Emma Boettcher

Emma Boettcher (b. 1992) is a University of Chicago librarian who is best-known for supplanting James Holzhauer as Jeopardy champion on June 3, 2019.

Jeopardy! Run

Regular Play

Game No.	Air Date	Final score	Cumulative Winnings	Notes
1	June 3, 2019	$46,801	$46,801	She ends James Holzhauer's 32-day win streak.
2	June 4, 2019	$24,600	$71,401	Emma's first runaway game. Emma becomes the first giant killer to win more than one regular season play game after an upset of a superchampion.
3	June 5, 2019	$25,601	$97,002
4	June 6, 2019	$5,199	$98,002	Lost to Brendan Roach, who went on a 2-game winning streak.

On June 3, 2019, James Holzhauer was defeated by her, falling short of Ken Jennings's regular-game winnings record by $58,484. one day ago, some station accidentally aired the Final Jeopardy! round from Holzhauer's last show. Over the weekend, video clips of that fateful Final Jeopardy! circulated over the internet. James and Emma did not answer any clues incorrectly in the entire game, and Jay Sexton only gave one incorrect response; however, she found both daily doubles in Double Jeopardy, wagered aggressively, and answered them correctly, ultimately going into Final Jeopardy with a lead over James ($26,600 compared to $23,400).

She wagered $20,201 to cover James, while James wagered $1,399 to lock out Jay ($11,000), securing second place and assuring a win if She was wrong and presumably wagered a large sum. All three players ultimately answered Final Jeopardy correctly, ending James's streak. Coincidentally, he stepped down a day before Ken Jennings's first appearance date. Also, since the champion at the time was a graduate of the University of Illinois, she unintentionally beat a senior at the same university.

She tied MacKenzie Jones who won eight games in February 2020 as the highest-winning female contestant in a single game in regular play with $46,801, surpassing the $46,600 Maria Wenglinsky set on November 1, 2005 (The current record is $71,200 set by Amy Schneider on January 20, 2022). Unlike most contestants who upset long-running champions (10 or more wins) and go on to finish in last place in their next episodes, She won three games and a total of $98,002.

Tournament of Champions

In the fourth quarterfinal game, she faced off against Josh Hill and Eric R. Backes. Throughout the first two rounds, she came up with 23/24 correct responses (including 2/2 Daily Doubles). She was the only player correct in Final and advanced to the semifinals. Josh's and Eric's scores, $10,597 and $8,000, respectively, were not enough to advance, taking home $5,000.

In the first semifinal game, she faced off against Dhruv Gaur and Kyle Jones. Throughout the first two rounds, she came up with 21/23 correct responses. She and Kyle got Final correct. Emma advanced to the finals, while Dhruv and Kyle received $10,000.

In the finals, she faced off against James Holzhauer and Francois Barcomb. Throughout the finals, she came up with a combined 32/32 correct responses (including 1/1 Daily Double). She and James got Final Jeopardy correct in both games, but after losing to James, she received $100,000 for first runner-up.

Evaluation

If Ken Jennings' nemesis is Brad Rutter, James' nemesis is Emma, and she showed excellent skills in the two matches. James, who overpowered several contestants, took first place for the first time, and was noticed as Nancy Zerg, who ended Ken Jennings' winning streak with her win. Also like James, she not only won over $40,000, but also broke the record of a former champion.

Also, breaking the jinx that champions who have won more than 10 consecutive wins cannot win, more people are paying attention to the rematch between James and Emma. In addition, although her skills were good, there were many people who were disappointed that she ended up with 3 consecutive victories. Six months later, ToC invited her, which was unusually out of order of grades. This seems to have been selected through a pinch hit due to a vacancy due to the death of Larry Martin, the 2018 teacher winner, and the fact that she beat James.

And this became a godsend for the production team, and they played an active part in the confrontation with James, which was unfolded once again, by engaging in a fierce battle. Some contestants are of the opinion that without James, there would have been another three-game ToC winner following S22's Michael Falk. Also, so far, only two people who have beaten ToC winners have gone to ToC: she and Mark Japinga. In addition, she is one of the three players who defeated Giant killer and advanced to ToC, and even set an amazing record of the highest score.

Among the Giant Killers of all time, she has received a lot of attention and benefited a lot, and as Michael Falk was later invited to BtoD, she seems to be able to appear in various special event soon.

After the S36 ToC, she is also one of the people who is being re-evaluated. In S37, 19-day champion Jason Zuffranieri lost to quarterfinals, by 4-day champion Ryan Bilger, and 8-day champion Jennifer Quail lost in the semifinals. And among her opponents, Kyle Jones and Josh Hill are 7-day champions, and 4-day champion Eric R. Backes also made over $40,000 ($48,001) in her debut appearance. Not to mention James, the finalist, and Francois is also a Teacher Tournament winner, so her runner-up is terrific.

Also Jeopardy! Masters, where the best contestants of the day were repeatedly beaten by James, and she is being re-evaluated. There are cases where Amy and Matt also lose most of the time, because she beat James based on the second game and played on an equal footing.

