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Host
Alex Trebek and other hosts
Contestants
4~5+ time champions and winners of other tournaments (3-time champions prior to January 5, 2021)[1]
Announcer
Johnny Gilbert
Broadcast
Jeopardy S40 TOC Logo
NBC Daytime: 9/28/1964-2/18/1979
Syndication: 11/11/1985-present
Packager
Sony Pictures Television

The Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions is a special tournament that features up to 27 players (21 in 2022 and 15 players in two weeks prior to 2022) who won at least 5 games or close to winning 5 games in a row, starting in 1985.

During the Fleming-era tournaments, Grand Champions won a tropical vacation and were presented with a trophy called the Griffin Award, named for creator Merv Griffin himself. Also, Fleming-era tournaments are shown on the website, but there is no archives from J-Archive.

Schedule[]

  • There was no Tournament of Champions from S1, S17, S20, S23, S27, S30, S33, S35, and S38.
Annual Season Airdate Finale
Art Fleming Era
1 1 September 28, 1964 October 2, 1964
2 2 October 18, 1965 October 22, 1965
3 3 October 21, 1966 October 21, 1966
4 4 October 16, 1967 October 20, 1967
5 5 October 28, 1968 November 1, 1968
6 6 October 27, 1969 November 7, 1969
7 7 November 9, 1970 November 16, 1970
8 8 November 15, 1971 November 19, 1971
9 9 November 13, 1972 November 17, 1972
10 10 November 12, 1973 November 16, 1973
11 11 November 19, 1974 November 22, 1974
12 12 February 14, 1979 February 18, 1979
Syndicated Era
1 2 November 11, 1985 November 22, 1985
2 3 November 3, 1986 November 14, 1986
3 4 November 9, 1987 November 20, 1987
4 5 November 7, 1988 November 18, 1988
5 6 November 6, 1989 November 17, 1989
6 7 November 5, 1990 November 16, 1990
7 8 November 4, 1991 November 15, 1991
8 9 November 9, 1992 November 20, 1992
9 10 November 15, 1993 November 26, 1993
10 11 November 14, 1994 November 25, 1994
11 12 November 13, 1995 November 24, 1995
12 13 November 18, 1996 November 29, 1996
13 14 February 2, 1998 February 13, 1998
14 15 February 8, 1999 February 19, 1999
15 16 May 8, 2000 May 19, 2000
16 18 October 22, 2001 November 2, 2001
17 19 May 5, 2003 May 16, 2003
18 21 September 20, 2004 October 1, 2004
19 22 May 8, 2006 May 19, 2006
20 24 November 5, 2007 November 16, 2007
21 25 March 11, 2009 March 24, 2009
22 26 May 10, 2010 May 21, 2010
23 28 November 2, 2011 November 15, 2011
24 29 February 13, 2013 February 26, 2013
25 31 November 10, 2014 November 21, 2014
26 32 November 9, 2015 November 20, 2015
27 34 November 6, 2017 November 17, 2017
28 36 November 4, 2019 November 15, 2019
29 37 May 17, 2021 May 28, 2021
30 39 October 31, 2022 November 21, 2022
31 40 February 23, 2024 2024

Lists[]

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Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions
Art Fleming Era
1964 1965 1966 1967 1968 1969
1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1979
Syndicated Era
1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990
1991 1992 1993 1994 1995 1996
1998 1999 2000 2001 2003 2004
2006 2007 2009 2010 2011 2013
2014 2015 2017 2019 2021 2022
2024 2025

Legends[]

Here are key colorings to help you keep track of what kind of player we had:

Contestants[]

Winner
1st runner-up
2nd runner-up
Semifinalist
Te Teen Tournament Winner
S Seniors Tournament Winner
C College Championship Winner
T Teachers Tournament Winner
P Professors Tournament Winner
NCC National College Championship Winner
SC Second Chance competition winner
HSR High School Reunion Tournament Winner
CW Champions Wildcard Winner
CJ! Celebrity Jeopardy! Winner
$ Season's Biggest Winner[2]

