Larissa Kelly (born February 10, 1980) is an American multiple-time champion on the U.S. game show Jeopardy!, currently resident in Richmond, California. She is a writer and academic.
Biography[]
Kelly grew up in Newton, Massachusetts and attended Newton North High School where she helped lead the science bowl team to national competition. She graduated from Princeton University in 2002 and completed a PhD at the University of California, Berkeley, studying the history of archaeology in 19th century Mexico. She played quiz bowl at both Princeton and Berkeley. On August 3, 2002, she married her quiz bowl teammate Jeff Hoppes. On the All Star games draft show, she mentioned that her husband attended high school with Brad Rutter.
She is a science fiction author, who has had one story published at Strange Horizons.
Jeopardy! Run[]
Regular game[]
She is one of three members of her family to have played on Jeopardy!, all between 2004 and 2008, and the only winner of the three. Her husband Jeff Hoppes was defeated by Ken Jennings in Jennings's 70th game as champion. Her sister Arianna was defeated in her initial Jeopardy! appearance, in part due to questionable calls that prompted Standards and Practices to bring her back for a second appearance; in her second appearance, Arianna was defeated by Aaron Schroeder, who later faced Larissa in the 2009 Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions finals.
Including tournament winnings, Kelly has won more money on Jeopardy!, $660,930, than any other female contestant and is second to Julia Collins in Jeopardy! winnings outside tournament play. During her regular run on Jeopardy!, Kelly won a total of $222,597 over six games and $1,000 3rd place consolation prize in her seventh, with her last appearance airing May 28, 2008. Excluding tournament winnings, Kelly is the second-highest winning female contestant and ranks fifth all-time in Jeopardy! earnings.
While she was champion, Kelly broke Ken Jennings's record for most money won in a contestant's first five days by winning $179,797; this record was one of two Roger Craig broke during his reign as champion, as he won $195,801 in his first five games (Craig also topped Jennings's single-game record of $75,000). Kelly is also the fourth-highest winning female contestant in any single game in Jeopardy!'s history. Kelly's $45,200 performance narrowly trails Maria Wenglinsky, who won $46,600 on November 1, 2005, and Emma Boettcher and MacKenzie Jones who both won $46,801 on June 3, 2019, and February 19, 2020, and Amy Schneider who won $71,400 on January 20, 2022.
| Game No. | Air Date | Final score | Cumulative Winnings | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | May 20, 2008 | $45,200 | $45,200 | Larissa's first runaway game. |
| 2 | May 21, 2008 | $35,400 | $80,600 | Larissa's second runaway game. |
| 2 | May 22, 2008 | $28,000 | $108,600 | |
| 4 | May 23, 2008 | $37,597 | $146,197 | Larissa's first come from behind win. |
| 5 | May 26, 2008 | $29,000 | $179,797 | Larissa's second and final come from behind win. |
| 6 | May 27, 2008 | $42,800 | $222,597 | |
| 7 | May 28, 2010 | $1,800 | $223,597 | Lost to Pat Roche (in a runaway game). |
Tournament Of Champions[]
In the second quarterfinal game, she faced off against Matt Kohlstedt and Tom Morris. Throughout the first two rounds, she came up with 26/27 correct responses (including 1/1 Daily Doubles). She was the only correct respondent and advanced to the semifinals. Matt's $10,600 was enough to advance, while Tom's $9,600 was not enough, taking home $5,000.
In the second semifinal game, she faced off against Cora Peck and Dave Simpson. Throughout the first two rounds, she came up with 28/31 correct responses (including 1/2 Daily Doubles). She was the only player correct in Final and advanced to the finals. Cora and Dave received $10,000.
In the finals, she faced off against Aaron Schroeder and Dan Pawson. Throughout the finals, she came up with 44/48 correct responses (including 3/3 Daily Doubles). She and Aaron got 1/2 Final correct, but after losing to Dan (in a come from behind win), she took home $100,000 for finishing as a runner-up.
Battle of the Decades[]
She played in the Battle of the Decades 2000s in game 3. She faced off against Tom Kavanaugh and Russ Schumacher. Throughout the first two rounds, she came up with 23/24 correct responses (including 2/2 Daily Doubles). Nobody got Final correct, but after losing to Russ (in a come from behind win), she and Tom took home $5,000.
All-Star Games[]
She played in Team Brad with Brad Rutter and David Madden. In match one, they faced Team Buzzy and Team Colby. Throughout the match, they came up with 38/44 correct responses (including 2/2 Daily Doubles). They were the only team who got Final correct in both games and became an automatic finalist. Team Buzzy and Team Colby advanced to the wildcard match with their $26,200 and $21,800.
In the finals, they faced Team Ken and Team Colby. Throughout the finals, they came up with 49/49 correct responses (including 5/5 Daily Doubles). All teams got Final correct in both games. They won $1,000,000 splitting it between her team members.
Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament[]
In the second quarterfinal game, she faced off against Leonard Cooper and Jason Zuffranieri. Throughout the first two rounds, she came up with 25/26 correct responses (including 1/1 Daily Double). She and Leonard got Final correct. She advanced to the semifinals. Leonard and Jason received $5,000.
In the second semifinal game, she faced off against Andrew He and Sam Kavanaugh. Throughout the first two rounds, she came up with 21/22 correct responses (including 0/1 Daily Double). She and Sam got Final incorrect, but after losing to Andrew (in a runaway game), they both received $10,000.