Because of that, people express their regrets about what it would have been like if she had at least 5 wins in a row like Andrew He, and on the other hand, there are quite a few people who want James to come out as a challenger in The Chaser and compete again.

Common with Other Champions

Nancy Zerg

• Both defeated iconic "Jeopardy!" contestants 14 years apart.
• The difference is that while Nancy ended up with a single victory, Emma defeated a long-term champion, became the first to win a second term, and even had a rematch with that champion at ToC.

Victoria Groce

• Both of them appeared on Monday and defeated David Madden.
• Later, they competed against James, and while Emma lost completely, Victoria won by a landslide in 2024 Masters and went on to win the championship.

Vik Vaz

• The first opponent They won at the time had a record of winning a single champion who had beaten a 5-time champion. It is also the same that all the champions who defeated him had 2 wins in a row.
  • Vik: Maria Wenglinsky → Michael Cramer → Bill MacDonald
  • Emma: Steven Grade → Alex Koral → James Holzhauer
• They advanced to the ToC together, beating their former champions, and both played in a rematch in the final.
• Before reaching the ToC finals, they came up by defeating the champion of the same winning streak. Vik faced 5-time champions (Kerry Breitenbach and Bob Mesko) and Emma played seven straight champions.
• In the ToC They participated in, there were champions who re-challenged after losing (Vik - Bob Mesko, Emma - Ryan Fenster). After losing in the four-game winning streak, the former won five career victories in re-challenges. The latter won seven consecutive wins in a rematch after losing in a five-game winning streak.
• Both advanced to the finals on their own, and in the finals at least once had a score ahead of the winner (Vik 1st round, Emma 2nd round). The difference is that Vik won both regular and ToC rematches (Bill MacDonald), and Emma lost her ToC rematch with James. However, in the case of Vik, another three-win champion Michael Falk, who was ToC winner.
• Both dropped out on Thursday and when they left, the opponents who defeated them had two consecutive wins.

Michael Falk

• Both are three-time champions and finished in third place.
• Both departed on Thursday and when they left, their opponents had two consecutive wins.
• Both were assigned to Group 4 in ToC and took winner and 1st runner-up, respectively. The difference is that Michael came up as a WC and Emma came up on her own.
• In the ToC semifinals, They defeated the champion who worked as a teacher (Michael: Maria Wenglinsky, Emma: Kyle Jones), and Emma also defeated the Teacher Tournament winner in the finals.
• The two people who competed in Regular in the ToC they appeared in advanced to the finals. The difference is that Micheal won by beating these two (Vik Vaz and Bill MacDonald), and Emma won the ToC in Regular game. (James Holzhauer).

Doug Hicton

• Even though both of them are champions with three consecutive wins, the regular game prize money is higher than the five consecutive champions who appeared on ToC. Doug Hicton (3x, $84,900), Susan Mitchell (4x, $67,100), Sara Terrell (4x, $71,799), Chris Mazurek (4x, $76,597), and Celeste DiNucci (5x, $83,601).
• The two competed against the College Tournament winner at the ToC. Doug met in the qualifiers and finals (Cliff Galiher), and Emma in the semifinals.
• In the finals, they competed against the winners of other tournaments.
• Both have competed against the same person twice.
• There was a slight difference from the ToC winner at the time, and they had in common that they surpassed the winner in the second round of the final score.
• ToC winners broke new records. First of all, S24 ToC winner Celeste DiNucci is a recently female wildcard ToC winner, a Tiebreaker ToC winner, and James is the longest winning streak among ToC winners and holds the most prize money.

Vijay Balse

• Both of them finished in third place, and the champions who beat them won two consecutive victories.
• Both of them had a rematch in ToC against the person they competed with. Vijay faced off against two opponents from the quartfinals again, and Emma against the champion who won the regular game. The former won, and the latter was runner-up.

Mark Japinga

• Both of them beat the ToC winner and qualified for the ToC. For reference, these two are the only ones who have defeated the ToC winner and advanced to the ToC so far.
• In reality, They were not qualified to advance, but They participated instead due to the vacancy of the ToC entrants. Mark went into a pinch after five-game champion Jerry Slowik caused a crime, and Emma went into a pinch after the death of Larry Martin, winner of the 2018 Teacher Tournament.
• The ToC winners you participated in have another ToC winner who participated in the same season (Ben - Colby Burnett, James - Sam Kavanaugh). The difference is that Colby's ToC victory and Ben's original run occurred during Season 29. On the other hand, both James's and Sam's original runs took place in Season 35; however, James won the ToC in Season 36, and Sam won his ToC in Season 37.

MacKenzie Jones

• Both have the same best record, and the runner-up's FJ! prize money is the same. If there's a difference, the Mackenzie is a bit more ($30,200).
• The winner of the ToC they appeared in is the same season.
• Both made their debut on Monday and departed on Thursday and the men who defeated them had two wins.