Scores[]

Winner
1st runner-up
2nd runner-up
Advanced
Wild Card Advanced
Lock Game/Tournament

Participation Eligibility[]

  • Featuring champions who won the most games (minimum of three regular-play wins to qualify until the 2021 tournament, minimum of four regular-play wins to qualify effective the 2022 tournament) as well as winners of the College Championship. In the first 19 seasons, all 5-time undefeated champs automatically qualified. Leading up to 2000, winners of the Teen Tournament were guaranteed a spot in the Tournament of Champions. Since 2011, winners of the Teachers Tournament (except Larry Martin, who suddenly and unexpectedly died shortly after winning the 2018 event) were guaranteed spots in the ToC. Effective the 2022 tournament, the winners of the Professors Tournament and National College Championship will be guaranteed a slot in the ToC. Unlike other tournaments (see below), the contestants not playing in their respective quarterfinal game are not allowed to watch from the audience, as the point is to win their quarterfinal game rather than simply beating a wild card score.
  • A champion with 5 or more wins in a row will automatically qualify for the promotion, and in some cases, a champion with 4 wins in a row will also be given a chance to participate. Prior to January 5, 2021, a champion with 3 wins in a row were given a chance to participate in some cases[3].
  • The ranking order is determined by the number of wins and prize money[4][5]. For this reason, there are many cases where even a person with a low winning streak has a higher overall winnings than a person with a high winning streak[6],
  • Winners of other tournaments (Teen, College, Teacher, Senior) are also eligible to participate. That is, in the case of regular games, you can go up by playing at least 4-5 games, and in the case of tournaments, you can play 4 games (with 15 players), but you can go up with the requirement that one WC is allowed.
  • Sometimes, like S2, S16, S18, and S34, the champions with 5 or more wins or more are full.
  • Qualifications to participate are either an honorary graduate with a five-game winning streak or a post-loss champion[7].
  • From S39, it is said that the ToC qualifiers are determined by setting up a tournament in which the winners of 1 to 3 wins compete in the post season. As a result, virtually all participants can advance to ToC, and 4 or more wins have been changed to a format in which they receive seeds and automatically advance. For example, special features such as the World Cup regional qualifiers have been added.

Qualification of tournament winners into the Tournament of Champions[]

  • College Championship: Held each season since Season 5 (1988-89) (except Seasons 31, 35, and 37); winners always qualify into the next ToC. Vinita Kailasanath (2001) and Joey Beachum (2008) deferred their bids to the following ToC due to other commitments. Season 38 was the National College Tournament and aired on primetime.
  • Teachers Tournament: Held each season since Season 27 (2010-11) (except Season 37); winners always qualify into the next ToC. Larry Martin, the winner from Season 34, suddenly died January 25, 2019 from pancreatic cancer before the 2019 Tournament of Champions.
  • Teen Tournament: Held each season from Season 3 (1986-87) through Season 35 (except Seasons 31, 32, and 34) and with second playings in Seasons 23 and 35). From Seasons 3-16 (i.e. through the 1999-2000 season), Teen Tournament winners qualified into the next ToC; from Season 17 onward, they have not been invited.
  • Seniors Tournament: Held each season from Season 3 (1986-87) through Season 12 (1995-96); winners always qualified into the next ToC.
  • Professional Tournament: It is a tournament that has been implemented since season 38, and can be said to be an extension of the existing teacher tournament.
  • Second Chance: As a special event that has been implemented since season 39, the contestants who did not win compete and the winner of each week is given the right to advance to the ToC, and it is implemented before the ToC.