Common with Other Champions[]
Ben Ingram[]
- Both of them continued the march of FJ correct answers from their first appearance to the first game of the ToC final. The difference is that Larissa came from behind and lost and Ben won.
- Both experienced come from behind wins in their regular runs. The difference was Ben had one and Larissa had two.
- They are the highest prize money recipient in the season.
- Both finished in third place, as well as third place before the last FJ.
- The two ToC finalists I participated in had a record of a joint win. Larissa has competed against two people who hold the record (Aaron Schroeder and Dan Pawson), and Ben has a total of two (Arthur Chu) including himself.
Jennifer Quail[]
- The best record for the challenger was $45,200.
- When both got off, the total prize money was $220K+.
- Both finished first runner-up in the Tournament of Champions.
- Both of them have 10 consecutive FJ! correct answers, and they were runners-up in the ToC.
- Both have wins against fellow super champion Jason Zuffranieri, and the other opponents are winners of other tournaments (Larissa - JIT Quarterfinal, Jennifer - 2021 Toc Semifinal).
Matt Amodio[]
- Both have debuted over $40,000, breaking $100,000 in three episodes.
- Both finished in third place, the difference being that Matt had a close fight with the other contenders.
- Both have the most money out all the contestants in their respective ToC but are not in the top seed. They both are also placed in the second seed. The difference is that Larissa was runner-up, and Matt was eliminated in the semifinals (bye).
- Those who were assigned Top Seed in their ToC won (Dan Pawson, Amy Schneider), and the winners continued winning streaks over the year as of the broadcast date.
Amy Schneider[]
- Both topped $100,000 in three episodes. Also, among 5-time+ women's champion, these are the only records.
- Both of them hold the record of more than 10 consecutive FJ correct answers.
- Both got off on Wednesday. The difference was that Amy placed second in the last regular game and Larissa placed third in the last regular game.
- The prize money for five consecutive wins is over $170,000.
Records[]
During her time as champion, Kelly set several records which have since been surpassed:
| Description | Set Record | Current record |
|---|---|---|
| Highest first game score before Final Jeopardy! (unadjusted) | $42,200 | Retain (Including tournaments, that's $50,000 by Zia Choudhury on February 11, 2008) |
| Highest 5-game total on Jeopardy!, first 5 games (unadjusted) | $179,797 | $298,687 (James Holzhauer) |
| Highest total winnings by a female player in non-tournament play | $222,597 | $1,382,800 (Amy Schneider) |
| Longest streak (from first appearance) of correct Final Jeopardy! responses | 10 | 12 (Ben Ingram - Until the final 1 game) If broaden the range to the whole, James Holzhauer took first place, with a whopping 28 correct answers in a row. (From the 7th to the ToC Quarterfinal) Including these three, FJ! The 10th+ consecutive correct answer is: Tom Cubbage (12th - from 2nd to BtoD Semi-finals), Ken Jennings (from 53rd to 63rd), Jennifer Quail (from 4th to the entire ToC Finals), Amy Schneider (6th to 16th), and Ray Lalonde (5th to 14th) a very small number with a total of 8 people. |
| Longest winning streak on Jeopardy! by a female player in non-tournament play | 6 | 20 (Julia Collins) |
Trivia[]
- After her first successful female six-game winning streak, many women are setting records of six or more wins. So far, there are a total of 10 women's champions with 6 or more wins in a row. Even before that, Kerry Breitenbach, Maria Wenglinsky, Celeste DiNucci, and Cathy Lanctot, a total of 4 people, tried to win 6 consecutive victories in the unlimited system.
- So far, she has gotten all but two of FJ! correct, but it's a pity that the second was an important moment. The first incorrect answer was the last question in the ToC final, but after missing that question, Dan Pawson unfortunately gave up the championship. If she answered correctly, she would have set the record for the first two consecutive women's ToC championships in history, as well as the longest winning streak among women's ToC winners and the recipient of the most prize money, and then the wrong answer became a problem in the Battle of the Decade qualifiers. Still, by winning the All-Star game, she was relieved of that disappointment.
- She is one of three members of her family to have played on Jeopardy!, all between 2004 and 2008, and the only winner of the three. Her husband was defeated by Jennings in Jennings' 70th game as champion. Her sister Arianna was defeated in her initial Jeopardy! appearance, in part due to questionable calls that prompted Standards and Practices to bring her back for a second appearance; in her second appearance, Arianna was defeated by Aaron Schroeder, who later faced Larissa in the 2009 ToC finals.
- She is one of four female participants who finished runner-up or higher in the Unlimited System ToC until Amy Schneider. The other three were Celeste DiNucci (S24, who won), Emma Boettcher (S36) and Jennifer Quail (S37).
- Among the ToC participants, She is the first participant with a higher regular game prize money than the longest winning streak champion (Larissa Kelly (6x) - $222,597 > Dan Pawson (9x) - $170,902). Later, Matt Amodio will be the winner of the ToC after her with more cash prizes than the longest winning streak champion in the ToC (Matt Amodio (38x) - $1,518,601 > Amy Schneider (40x) - $1,382,800).
- She is a science fiction author, who has had one story published at Strange Horizons.
- She was the first person other than Ken Jennings to get 10 Final Jeopardy clues correct in a row, as well as the first person overall to have gone 10-for-her-first-10.