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Matt Amodio’s Record ‘Jeopardy!’ Run Ends With $1.5M in Prize Money

He’s just the third contestant in the game show’s history to break $1 million in non-tournament play.

The #AmodioRodeo had to come to a close at some point. After 38 straight wins and $1.5 million earned in prize money, Matt Amodio, 30, was beaten on Jeopardy! by another player, Jonathan Fisher. Amodio, a Yale Ph.D. student, missed out on both the game’s Daily Doubles, which were snatched up by Fisher, and answered Final Jeopardy! incorrectly. The mistakes cost Amodio, leaving him trailing in last place behind Fisher and contestant Jessica Stephens, who came in second.

But Amodio’s run was still one for the history books. The student became the third contestant in the game show’s history to break $1 million in non-tournament play, and reached second place on the all-time consecutive win list, behind only legendary contestant Ken Jennings, who swung a mind-boggling 74 straight wins in 2004. Amodio won’t be gone for long, however—he’ll be back for the next Tournament of Champions in 2022. “I loved every second of playing Jeopardy!,” he told The Boston Globe, “and wanted it to go on forever.”