Matt Jackson (Jeopardy! contestant)

Last updated
Matt Jackson
Born (1992-06-24) June 24, 1992 (age 31)
Alma mater Yale University (BA)
OccupationParalegal
Known forAppearances on Jeopardy!
Parent

Matthew Barnett Jackson (born June 24, 1992) is an American paralegal and former contestant on the syndicated game show Jeopardy! who won 13 consecutive games and earning $413,612, the eleventh-highest game streak all-time as of June 4, 2023. His 13-episode streak ended with a loss on October 14, 2015. Jackson's total winnings place him tenth on the all-time money-winning list in regular (non-tournament) games as of June 4, 2023. [1]

Contents

Early life and education

Jackson grew up in Washington, D.C., and attended Georgetown Day School. [2] He is the son of Amy Berman Jackson, a judge on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, and lawyer Darryl Jackson. [3] His mother is Jewish and his father is African-American and Christian. [3] His middle name comes from his maternal grandfather, Barnett Berman, a physician at Johns Hopkins University whom Jackson cited as an early influence in becoming well-read. [4]

Jackson majored in philosophy at Yale University and graduated in 2014.

Career

At Yale, Jackson was a key player on the university's quiz bowl team, which won several national tournaments, including Academic Competition Federation nationals in 2011 and 2012 [5] [6] and the National Academic Quiz Tournaments Intercollegiate Championship Tournament 2013 (Division I); [7] he served as president of the Partnership for Academic Competition Excellence (PACE), a nonprofit promoting the spread of quiz bowl, in 2014–15. [8] [9] [10]

Jackson works as a paralegal in D.C. [11]

Jeopardy!

Jackson was encouraged to apply for the show by his friend Sam Spaulding, who won $50,000 after finishing second in the fall 2010 College Championship. [12] After two unsuccessful attempts to enter the college tournament, he auditioned for the regular show in 2014 and was selected as a contestant. [12] Jackson said that he repeated, "I am not throwin' away my shot," a line from the musical Hamilton , for inspiration while preparing for the show. [13] He studied by reading previous champions' books on the experience, such as Ken Jennings’s Brainiac and Bob Harris's Prisoner of Trebekistan. [13]

Jackson initially drew attention for his slow smile while being introduced at the beginning of each show. [11] [3] After his first victory, he began using his fingers to display the number of wins in his streak. [14] Jackson also became known for his buzzer speed and for quickly moving onto the next question after giving a correct response. [13] [15] In his third game, when Jackson said "Boom!" after correctly answering a Daily Double, fans and media quickly proclaimed the exclamation his signature catchphrase, but he never repeated it. [16]

Jackson's 13-episode streak ended with a loss on October 14, 2015. In his 14 episodes he earned $413,612. At the time his 13-win streak was the fourth highest in Jeopardy! regular-play history, trailing only Ken Jennings (74 wins in 2004), Julia Collins (20 in 2014), and David Madden (19 in 2005). He was also fourth-highest in total regular-play earnings. In 2019, first James Holzhauer had a 32-game winning streak, moving Jackson to fifth place in both consecutive games won and total regular-play earnings, then Jason Zuffranieri had a 19-game winning streak, moving Jackson to sixth place in both consecutive games won and total regular-play earnings. In 2021, Matt Amodio had a 38-game winning streak, bumping Jackson to seventh place in consecutive days won and total money earned. In 2022, first Amy Schneider had a 40-game winning streak, moving Jackson to eighth place, then Mattea Roach surpassed Jackson with 23 wins, moving Jackson to ninth place in both consecutive games and regular play earnings.

Jackson returned in November 2015 for the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions. On the November 11 episode he won his quarterfinal game and moved on to the next round. [17] On the November 18 episode he won his semifinal game to advance to the finals. In the two-day final aired on November 19 and 20, Jackson finished second, behind Alex Jacob, winning $100,000.

Jackson appeared in the show's "All-Star Games", which aired from February 20 to March 5, 2019. His teammates were captain Ken Jennings and 2012 College champion Monica Thieu. The team took second place. [18]

Jackson returned for the 2024 Jeopardy Invitational Tournament (JIT), ultimately falling to Victoria Groce in the semifinal matchup.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Game show</span> Type of television or radio program where contestants compete for prizes

A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a host, who explains the rules of the game as well as commentating and narrating where necessary. The history of the game shows dates back to the late 1930s when both radio and television game shows were broadcast. The genre became popular in the United States in the 1950s, becoming a regular feature of daytime television.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ken Jennings</span> American game show host (born 1974)

Kenneth Wayne Jennings III is an American game show host, author, and former game show contestant. He is the highest-earning American game show contestant, having won money on five different game shows, including $4,522,700 on the U.S. game show Jeopardy!. From 2021 to 2023, Jennings and Mayim Bialik alternated as hosts of that show, as well as Celebrity Jeopardy! In 2023, Jennings received a nomination for the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Host for a Game Show. In December 2023, Jennings was announced as Jeopardy!’s permanent main host.