How to determine ToC Participants[]

  • From 1985 through 1993, the qualifying period for the ToC was the prior season. From 1994 to 2022, the qualifying period was modified to the time between ToCs, subject to modifications as TPTB see fit; the producers generally do not disclose the cutoff dates. Catherine Hardee's appearance in the 2015 ToC is an example of the exercise of this prerogative, as she first appeared before the 2014 ToC. In determining the end of qualification for the latter, I've applied Occam's razor; the most logical date is July 18, 2014, the last regular game of Season 30.
  • For the Season 37 ToC, the show did explicitly state that the cutoff was January 5, 2021, the date of Brayden Smith's loss in regular play.
  • Qualification for the Season 36 ToC is deemed to have ended on June 6, 2019, the day Emma Boettcher lost. Boettcher, who defeated 32-game, $2.46 million winner James Holzhauer, was invited to the ToC, even though her winnings (3 wins, $97,002) would ordinarily have been insufficient (Seven four-game winners above her in the standings did not make this ToC). Additionally, a possibility posited by Andy Saunders: "…the producers have used their discretion to give the spot for the deceased Larry Martin to Emma Boettcher…" Boettcher reached the final of the 2019 ToC — but as noted above, Holzhauer prevailed.
  • The qualification period for the Season 21 ToC is considered to have ended on June 1, 2004 (the day before Ken Jennings's first appearance), and the Season 22 ToC qualifying period commenced on November 30, 2004 (the day Ken lost in regular play). Since Jennings didn't appear in a standard format Tournament of Champions, his seventy-four wins aren't considered part of either qualifying cycle. Jennings instead was seeded into the final of the Ultimate Tournament of Champions, against two finalists emerging from a field of past Jeopardy! greats. The seeding and prize structure of the UToC guaranteed Jennings no less than a ToC winner's paycheck ($250,000 for third place; he actually earned twice that for finishing in second).
  • Between the Season 16 (2000) and Season 18 (2001) Tournaments of Champions, sixteen players retired as undefeated five-time champions. The field for the latter was filled on July 3, 2001, when Kevin Keach became the 14th such player. Alan Bailey and Mark Dawson each became five-time champions between that date and the 2001 ToC, and were thus held over to the next ToC in May 2003. Notwithstanding this, the qualification period for the 2001 ToC ran all the way to October 19, 2001, the game before it commenced. This is based on Ramsey Campbell's non-invitation to the 2003 ToC. Campbell won four games and $49,201; doubling that total to give it parity with those who played after clue values were doubled would have qualified him.

Cases of non-attendance of ToC participants[]

If you win 5 or more consecutive games or win other tournaments, contestants will automatically be given the right to advance to the ToC. A four-game winning streak is also eligible, and in some cases, prior to January 5, 2021, a three-game winning streak was also possible.[8]

Champions with 5 or more wins in a row are given the qualification to advance unconditionally.

  • Barbara Lowe (5-time): She retired undefeated during Season 2; however, she was excluded from the 1986 Tournament of Champions due to discovery of her ineligibility to appear on Jeopardy!. Because she was not eligible, the argument can be made that her results are annulled and she didn't win any games - but that argument is complicated by the fact that the show reportedly paid out her winnings. Regardless, I'm listing her here for completeness. Lowe's 5 original games have never since been rerun.
  • Ken Jennings (74-time): As stated above, Jeopardy! organized the Ultimate Tournament of Champions in lieu of seeding Ken into a usual ToC.
  • Jerry Slowik (5-time): He was not invited to the 2014 Tournament of Champions for conduct in which he engaged after his original Jeopardy! run aired, and for which he was criminally charged.
  • Cindy Stowell (6-time): She competed on Jeopardy! with Stage 4 colon cancer - a disease which claimed her life on December 5, 2016, 8 days before her 1st game aired. The show provided her with copies of at least her first 3 games, so she was able to see herself win before passing away. The show recognized her 2017 ToC-qualifying performance by donating $10,000 (a semifinalist's share) to the Cancer Research Institute, over and above the $105,803 she won in her 7 games.
  • Brayden Smith (5-time): On February 5, 2021 — exactly one month after the airing of his last episode — Smith unexpectedly and shockingly passed away at the age of 24. Steve Moulds, the highest-winning 3-time champion of the cycle, took his place.

