| Roger Craig | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Name: | Roger Alan Craig Jr. |
| Born: | September 22, 1976 |
| Birth Hometown: | Newark, Delaware |
| Occupation: | Computer scientist Machine learning consultant Applied scientist |
| Known for: | His $77,000 win on Jeopardy! His 6-game winning streak on Jeopardy! Winning the 2011 Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions |
Roger Alan Craig Jr. (born September 22, 1976) is an American game show contestant and computer scientist. He held the record for highest single-day winnings on the quiz show Jeopardy! from September 14, 2010 (surpassing Ken Jennings) to April 9, 2019 (when James Holzhauer surpassed him). In 2011, Craig returned to win the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions. Three years later, he competed in the Battle of the Decades tournament, finishing third overall behind Brad Rutter and Ken Jennings.
Early life and career[]
Craig, who was 33 years old at the time of his initial Jeopardy! appearance in 2010, is a native of Ferndale, Pennsylvania. He grew up there and later in Virginia, where he graduated from Annandale High School in 1995.
Craig holds a first degree in biology and biochemistry from Virginia Tech, and a master's degree and Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Delaware. He was working on his doctorate at the time of his first appearance on Jeopardy! and completed the degree later in 2010.
In his scholarly career, Craig has published eight papers in the field of bioinformatics, specifically on topics of combinatorial protein synthesis and protein-protein prediction.
As of November 2011, Craig was living in Newark, Delaware, and working as a computer scientist. He is the founder of Cotinga, a company which performs data analyses and creates learning applications for smartphones. Craig was a guest on KFC Radio of Barstool Sports on August 23, 2012.
Preparation[]
He prepared for Jeopardy! by studying the archive of past questions maintained on the J! Archive website. Using data mining and text clustering, he identified the topics most likely to occur in-game questions. He then used the spaced repetition program Anki for memorization and tested himself using his own program.
He played quiz bowl as a student at Virginia Tech and the University of Delaware. Before his Jeopardy appearances, he played numerous Jeopardy scrimmage matches against his friends with quiz bowl experience.
He believes his attendance at the two universities helped the most in his success.
Jeopardy! run[]
Regular-season play[]
- Craig set his record of $77,000 on the second day of the 2010–11 Jeopardy! season on the episode airing September 14, 2010. In his record-setting appearance, Craig had a score of $47,000 after the game's first two rounds, then wagered and won $30,000 in the Final Jeopardy! round. Prior to Craig, the single-day record of $75,000 was held by Ken Jennings.
- Craig lost to North Carolina sportswriter Jelisa Castrodale in his seventh appearance. He had the lead going into the Final Jeopardy! round, in the category "Sports and Media". Castrodale was the only player who gave the correct response to the Final Jeopardy question about the winner of the 2010 Super Bowl (What is New Orleans?). In his seven-day run, Craig earned $231,200, all except $1,000 of which was from winning episodes.
- On April 9, 2019, professional gambler James Holzhauer broke Craig's single-day record, surpassing it 15 more times during his own run; the record now stands at $131,127 as of April 17, 2019. Holzhauer, like Craig, relied on aggressive Daily Double and Final Jeopardy! wagers to amass his totals. Holzhauer also surpassed Craig's records for most earnings won in a player's first five games and largest successful bet on a Daily Double.
| Game No. | Air Date | Final score | Cumulative Winnings | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 13, 2010 | $37,000 | $37,000 | First game of Season 27. |
| 2 | September 14, 2010 | $77,000 | $114,000 | Roger broke the one-day record, shattering Ken Jennings's $75,000 from his 38 games. In addition, Roger became the first participant to achieve more than $100K in just two games[1]. Mark Runsvold, the 4-day champion from the same season is the other player who also won more than $100K in just two such games ($103,000) #. |
| 3 | September 15, 2010 | $24,401 | $138,401 | Roger's first nonrunaway game. Roger holds the winnings record through three games; the entrant closest to his three-game winning streak so far is James Holzhauer's $133,451. |
| 4 | September 16, 2010 | $28,400 | $166,801 | |
| 5 | September 17, 2010 | $29,000 | $195,801 | Roger broke the record for the 5-day highest total winnings from the double era and the second 5-day highest winnings from all-time (Frank Spangenberg’s 5-day record of $205,194 - adjusted for double dollar values). |
| 6 | September 20, 2010 | $34,399 | $230,200 | Roger's second nonrunaway game. |
| 7 | September 21, 2010 | $4,599 | $231,200 | Roger's third and final nonrunaway game in regular season play. Lost to Jelisa Castrodale. |
Tournament of Champions[]
In the second quarterfinal game, he faced Brian Meacham and Kara Spak. Throughout the first two rounds, he came up with 36/39 correct responses (including 2/2 Daily Doubles). He and Brian got Final incorrect. Roger advanced via runaway. Kara's $6,012 was enough to advance as wildcard, while Brian's $0 ($8,800) wasn't enough, taking home $5,000.
