you think Ken Jennings could still dominate the competition? Sound off in the comments below.