Additionally, the 2019 Tournament of Champions had, for the first time, an automatic bid winner who did not appear in the ToC:

  • Larry Martin (S34 Teachers Tournament). Martin, who was dominant in his May 2018 tournament victory, passed away on January 25, 2019 - news that stunned and saddened the whole Jeopardy! community.

There are also cases where champions with fewer than five wins in a row did not participate even though they were eligible.

  • Dave Leffler (4-time): Originally, the prize money standings ($100,102) would qualify him for the S36 ToC, but he was replaced by three-time champion Emma Boettcher[9].
  • Celebrities are not allowed to qualify to compete in the ToC because it’s for the Jeopardy contestants only. However, there is a possibility that this trend will also be broken as Ike Barinholtz, winner of the Celebrity Jeopardy held at 2022 primetime, is scheduled to compete in ToC[10].

Rules[]

To see the rules of the Tournament of Champions, click here.

Finalists by Entry[]

  • Up to the 15-member from S37, the order of appearance of the ToC winner is #2 (S2) → #5 (S3) → #4 (S4) → #1 (S7) → #3 (S13).
  • In the case of S39, which has 21 champions, the entry also includes champions who played in the semifinalists that were received byes.
  • In terms of the longest streak of ToC Winner, the order is #3 (32x) > #1 (9x) > #2, #5 (6x) > #4 (x5)[11].
  • The highest prize money ranking order of the ToC winners of each group: #3 (S36 - $2,462,216) > #2 (S27 - $230,200) > #1 (S31 - $176,534) > #5 (S37 - $156,202) > #4 (S10 - $131,280 (x2))
Entry
1 4 5 6
2 6 7 5
3 3 4 5
4 9 4 7
5 7 6 9
6 0 0 1
Bye 1 0 0

Bob Blake (S7), Dan Pawson (S25), Ben Ingram (S31), and Buzzy Cohen (S34)
Dave Traini (S4), Bruce Naegeli (S5), Bev Schwartzberg (S10), David Siegel (S12), Kim Worth (S14) Jeremy Bate (S16), Brian Weikle (S19), and Tom Nissley (S28)
Bruce Naegeli (S5), Lou Pryor (S8), Marilyn Kneeland (S10), Rick Knutsen (S18), and Arthur Gandolfi (S21)
  • It is the only entry that has produced two or more 6+ time champions among ToC winners (Dan Pawson, Ben Ingram, and Buzzy Cohen). There are 4 winners, 5 runners-up and 6 3rd place winners.
  • Like group 3, there are few winners, but all four have brilliant records. First of all, Bob Blake set the record of achieving over $75,000 in a regular game for the first time, and Dan wrote the record of being the first ToC champion with 6 or more wins in a row. Ben was the last ToC champion to co-win, setting the record for winning without a DD in the final when he faced a champion with 10 or more wins in a row. Buzzy, like Dan, was the champion with the longest winning streak among ToC winners until James appeared.
  • Unlike other groups, there are no consecutive ToC wins in the same group.

Jerry Frankel (S2), Dave Abbott (S15), Mark Dawson (S19), Celeste DiNucci (S24), Roger Craig (S28), and Colby Burnett (S29)
Paul Rouffa (S3), Larry McKnight (S7), Bruce Simmons (S9), Jeff Stewart (S11), Tom Walsh (S21), Larissa Kelly (S25), Arthur Chu (S31), and Andrew He (S39)
Marvin Shinkman (S3), Jerome Vered (S9), Isaac Segal (S12), and Steve Fried (S16)
  • There are a total of 6 winners, with 7 runners-up being the most. 3rd place is 5 people.
  • This is the group that produced the first ToC winner and the winner in the last 5 consecutive wins.