In the third semifinal game, he faced Joon Pahk and Mark Runsvold. Throughout the first two rounds, he came up with 21/27 correct responses (including 3/3 Daily Doubles). No one got Final correct. He advanced to the finals due to his runaway. Joon and Mark took home $10,000.
In the finals, he faced Tom Nissley and Buddy Wright. Throughout the finals, he came up with 49/58 correct responses (including 3/3 Daily Doubles). He and Tom got 1/2 Final Jeopardy correct. Roger finished with $51,200, giving him victory and the $250,000 grand prize.
Battle of the Decades[]
In the second game of the 2000s, he faced off against Vijay Balse and Stephanie Jass. Throughout the first two rounds, he came up with 21/26 correct responses (including 2/2 Daily Doubles). Everyone got Final correct. Roger advanced to the quarterfinals. Vijay and Stephanie received $5,000.
In the first quarterfinal game, he faced off against Leszek Pawlowicz and Robin Carroll. Throughout the first two rounds, he came up with 22/28 correct responses (including 2/2 Daily Doubles). He was the only player correct in Final and advanced to the semifinals. Leszek's $15,000 was enough to advance as wildcard while Robin's $0 ($5,200) wasn't enough, taking home $10,000.
In the third semifinal game, he faced off against Pam Mueller and Colby Burnett. Throughout the first two rounds, he came up with 24/32 correct responses (including 1/1 Daily Double). No one got Final correct. Roger advanced to the finals. Pam and Colby took home $25,000.
In the finals, he faced off against Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter. Throughout the finals, he came up with a combined 30/38 correct responses (including 0/2 Daily Double). He sat out for Final Jeopardy in game one. In game two, he and Brad got Final correct. After losing to Brad, he received $50,000 for second runner-up.
All-Star Games[]
He later appeared in the 2019 All-Star Games with Austin Rogers and Leonard Cooper. In match two, they faced off against Team Ken and Team Julia. Throughout the first two rounds of both games, they came up with 29/35 correct responses (including 1/1 Daily Double). Their team came up with 1/2 correct Final Jeopardy. After losing to Team Ken (in a runaway game), their $21,600 locked up their spot in the wildcard match, while Team Julia's score $15,600, wasn't enough, taking $50,000 home.
In the wildcard match, they faced Team Colby and Team Buzzy. Throughout the first two rounds of both games, they came up with 36/43 correct responses (including 0/f1 Daily Double). All teams got 0/2 Final Jeopardy correct. After losing to Team Colby, they and Team Buzzy won $75,000.
Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament[]
In the fifth quarterfinal game, he faced off against Maya Wright and John Focht. Throughout the first two rounds, he came up with 26/31 correct responses (including 3/3 Daily Doubles). Everyone got Final correct. Roger advanced to the semifinals while Maya and John took home $5,000.
In the first semifinal game, he faced off against Jaskaran Singh and Shane Whitlock. Throughout the first two rounds, he came up with 17/20 correct responses. Everyone got Final correct. Roger advanced to the finals while Jaskaran and Shane received $10,000.
In the finals, he faced off against Matt Amodio and Juveria Zaheer. Throughout the finals, he came up with a combined 35/42 correct responses (including 2/2 Daily Doubles). Everyone got 1/2 Final correct, but after losing to Matt, he and Juveria took home $50,000.In the second quarterfinal game, he faced off against Eric Ahasic and Veronica Vichit-Vadakan. Throughout the first two rounds, he came up with 28/32 correct responses (including 2/3 Daily Doubles). Nobody got Final correct, but Roger advanced to the semifinals via runaway. Eric received $5,000 as his $0 ($5,600) was not enough, ...
Jeopardy! Masters[]
He played in Game 2 of the 1st Knockout Episode against Matt Amodio and Juveria Zaheer. Throughout the first two rounds, he came up with 16/22 correct responses (including 2/2 Daily Doubles). Everyone got Final correct. Roger almost went for Pilgrim's Progress. He earned 3 match point.
He played in Game 2 of the 2nd Knockout Episode against Yogesh Raut and Isaac Hirsch. Throughout the first two rounds, he came up with 11/19 correct responses (including 1/2 Daily Doubles). He was the only player correct in Final, but earned 1 match point for a total of 4 match points.
