Jeopardy! champ Amar Kakirde kept his winning streak alive on Monday night (May 27) when he won his fourth consecutive game, putting him one victory away from a guaranteed spot in the next Tournament of Champions.
However, fans have pointed out that Kakirde has one of the lowest four-day cash totals in the game show’s history. He came into Monday’s game with a three-day total of $41,399 and added an extra $14,500 after defeating Ryan Alcorn, a product manager originally from Needham, Massachusetts, and Tim Keily, a search & rescue pilot from Sitka, Alaska.
“How much does Amar’s four day cash total compare to four+game champions of the past? I imagine it’s definitely gotta be on the far lower end of four day cash winnings throughout the show’s history,” asked a user on the Jeopardy! Reddit forum.
Another fan responded that since May 24, 2010 (including the current TOC cycle and the previous nine ones), Kakirde is the 138th player to win four games, and only nine of those contestants had four-day totals smaller than $55,899.
Those nine previous four-day winners with lower totals, compiled by Reddit user mfc248, are:
- Anthony Fox — $51,998 (ended 4 / $51,998; did not qualify for 2011 ToC)
- Paul Nelson — $48,900 (ended 5 / $54,900; 2013 TOC semifinalist)
- Kristin Morgan — $39,098 (ended 5 / $69,098; 2013 ToC second runner-up)
- Molly Lalonde — $53,300 (ended 4 / $53,300; did not qualify for 2014 ToC)
- Kirstin Cutts — $49,403 (ended 4 / $49,403; did not qualify for 2017 ToC)
- Gilbert Collins — $51,400 (ended 5 / $84,201; 2019 TOC semifinalist)
- Megan Wachpress — $51,601 (ended 6 / $60,603; 2022 TOC quarterfinalist)
- Suresh Krishnan — $53,999 (ended 6 / $96,595; 2024 TOC quarterfinalist)
- Ben Goldstein — $37,293 (ended 5 / $49,298; 2024 TOC quarterfinalist)
Another fan pointed out, “The average winning score is about $21,000 (adjusting to current clue values), so Amar averaging about $14,000 per game is a bit on the low end.”
They went on to explain, “Part of that is because three of his four games have been runaways that were narrow enough that he didn’t have any room to significantly add to his score in Final (he’s only 50% on Finals so far, so it wouldn’t have helped that much, but he would’ve had over $20,000 in his first game if Chris had kept the money from the “why hast thou forsaken me” clue and Amar had to make the cover bet).”
Monday’s Final Jeopardy was a triple stumper, which saw Kakirde win the episode with $14,500. So far, viewers appear to be split on whether the New Jersey native is playing well or just lucky.
“Amar lucky his opponents fumble real hard,” one Reddit poster commented after a recent game.
Another wrote, A”mar is a great player. Very smart of course, but his composure and timing made an even bigger difference.”
“Rooting for him to get a fifth so his place in the ToC is guaranteed although I am pretty sure with four wins he’ll get in,” added another.
What do you think of Kakirde’s game so far? Let us know in the comments section below.
