JEOPARDY! fans were floored when 21-time winner Cris Pannullo lost on Monday’s episode to newcomer Andy Tirrell in a shocking upset.
But Andy – who lost one game later – is far from the first contestant to offroad a big winner only to run out of gas.
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NANCY ZERG (BEAT KEN JENNINGS)
The Realtor from California ousted the game show’s most famous contestant after seven months, 74 wins, and $2.5M in 2004 – still the longest Jeopardy! streak to this day.
Now-host Ken Jennings, 48, not only missed both Daily Double clues that fateful episode but also infamously flubbed the Final Jeopardy question by writing “Fed-Ex” instead of “H&R block.”
Ken showed there were no hard feelings as he hugged Nancy on stage and the crowd gave them a standing ovation.
Ken later met up with Nancy per his website, and they hilariously held up signs of his incorrect response and her correct one.
“I thought, Somebody is going to beat him, and it might as well be me,’’ Nancy later told The New York Post. “I watched some of the other players’ attitudes, and they lost the game in the parking garage before they even got to the studio.”
Nancy lost one game later.
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VICTORIA GROCE (BEAT DAVE MADDEN)
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Dave Madden boasts 8th most money won in regular season play with $420K – he was beaten by Victoria after his 19th win.
The Georgia musician who now hosts The Chase made a smart Final Jeopardy! wager and took out the champ in 2005, he had the longest streak after Ken.
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Victoria lost one game later.
BRIAN LOUGHNANE (BEAT JULIA COLLINS)
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With a 20-win, $428,100 streak in 2014, Julia Collins was the highest-earning female Jeopardy! champion for a long time.
Amy Schneider has credited Julia as a huge inspiration – the trailblazer was taken out by Brian, an investment manager
“If it helps dispel the idea that women aren’t as good Jeopardy! players as men, that would be great,” Julia said after her streak. “It’s good to see women being applauded for being smart.”
Brian immediately lost his next game.
MICHAEL BAKER (BEAT MATT JACKSON)
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Matt Jackson won 13 consecutive games and earned $413,612 in 2015 – which is still the ninth highest amount won on the show.
Michael Baker, a travel editor from New York, beat him and was eliminated, indeed, one night later.
SCARLETT SIMS (BEAT AUSTIN ROGERS)
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The big personality-boasting Austin lost after 13 wins and more than $400K.
Scarlett Sims beat him by a scant $51.
The full-time mom from Tennessee lost one game later.
EMMA BOETTCHER (BEAT JAMES HOLZHAUER)
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James Holzhauer won 32 games and $2.4M in 2019, second only to Ken – changing the game by seeking out Daily Doubles and going “all in” on them.
The former professional poker ace boasts not just the highest winning amount in a single game ($131K) but all top ten of the highest amounts ever.
Emma Boettcher from Georgia, who wrote her thesis on Jeopardy!, per the book Questions in The Form of Answers by Claire McNear, stunned viewers when she rolled up and beat him.
That game was the most well-played in Jeopardy! history as it was 1 missed response away of perfection.
The 3rd contestant up there had also been auditioning for years – and while a perfect score has never happened on the game show, that episode was the closest.
The match has the highest so-called group “Coryat” score of all time, all three even got Final Jeopardy correct but Emma out-wagered James.
Emma lost not one, but three games later.
ANDY TIRRELL (BEAT CRIS PANNULLO)
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Cris, 38, the customer success operations manager and former poker ace from Ocean City, New Jersey, who can boast of having the fifth-highest winnings in the game show’s history and its sixth-longest streak.
He won $748,000 total and millions of fans with his sportsmanlike approach to the game and his looks were an added bonus for many.
Cris even won by so much per game that execs called losing to him getting “Pannulo’d.”
Cris shockingly lost by missing a crucial Daily Double and floundering on Final Jeopardy writing “Little Mermaid” under the category “Plays” when he needed it most.
He had $12,600 going into the final round, leading his closest competitor, San Diego professor Andy, by just $700.
Pannullo incorrectly guessed that the play was “The Little Mermaid.” The mistake cost him $11,201.
Andy recognized the play as “The Tempest” by William Shakespeare. He ended the game with winnings of $15,399.
Pannullo reacted to his loss with a disappointed head shake and then a fist bump.
Cris told Ken it was a: “Disappointment for sure, but also realizing how immensely lucky I was.” He added, “To go 20-plus games is just the greatest streak of luck I’ll ever have in my life.”
Andy lost one game later.
Diana Peloquin, who defeated Arthur Chu after an 11-win, $297,200 streak, also lost one game later.
Erin Delaney, who beat Buzzy Cohen in 2019 after 9 wins, lost 2 games later.