Joining him in the quarterfinals were Matt Amodio, Juveria Zaheer, Yogesh Raut, Isaac Hirsch and Victoria Groce. Brad Rutter, Adriana Harmeyer and Neilesh Vinjamuri received $15,000.
He played in Game 1 of the 1st Quarterfinal Episode against Yogesh Raut and Victoria Groce. Throughout the first two rounds, he came up with 13/17 correct responses (including 0/1 Daily Double). Everyone got Final correct, but he earned no match points.
He played in Game 2 of the 2nd Quarterfinal Episode against Juveria Zaheer and Isaac Hirsch. Throughout the first two rounds, he came up with 15/18 correct responses (including 1/1 Daily Double). Although he went for the correct response, he only got halfway and was ruled incorrect. He earned no match points.
He played in Game 2 of the final Quarterfinal Episode against Juveria Zaheer and Matt Amodio. Throughout the first two rounds, he came up with 13/18 correct responses (including 0/1 Daily Double). Unfortunately, Roger's -400 meant that he sat out Final Jeopardy. He earned $50,000 for sixth place.
The semifinalists were Victoria Groce, Yogesh Raut, Juveria Zaheer and Isaac Hirsch via # of games won tiebreaker (2-1). Matt Amodio received $75,000.Records[]
During his Jeopardy! appearances, Craig set the following records:
| Description | Set Record | Current record |
|---|---|---|
| Highest 5-game total on Jeopardy!, first 5 games (unadjusted) | $195,801[2] | $298,687 (James Holzhauer) |
| Highest single-game total on Jeopardy! | $77,000 (September 14, 2010) | $131,127 (James Holzhauer, April 17, 2019)[3] |
| Largest true Daily Double wager (unadjusted) | $18,000 (November 14, 2011) | $25,600 (James Holzhauer, May 17, 2023) |
| Largest Daily Double wager (unadjusted) |
Personal life[]
Roger is married to 20-time champion and 2014 Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions second runner-up, Julia Collins. He shared in a 2025 J!IT appearance that he had first met her while they were both living in New York about a decade prior, but reconnected with her during the All-Star Games in 2019.
In 2026, it was revealed in the Inside Jeopardy! podcast that he and Julia are now parents to two young children. Julia declined to participate in the 2026 JIT. Roger, however, appeared in the tournament.
Trivia[]
- Craig is known for his extreme aggressiveness on Daily Double wagering clues, having the joint second-greatest number of Daily Double bets at or above $10,000, at seven wagers in five figures. Matt Amodio also got seven during his streak, while Andrew He scored seven throughout his career. (Holzhauer is the only person to have more $10,000 wagers, at a staggering 32.) Craig has only missed three Daily Double wagers in his entire career, though all three were when he wagered five figures.[4]
- His True Daily Double (all-in) downfall later influenced several others, including Alex Jacob and James Holzhauer. Thanks to that, there have been cases of reverse victory.
- Until James Holzhauer, He was the recipient of the most prize money in a regular game among the ToC winners.[5]
- Starting with Arthur Chu in 2014, the number of champions with 10 or more consecutive wins is increasing, and the record set by a talented player in 2019 has been replaced by that talented player, so it is relatively less mentioned these days. Still, considering that there have been no champions with more than 10 consecutive wins since James, there have been no cases of winning ToC, so his achievements can be said to be remarkable.
- He is the first ToC winner among champions who have won over $100,000 in total within 3 games.[6]
- He held the record for most regular game prize money among ToC winners for nine years until James Holzhauer broke it, and as of 2026, he still holds the third place.
- Roger, Lionel Goldbart, and Doug Molitor hold the most Final Jeopardy! disqualifications with 2.
- Roger Craig is one of five players in Jeopardy! history to have played both Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter simultaneously, the other four are Jerome Vered, Watson, Pam Mueller and James Holzhauer. However, Colby Burnett was only there for the contestant chat 'n Game 1 of the All-Star Games Fnals.
References[]
- ↑ As of S40, it is a rare record as there are only 24 three-time champions who have received a total of $100,000 or more.
- ↑ In total, the record set by Frank Spangenberg is $205,194.
- ↑ Prior to that, he had renewed himself in the episode aired on April 9, 2019 ($110,914).
- ↑ The first is his 3rd game, and the other two are the finals against Ken and Brad in BtoD.
- ↑ Among the previous ToC winners, the longest winning streak is 9 consecutive wins between Dan Pawson (S25) and Buzzy Cohen (S34).
- ↑ This record was followed by James Holzhauer and Amy Schneider.