Mike Dupée (S13), Dan Melia (S14), and James Holzhauer (S36)
Vik Vaz (S22), Matt Jackson (S32), Alan Lin (S34), and Jennifer Quail (S37)
Eugene Finerman (S4), Juliet Wiley (S15), Julia Collins (S31), and Austin Rogers (S34)
  • An entry that performed poorly in ToC, the number of entries with the fewest finalists is 11 in total. There are only 3 winners in this entry, four 1st runners-up and 2nd runner-up. Also, it is the most unfavorable entry, with the winner and runner-up appearing in S13 and S22, respectively. Especially since Dan Melia, who won the S14, there was no winner in 21 years until James Holzhauer came along.
  • However, the number of people is at least an entry with many people with elite level skills. Among the finalists in this entry, there are four champions with 10 or more wins in a row, and in particular, women's champions with 10 or more wins or more, and champions who have written legends of all-time are in this entry. Other than that, Vik Vaz is the first three-game champion to reach the finals, along with Michael Falk. Through this, it can be seen that mainly talented people are assigned to this position.
  • As an aside, Brad Rutter, who won the Battle of the Decade, has won these entrys.

Bob Verini (S4), Tom Cubbage (S6), Tom Nosek (S10), Rachael Schwartz (S11), Ryan "Fritz" Holznagel (S12), Robin Carroll (S16), Brad Rutter (S18), Russ Schumacher (S21), and Michael Falk (S22)
Bruce Fauman (S2), J.J. Todor (S15), Keith Whitener (S29), and Emma Boettcher (S36)
Steve Rogitz (S2), Sandra Gore (S5), Brian Wangsgard (S6), David Hillinck (S11), Aaron Schroeder (S25), Buddy Wright (S28), Kristin Morgan (S29), and Kerry Greene (S32)
  • The entry with the second most finalists and the entry that produced the most winners. So far, there have been 9 winners, 4 runners-up and 7 third place winners. Brad Rutter, who won the most money on the program, is from this entry.
  • However, after Michael Falk of S22, there has been no winner so far, and it is the only entry in which a none of 6+time champion so far. The best record for a champion with six or more wins in this entry is runner-up Keith Whitener of S29 and Emma Boettcher of S36 (latter is the most recent finalist in this entry).
  • None of the ToC winners in this group have received more than $100,000 in Regular Games[12].
  • Also, all but one of the 3 or 4-time champions have won this entry (Vijay Balse).
  • Incidentally, as the underperforming entry in the college tournament, only two have ever won Entry 4 in this tournament: Scott Gillispie (S7) and Nick Yozamp (S26). On the other hand, the Teacher Tournament shows the best results. They are the entry that has produced 5 out of 9 titles so far. Colby Burnett, who won the S29 ToC, and Francois Barcomb, who finished 3rd at the S36 ToC, are from this entry[13].

Chuck Forrest (S3), Mark Lowenthal (S5), Jim Scott (S8), Leszek Pawlowicz (S9), Vijay Balse (S26), Alex Jacob (S32), and Sam Kavanaugh (S37)
Rich Lerner (S6), Steve Robin (S8), Bob Scarpone (S13), Tad Carithers (S18), Doug Hicton (S24), and Jason Zollinger (S26)
Steve Berman (S7), Michael Daunt (S13), Bob Harris (S14), Eric Floyd (S19), Bill MacDonald (S22), Cliff Galiher (S24), Stefan Goodreau (S26), Francois Barcomb (S36), and Veronica Vichit-Vadakan (S37)
  • This is the place with the most finalists. A total of 22 people advanced to the final, with 7 winners, 6 runners-up, and 9 third-place winners.
  • In particular, there are many participants in Entrys 4 and 5 who received wild cards, so rematches between entrys of the same entry tend to occur a lot. Among them, in the case of Entry 5, all the participants of that entry had a rematch in the final (S26).

Sam Buttrey (S39)
  • It was the first group to be created when the 21-man system was changed, and Sam Buttery in this group made a big difference by defeating Matt Amodio in the semifinals and finished in 3rd place.

Amy Schneider (S39)
  • This is the first group to be created after changing to a 21-member system.
  • There are advantages and disadvantages to those who came up as a bye winner. The advantage is that they can prepare while others play the tournament, and the disadvantage is that the adaptation period is short when facing those who have completed adaptation while playing the tournament.

