Jeopardy! History Wiki

Eric R. Backes is an attorney and government relations professional from Oviedo, Florida.

Jeopardy! Run[]

Regular Play[]

Game No. Air Date Final score Cumulative Winnings Additional Notes
1 February 11, 2019 $48,001 $48,001
2 February 12, 2019 $28,900 $76,901 Eric's first runaway game.
3 February 13, 2019 $14,300 $91,201
4 February 14, 2019 $14,401 $105,602 Eric's only come from behind win.
5 February 15, 2019 $6,199 $107,602 Lost to Amanda Holm.

Tournament of Champions[]

In the fourth quarterfinal match, he faced off against Josh Hill and Emma Boettcher. Throughout the first two rounds, he came up with 15/17 correct responses (including 1/1 Daily Double). He and Josh got Final incorrect, but after losing to Emma, they both received $5,000 as their scores, $10,597 and $8,000, respectively, were not enough to advance as wildcards.

Common with Other Champions[]

Mark Runsvold[]

  • Both won more than $40K in their first appearances, and the difference is only $1.
  • In the ToC he appeared in, he lost to a contestant who had accumulated more than $40,000 in regular games, and Mark had both accumulated $40,000.
  • The ToC winner accumulated more than $70K in regular games, and all finalists achieved it on their own. For reference, James Holzhauer during Eric's time was a participant who performed so well that no words are needed.

Tim Kutz[]

  • They are a four-time champion and has accumulated more than $40,000 since his first appearance.
  • What they have in common is that they accumulated more than $10,000 in the Jeopardy round during their 5 consecutive wins and were ahead, only to lose at the end.
  • The difference is that Tim didn't appear in ToC.

Trivia[]

  • If he had also guessed the FJ in the 3-game winning streak, he would have become the first champion since Andrew Pau in 2 years and 10 months to win $100K+ in three consecutive tournaments, and the first champion since Mark Runsvold to win $100K+ in three consecutive tournaments with four or fewer wins.
  • Based on challengers, he is the 5th highest prize winner in history.