Eddie Timanus is a USA Today sportswriter and game show contestant who grew up in Reston, Virginia, then graduated from Wake Forest University. Timanus has been blind since he was a toddler due to retinoblastoma. He is best known for his five-game winning streak on the game show Jeopardy! and for being the first blind contestant to appear on the show.

Bradford Gates Rutter is an American game show contestant, TV host, producer, and actor. With over $5.1 million in winnings, he is currently the second-highest-earning American game show contestant of all time, behind Ken Jennings, and still the highest-earning contestant on the U.S. syndicated game show Jeopardy!.

A game show is a type of radio, television, or internet program in which contestants, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering trivia questions or solving puzzles, usually for prizes. Game shows are usually distinguishable from reality television competition shows, in which the competition consumes an entire season of episodes; in a game show, prizes can typically be won in a single match. Beginning with the first five-figure and six-figure game show jackpots in the mid-1950s, a succession of contestants on various quiz shows of the era each set records. Teddy Nadler of The $64,000 Challenge, the highest-scoring contestant of the 1950s era, was not surpassed until 1980, when Thom McKee won $312,700 on Tic-Tac-Dough. Between 1999 and 2001, during a brief boom in high-stakes game shows, the record was broken six times. Both the 1955–1958 and 1999–2001 eras of rapidly set and broken records were driven primarily by one-upmanship between the networks each trying to secure bragging rights and ratings by inflating their prize offerings, rather than the merits of the contestants themselves. American daytime television has historically had smaller prize budgets for game shows that air in that daypart.

Larissa Kelly is an American writer and academic who won six games on the U.S. game show Jeopardy! in 2008.

Jeopardy! is an American television game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead given general knowledge clues in the form of answers and they must identify the person, place, thing, or idea that the clue describes, phrasing each response in the form of a question.

The Chase is an American television quiz show adapted from the British program of the same name. It premiered on August 6, 2013, on the Game Show Network (GSN). It was hosted by Brooke Burns and featured Mark Labbett as the "chaser". A revival of the show premiered on January 7, 2021, on ABC. It is hosted by Sara Haines and initially featured as the chasers Jeopardy! champions James Holzhauer, Ken Jennings, and Brad Rutter. Labbett returned as a chaser in June 2021, before stepping down in 2022 along with Jennings. In their place are Buzzy Cohen, Brandon Blackwell, and Victoria Groce.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur Chu</span> American television personality (born 1984)

Arthur Chu is an American columnist and former contestant on Jeopardy!, a syndicated U.S. game show. Chu first became known for the unusual style of play he adopted during his eleven-game winning streak on Jeopardy!. When the shows aired, Chu attracted criticism from many for jumping from category to category rather than selecting clues in sequential order, a strategy known as the "Forrest Bounce", named for former champion Chuck Forrest.

Julia Collins is an American game show contestant and a supply chain professional from Wilmette, Illinois. She is best known for being a 20-day champion on the quiz show Jeopardy!.

David "Dave" Madden is an American game show contestant, academic competition organizer, and art historian. He is a former 19-day champion on Jeopardy! and holds the eighth-longest streak in Jeopardy! history.

<i>Sports Jeopardy!</i> American television Quiz show

Sports Jeopardy! is an American television game show adapted from the quiz show Jeopardy!. The show debuted on Crackle on September 24, 2014. Hosted by Dan Patrick, this version featured largely identical play to the parent program, but highlights sports trivia instead of general knowledge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">James Holzhauer</span>

James Holzhauer is an American game show contestant and professional sports gambler. He is the third-highest-earning American game show contestant of all time. Holzhauer is best known for his 32-game winning streak as champion on the quiz show Jeopardy! from April to June 2019, during which he set multiple single-game records for winnings, and for winning the following Tournament of Champions that November.

Matthew Benjamin Amodio is an American mathematician and game show contestant who won 38 consecutive games on the game show Jeopardy! in 2021, the third-longest streak in the show's history, behind Ken Jennings and Amy Schneider. A PhD student in computer science at Yale University, Amodio won $1,519,601 in 39 appearances on Jeopardy!, making him the third millionaire contestant on the show in regular-season play. Across all American game shows, Amodio is the tenth highest-earning contestant of all time. His run on the show has been called the "Amodio Rodeo".