Finalists by non-WC:WC[]

3:0 S4, S5, S25, S28, S32, S36 (6 times)
2:1 S3, S6, S9, S13, S18, S21, S22, S29, S31, S34, S37 (12 times - 3:9)
1:2 S2, S7, S10, S12, S15, S19, S24, S26 (7 times - 4:3)
0:3 S8, S11, S14, S16 (4 times)

Additional Pages[]

Records[]

  • So far, since the ToC was held, there have been only Four female winners: Rachael Schwartz (S11), Robin Carroll (S16), Celeste DiNucci (S24), and Amy Schneider (S39)[14].
  • So far, 4 ToC Finalists have made it into the entire round without coming up with a correct response in Final Jeopardy: Marvin Shinkman (S3, 2nd runner-up), Steve Fried (S16, 2nd runner-up), Stefan Goodreau (S26, 2nd runner-up), and Alex Jacob (S32, winner).
  • Since the ToC was held so far, only two other tournament winners, Tom Cubbage (S5 College - S6) and Colby Burnett (S29 Teacher - S29), have won the ToC as well. Even including the finalists, there are only eight so far.
  • No champions coming from S21, S28, and S37 who participated in the ToC made it to the finals[15].
  • ToC whose top seed did not even advance to the semi-finals: S13, S18 and S24.
  • There are four cases where the champion of the season in which the ToC was held won: Robin Carroll (S16), Michael Falk (S22), Vijay Balse (S26), and Colby Burnett (S29).
  • There are three cases of producing two ToC winners in the same season[16]:
  • There are two cases where the top seed of the ToC leaderboard is not the recipient of the most regular game prizes among participants[17]:
  • Among all the ToC winners, there are three winners who won without the daily doubles in the two-day finals:
  • Among all the ToC winners, the champion with at least one co-champion[18]:
    • Jim Scott (S8)
    • Rachael Schwartz (S11)
    • Dan Pawson (S25)
    • Ben Ingram (S31)
  • Among the ToC winners, the biggest winner of the season[19]:
    • S4: Chuck Forrest (S3)
    • S14: Dan Melia (S13)
    • S31: Ben Ingram (S29)
    • S36: James Holzhauer (S35)
    • S38: Amy Schneider (S39)
  • The states that have produced two or more ToC winners so far are as follows (At the time of appearance):
    • California: Tom Nosek (S10), Dan Melia (S14), Buzzy Cohen (S34), and Amy Schneider (S39)
    • New York: Jerry Frankel (S2) and Bob Verini (S4)
    • New Jersey: Rachael Schwartz (S11) and Vijay Balse (S26)
    • Georgia: Robin Carroll (S16) and Mark Dawson (S19)
    • Pennsylvania: Brad Rutter (S18) and Celeste DiNucci (S24)
    • Illinois: Colby Burnett (S29) and Alex Jacob (S32)[20]
  • It may be surprising, but in the last regular game of the ToC champions, the 2nd place is 4 people and the 3rd place is 8 people[21]. For reference, it was only in S32 that the champion with 6 or more wins in a row who placed 2nd in the last regular play since the change to unlimited win streak won the ToC (Alex Jacob)[22].
  • Even if they received the lowest seed, there are cases where they performed very well in reaching the finals. In that case:
    • S2 - Steve Rogitz (x5, 3rd)
    • S9 - Bruce Simmons (x4, 2nd)
    • S11 - Rachael Schwartz (x4, winner; all finalists are no 5xer)
    • S28 - Buddy Wright (x4, 3rd)
    • S36 - Emma Boettcher (x3, 2nd)[23]
  • Rematches are often held in one tournament. The winner of the group and the wildcard contestant often face off in the final, and in S26, the contestants from group 5 had a rematch in the final. Starting from S21, participants who competed in regular competitions had rematches in ToC, and so far, they have occurred in S22, S29, S36, and S39.

Winners[]

  • To view Tournament of Champions winners: click here.