Jonathan Fisher

• They beat the former millionaire to become the new champion and became the first person in the gender to be a giant killer to win consecutively.
• Both of them made their way to ToC, giving way to the male champion.

Andrew He

• They won with $40,000+ on their first challenge. The prize money is also $4,000 difference.
• Like the ultrachampion they both competed in, they advanced to the ToC finals. The difference is that Emma won and came up, and Andrew got off.
• Another one in the ToC finals is the winner of another tournament (Sam Buttrey).
• Both of them finished first runner-up, and even indirectly won against their opponents in the regular game. Emma was ahead on the second-round score basis, and Andrew had won the second round in a best-of-seven match.

Lloyd Sy

• The Illinois native beat the Men's Superchampion to become the new champion.
• Both broke the jinx in the next game, and Lloyd broke the jinx that Giant Killer couldn't correct the second FJ. Also, the next FJ for the two was a question of asking the country.
• Both got off on Thursday and the opponents who defeated them had two consecutive wins.

Yogesh Raut

• Both are from Illinois.
• Both won by recording more than $40,000 in their first appearance, and like other competitors before FJ, they accumulated more than $20,000 and were Triple-Gets.
• It set a record at the time of its appearance. Emma had the highest Coryat Score ($53,200) in one contest in her first appearance, and Yogesh set a record with no TS in his second game.
• Both won three games in a row and won more than $90,000 in prize money in Regular Game.
• Both were placed in Group 4 at ToC and advanced to the finals.
• The difference is that Emma finished as runner-up and Yogesh won.
• Both of them have competed against James Holzhauer, the difference being that Emma lost by a landslide while Yogesh had multiple landslide wins and placed second in JIT.

Drew Basile

• Both of them qualified for ToC by beating Super Champion and winning at least 3 times in a row.

Trivia

• She is the first giant killer to win more than a single game after a upset of a superchampion.
• After Celeste DiNucci, the female S24 ToC winner, Larissa Kelly from S25 is the female contestant with the highest performance (runner-up) in the ToC.
• It is also the best record for a 3 or 4-day champion since S26 ToC winner Vijay Balse.
• After Pam Mueller who appeared in S17, she is the women's champion with three consecutive wins in the ToC.
• Like Vik Vaz and Bill MacDonald from S22 and Paul Nelson and Keith Whitener from S29. The former was won by a third party (Michael Falk) (the same as before, only the two contested), and the latter was won by the loser (Keith Whitener) in the regular game (actually a fight with Jason Keller), she is the third player to face the same opponent in ToC and regular games. Among them, Keith Whitener also had another contestant, Kristin Morgan, rematched at the ToC.
• After Vik Vaz, Michael Falk (S22), and Doug Hicton (S24), she is the fourth 3-day champion to reach the ToC Finals, and is the only female champion in regular game.
• Despite being a three-game winning champ, She still has more money than five consecutive ToC champions, Rachel Lindgren ($75,999) and Gilbert Collins ($84,201).
• She is the highest score among challengers who beat Superchamp, and it is also the best score in ToC.
• Like her predecessor, James Holzhauer, she set a number of records, including setting the record for the highest Coryat score in a single match, becoming the first champion to win a Superchamp twice, and becoming the first champion to win three consecutive ToC titles since Michael Falk. As a champion with three consecutive wins, she set individual records, including second place and the highest record for second place in a 2-day system.
• Since she was a Giant Killer and succeeded in winning streak for the first time, the number of Giant Killers winning streak has also increased, and the ratio has become similar to 6:11. Among them, three (Jonathan Fisher, Eric Ahasic and Drew Basile) qualified for ToC. Including those who moved up to other tournaments, this also includes Jessica Stephens, who advanced to ToC by winning SC after taking second place in Matt Amodio's last winning streak contest. Among them, Jonathan, who defeated Matt Amodio, decided to join the ToC as he became the first to become the long-term champion by winning 11 consecutive wins, Eric also succeeded in winning six consecutive victories and obtained the ToC qualification. Also, in the case of Eric, Megan Wachspress, who defeated him, also achieved the same result, setting the record for the first three consecutive five-win championships. In addition, Megan also holds the record for the lowest payout of any 5 or 6 streak champion, the most all-time comeback victories (5 times), and the most consecutive comeback victories (4 times) like Andrew Haringer and Drew Basile succeeded in winning seven consecutive wins. In addition, Victoria Groce, who beat David Madden in 2024, also performed well, appearing at JIT and Masters and winning.
• Like Nancy Zerg, she received attention by defeating a heavyweight champion, and unlike Nancy, who ended up with a single victory, she was the first challenger to defeat a Superchamp to achieve consecutive wins, and is still attracting attention as she even finished runner-up in ToC. Accordingly, it is expected that he will be frequently invited to other tournaments, like Michael Falk and Yogesh Raut, who won three games in a row.
• She was invited to the 2024, 2025 JIT, but could not attend due to personal reasons.