Jeopardy! is an American quiz game show in which contestants use certain strategies and skills to increase their chances of winning each game, win the most games, and ensure large winnings.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Amy Schneider</span> American writer and game show contestant

Amy Schneider is an American writer and game show contestant. Winning 40 consecutive games on the quiz show Jeopardy! from November 2021 to January 2022 and the November 2022 Tournament of Champions, she holds the second-longest win streak in the program's history, behind only Ken Jennings, who hosted the show as she competed. She is the most successful woman and most successful transgender contestant ever to compete on the show, in terms of both the length of her streak and her $1.6 million in winnings.

Mattea Roach is a Canadian tutor and game show contestant who held a 23-game winning streak on the game show Jeopardy! from April 5, 2022, to May 6, 2022. Roach was the most successful Canadian to play Jeopardy! and is placed in sixth for all-time regular season wins. Roach won US$560,983 throughout their run, getting the correct response to 93 percent of buzzed-in clues. During their 24th game, they lost to Danielle Maurer by just US$1. With their streak, Roach qualified for the season's Tournament of Champions. Roach placed second in the first season of Jeopardy! Masters, which aired in 2023.

<i>Jeopardy! Masters</i> American television quiz show

Jeopardy! Masters is an American game show hosted by Ken Jennings on ABC. Its first season featured six recent notable Jeopardy! champions competing against each other in a "Champions League-style" format. It premiered on May 8, 2023. In February 2024, it was announced that the show would be renewed for a second season which premiered on May 1, 2024.

References

  1. ↑ Bryant, Jacob (14 October 2015). "Matt Jackson's 13-Game 'Jeopardy!' Streak Ends". Variety . Retrieved 16 October 2015.
  2. ↑ "He Keeps on Winning!". Georgetown Day School. 1 October 2015. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  3. 1 2 3 Heil, Emily (7 October 2015). "Washington 'Jeopardy' contestant Matt Jackson is a pop-culture sensation — and the son of a federal judge". Washington Post . Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  4. ↑ Miller, Jason (7 October 2015). "An Interesting Jewish "Jeopardy" Champ". My Jewish Learning. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  5. ↑ Vinokurov, Jerry (17 April 2011). "ACF Nationals 2011 thanks and discussion". hsquizbowl.org. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
  6. ↑ "ACF Nationals recap". ACF. 24 April 2012. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
  7. ↑ "2013 Intercollegiate Championship Tournament Team Standings". NAQT. 29 March 2013. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
  8. ↑ Rosenberg, Ryan (14 July 2014). "PACE Officers 2014-2015". hsquizbowl.org. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
  9. ↑ Zhang, Marianna (13 July 2015). "PACE Officers 2015-2016". hsquizbowl.org. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
  10. ↑ "About PACE". Partnership for Academic Competition Excellence . Retrieved 18 October 2015.
  11. 1 2 Mullins, Jenna (5 October 2015). "The Internet Is Obsessed With Jeopardy! Contestant Matt Jackson and Now So Are We!". E! Online . Retrieved 6 October 2015.
  12. 1 2 "WHO IS MATT JACKSON?". Jeopardy!. 5 October 2015. Archived from the original on 20 November 2015. Retrieved 6 October 2015.
  13. 1 2 3 Ledbetter, Carly (6 October 2015). "What You Need To Know About Matt Jackson, The New Star Of 'Jeopardy!'". Huffington Post . Retrieved 6 October 2015.
  14. ↑ Kavner, Lucas (7 October 2015). "Get to Know Matt Jackson, the 23-Year-Old Who Is Killing Everyone on Jeopardy". The Vulture . Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  15. ↑ Furdyk, Brent (7 October 2015). "WATCH: 'Jeopardy' Contestant Matt Jackson Hits Day 8 Of Winning Streak". Entertainment Tonight Canada. Archived from the original on September 29, 2023. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  16. ↑ Amos, Candace (8 October 2015). "'Jeopardy!' champion Matt Jackson breathes new life into show with awkwardly sinister smile, celebratory 'boom!' cheer". NY Daily News . Retrieved 9 October 2015.
  17. ↑ Heil, Emily (11 November 2015). "Washington paralegal Matt Jackson crushed it again on 'Jeopardy' (with jazz hands)". Washington Post . Retrieved 12 November 2015.
  18. ↑ "2019 All-Star Games - Jeopardy.com". www.jeopardy.com. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
Preceded by
Greg Seroka
 Biggest Jeopardy! winners by season
2015–16		Succeeded by
Seth Wilson
Preceded by
Michael Bilow
 Biggest one-day winners on Jeopardy! by season
2015–16		Succeeded by
Joe Nguyen
Preceded by Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions first runner-up
2015		Succeeded by
Alan Lin
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.