Winnings[]

Period Quarterfinalists Semifinalists Finalists (minimum guarantees)
2nd runner-up 1st runner-up Winner
Art Fleming era (1964-1979) None[24] Kept two-day total winnings
Tournament #1 (1985; Season 2) $1,000 $5,000 Kept two-day total winnings $100,000
Tournament #2 (1986; Season 3) $5,000
Tournament #3 to #12 (1987–1996; Season 4–13) $7,500 $10,000
Tournament #13 to #16 (1998–2001; Season 14–16, 18) $2,500 $10,000 $15,000
Tournament #17 to #18 (2003–2004; Season 19, 21) $5,000 $10,000 $25,000 $50,000 $250,000
Tournament #19 onwards (2006–present; Season 22, 24–26, 28–29, 31–32, 34, 36–37) $50,000 $100,000

References[]

  1. Last regular game date for champion Brayden Smith, the last five or more wins in Alex Trebek era. However, from the 31st ToC, a chance may be given to the 3-time champion again.
  2. Based on how much money they won in the season when the streak ended. For example, Ken Jennings who started at S20 won the most money in S21, meaning that he is the S21's biggest winner.
  3. However, if a ToC entrant cannot attend due to personal reasons, a champion with 3 consecutive victories can also appear.
  4. In other words, if there is a champion with a four-game winning streak of $90,000 and a three-game winning streak of $100,000, the former takes precedence.
  5. Although this does not happen, if the prize money is the same, the FJ prize money is ranked in order.
  6. Typically, S15's three-game winning champ John Skelton ranked 4th in total prize money among those who appeared in the ToC, while S21's three-game winning champs Tom Baker and Seth Alcorn had more money than the six four-win champions.
  7. For that reason, Ken Jennings, who was winning at the time, attended the UToC instead of attending the S20 ToC, and S29 champion Joshua Brakhage was holding the title when he won five straight games, so he came out for the next S31 ToC.
  8. From S38 onwards, The Second Chance Tournament was created, and even the champions with 3 consecutive wins or less had a chance of ToC.
  9. It seems that the production crew made an unusual choice due to people wanting a rematch with James, and it seems to be to fill the aforementioned Larry Martin vacancy. And the selection of the production team was a godsend, as Emma showed an outstanding performance, she made a rematch with James, and achieved the splendid feat of finishing runner-up.
  10. In fact, since the celebrity special feature was originally a single match, it was impossible to get on the ToC. A celebrity tournament was also held in 2010, but unlike 2022, only the winner was decided.
  11. Since it was an entry without a champion for more than 6 consecutive wins, it was put in as S18 ToC winner Brad Rutter.
  12. As of 2001/11/26, Tom Nosek is the best record ($65,640x2).
  13. The rest of the groups have won once.
  14. Even if expand the scope to the early Art Fleming system, there are only 8 female ToC winners (Babs McClellan, Anne Fried, Anne Marie Sutton and Paula Ogren).
  15. Among them, S21 and S37 are also seasons that did not produce a single BR Grand Prize winner from their sister show, Wheel of Fortune.
  16. What the three have in common is that in at least one season, two players who competed in a regular game had a rematch in ToC, or there was a participant who had a rematch in the same ToC (except for S31).
  17. In both cases, the player with the longest winning streak in that ToC won.
  18. After the S31 ToC, the regular-play games will be also decided on the winner with a tiebreaker, ties were banned effective November 24, 2014.
  19. Of these, except for Ben Ingram, the rest are those who received the top seed of the ToC.
  20. Both of them were born in Chicago.
  21. Rachael Schwartz, who has won 4 in a row, is unknown because the results of his last regular play are missing.
  22. Among them, Michael Falk and Sam Kavanaugh lost the Lock Game, and latter ended up with $0.
  23. In particular, she not only stopped James from becoming the regular's most prize-winner, but also broke the jinx that a winning streak won't happen if you win 10 or more champions. Also, in the rematch with James, he had a fierce battle, proving that the producers made the right choice.
  24. There are no quarterfinals, except the 1969 ToC
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