Regular Play[]
On April 10, 2015, Jacob made his first appearance on Jeopardy!, being announced as a currency trader. He defeated reigning champion Chris Hurt (who had previously defeated 6-time champion and fellow ToC finalist Kerry Greene) in a lock game and went on to win five additional games. Of his six victorious games, four of them were lock games (meaning he had amassed at least twice as much money as his nearest opponent going into Final Jeopardy, thus securing a victory) and he used some of these opportunities to shoutout his friends and family.
He was also known for his aggression on Daily Doubles, boomeranging between True Daily Doubles (where a contestant bets everything they have) when he liked the category and $100 bets when he did not. He was finally defeated by Todd Lovell on April 20, when Lovell managed to come up with the correct response in Final while Jacob did not. His total winnings from his streak (including the consolation prize) equaled $151,802.
| Game No. | Air Date | Final score | Cumulative Winnings | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | April 10, 2015 | $23,200 | $23,200 | |
| 2 | April 13, 2015 | $26,400 | $49,600 | |
| 3 | April 14, 2015 | $22,600 | $72,200 | |
| 4 | April 15, 2015 | $37,201 | $109,401 | Alex's first game without a runaway. |
| 5 | April 16, 2015 | $20,000 | $129,401 | |
| 6 | April 17, 2015 | $20,401 | $149,802 | Alex's second game without a runaway. |
| 7 | April 20, 2015 | $15,999 | $151,802 | Alex's third game without a runaway. Todd Lovell ends his streak. |
Tournament of Champions[]
In the fifth quarterfinal game, he faced 5-day champion Scott Lord and 3-day champion Michael Bilow [1]. He gave 27 correct responses (including one DD) and four wrong responses. Final Jeopardy was a Triple Stumper. His runaway made it to the finals, while neither Scott nor Michael got Final right, eliminating both of them from the tournament.
In the second semifinal game, he faced 5-day champions Brennan Bushee and Vaughn Winchell. He gave 32 correct responses (including one DD) and only one wrong response and he entered Final with a lock game. Final Jeopardy was a Triple Stumper, his runaway advanced him to the finals.
In the finals, he faced 6-day champion Kerry Greene and 13-time champion Matt Jackson. In day one, he gave 21 correct responses (including two DDs) and only one wrong response. Final Jeopardy was a Triple Stumper and he wagered $0. In day two, he gave 23 correct responses (including two DDs) and no wrong responses. Kerry was the only player correct in Final; however, his runaway won him the $250,000 prize.
Despite going 0-for-4 in Final Jeopardy throughout the tournament, it did not matter since Jacob was always so dominant that he was guaranteed to move into the next bracket. This may explain why only one of his final responses were serious; the rest were either jokes (semifinals) or appreciation for the contestants and staff (two-day finals)[2].
All-Star Games[]
In 2019, he was tapped to play in the All-Star Games, Jeopardy’s first and only team tournament. His team was filled out by 9-time champion, fellow ToC winner, and team captain Buzzy Cohen, as well as Teacher’s Tournament winner Jennifer Giles. His team was able to advance to the wild card match, but after Jacob failed to convert a $15,600 Daily Double[3], the team finished with $0 and was eliminated from the Tournament.
The team was awarded a three-way split of $75,000 for their performance, and the wild card match winning team by Team Colby (with Alan Lin and Pam Mueller). With that, bringing his winnings from Jeopardy to $426,802.
Invitational Tournament[]
In the sixth quarterfinal match, he went up against 8-time champion and 2021 Toc runner-up Jennifer Quail and 2008 teen tournament semi-finalist Brandon Blackwell, answered eighteen responses right and only one wrong. However, in FJ!, he didn't come up with the right response, lost everything and took the $5,000 home.
References[]
- ↑ Among the 3-time champions, he is the last champion to come up on his own to ToC. S36's Emma Boettcher and S37's Steve Mold appeared due to special circumstances (choice by the production team, succession due to the death of a ToC cast member).
- ↑ This is the only case of winning without hitting a single FJ in a 15-person ToC so far.
- ↑ This is the highest score ever for a DD failure. If limit it to regular play, Steve Berman (before 2x) and Matt Amodio's $15,000 are the most records.