Samuel Edward Buttrey (b. August 19, 1961) is a bon vivant, man about town, retired associate professor of operations research at the Naval Postgraduate School, and co-host of Inside Jeopardy! from Pacific Grove, California.
Jeopardy! Run[]
Professors Tournament[]
In the third quarterfinal game, he faced off against Lisa Dresner and Ashleigh Lawrence-Sanders. Throughout the first two rounds, he came up with 29/29 correct responses. No one got Final correct, but Sam automatically advanced to the semifinals via runaway. Lisa and Ashleigh took home $5,000 as their $0 ($6,400 and $3,200) were not enough to advance as wildcards.
In the first semifinal game, he faced off against J.P. Allen and Katie Reed. Throughout the first two rounds, he came up with 21/21 correct responses. He was the only player correct in Final and advanced to the finals. J.P and Katie took home $10,000.
In the finals, he faced off against Ed Hashima and Alisa Hove. Throughout the first two rounds, he came up with 49/53 correct responses (including 2/2 Daily Doubles). He was the only player who got 1/2 Final Jeopardy correct and won $100,000 and a spot in the Tournament of Champions.
Tournament Of Champions[]
In the sixth quarterfinal game, he faced off against Zach Newkirk and Jessica Stephens. Throughout the first two rounds, he came up with 34/39 correct responses (including 1/2 Daily Doubles). Jessica finished Double Jeopardy with -$5,800 and was eliminated from Final. Both remaining players got Final correct. Sam advanced to the semifinals. Zach and Jessica took home $5,000.
In the second semifinal game, he faced Matt Amodio and John Focht. Throughout the first two rounds, he came up with 20/21 correct responses (including 2/2 Daily Doubles). Everyone got Final correct. Sam advanced to the finals. Matt and John took home $10,000.
In the finals, he faced Amy Schneider and Andrew He. Throughout the finals (which lasted six games), he came up with 104/122 correct responses (including 3/4 Daily Doubles). He and Andrew got 2/6 Final correct, but after losing to Amy, he won $50,000 for second runner-up.
Invitational Tournament[]
In the ninth quarterfinal game, he faced off against Lilly Chin and Colby Burnett. Throughout the first two rounds, he came up with 22/23 correct responses (including 1/1 Daily Double). He was the only player correct in Final and advanced to the semifinals. Lilly and Colby received $5,000.
In the third semifinal game, he faced off against Matt Jackson and Victoria Groce. Throughout the first two rounds, he came up with 16/17 correct responses (including 1/1 Daily Double). He and Victoria got Final correct, but after losing to Victoria, he and Matt took home $10,000.
Jeopardy! Masters[]
He appeared in 2023 Masters Tournament.
Quarterfinals[]
He played in game two of night one against James Holzhauer and Mattea Roach. Throughout the first two rounds, he came up with 19/20 correct responses. He was the only player correct in Fina and earned 1 match point.
He played in game one of night two against Amy Schneider and Mattea Roach. Throughout the first two rounds, he came up with 18/20 correct responses (including 1/1 Daily Double). He was the only player who did not get Final and earned 0 match points and still has 1 match point.
He played in game one of night three against James Holzhauer and Amy Schneider. Throughout the first two rounds, he came up with 18/19 correct responses (including 1/1 Daily Double). He and James got Final incorrect. He got 1 match point for a total of 2 match points.
He played in game one of night four against Andrew He and Amy Schneider. Throughout the first two rounds, he came up with 17/18 correct responses. No one got Final correct. He earned 0 match points and still has 2 match points.
He played in game two of night five against James Holzhauer and Andrew He. Throughout the first two rounds, he came up with 17/20 correct responses. He and James got Final incorrect. He earned 0 match points and still has 2 match points.
He played in game one of night six against Andrew He and Mattea Roach. Throughout the first two rounds, he came up with 10/13 correct responses. He was the only player who did not get Final. He earned 0 match points and still has 2 match points.
He played in game one of night seven against Mattea Roach and Matt Amodio. Throughout the first two rounds, he came up with 14/16 correct responses. He was the only player correct in Final. He earned 1 match point for a total 3 match points.
The top four finishers were James Holzhauer, Matt Amodio, Mattea Roach and Andrew He. He took home $50,000 for sixth place and Amy Schneider took home $75,000 for fifth place.
Evolution[]
Among other tournament winners who participated in ToC, they are evaluated as hidden talents like Colby Burnett and Francois Barcomb mentioned below.
There have only been two instances where a tournament winner before him has won so far, and only seven including the finals. In particular, he is rapidly rising as a dark horse, along with Andrew He, after beating strong favorite Matt Amodio in the semifinals.
In particular, in the finals, they are competing against opponents Amy Schneider and Andrew He, and in the end, they won one win among them and are challenging to win as the third player from other tournaments.
In the Masters tournament, he couldn't overcome the skills of the outstanding participants, but he showed a good figure by playing on an equal footing with James Holzhauer, who played a big role at the time, and many people praised him for doing his best despite being in his 50s. It is a good candidate for a participant who will show a good appearance in future tournaments.
Common with Other Champions[]
Colby Burnett[]
- The champion who advanced to the ToC was active between the rounds he participated in. Colby is Paul Nelson, Sam is Amy Schneider. For reference, Colby also had a rematch in his Teachers Tournament final.
- The ToC was held after other tournaments, and the winning streak champion continued to hold office before the tournament.
Francois Barcomb[]
- Both were placed in group 3 in the tournament. It was also aired between super champion, both of whom made it to the finals.
- They were assigned to the last group in the Quarterfinal round and passed smoothly with a lock game.
- They advanced to the finals with the champions with 10 or more wins in a row.
- The finalists have faced each other in the Regular Game. (Francois - James Holzhauer & Emma Boettcher, Sam - Amy Schneider & Andrew He) are also participants in the Ultrachamp activity regime. The difference is that, unlike Francois, who was pushed back by an overwhelming margin, Sam had a close fight with two other contenders.
Trivia[]
- As one of the biggest beneficiaries of this ToC, he set a record by beating the champion with the longest winning streak in the ToC in the semifinals. If he wins and wins even the 40-win champ Amy Schneider in the finals, he will set a record for the third tournament winner to win the ToC. Even if you don't win, there's a good chance you'll be invited to another event, like other tournament winners who performed well in the ToC.
- His prep school alma mater, Philip Exeter Academy, Sam was a member of their class of 1979. that would put Sam in his early 60s, and quite possibly the oldest player ever to make the finals of a ToC. Considering that this program also requires agility, it is a great thing for people in their 50s or older to compete with young people to advance to the ToC final. At that time, it is rare that only Senior Tournament winners Lou Pryor (S8) and Marilyn Kneeland (S9) and Teacher Tournament winners Francois Barcomb (S36) have made it to the ToC finals at that age over 50 years old (all placed 3rd).
- In the Masters special episode aired on May 9, 2023, there was an interview about a friend who had a chance to ride a submersible because of the Titanic tourism business, but the schedule did not overlap with his son's wedding. He and Stockton Rush were first-year seniors at Princeton. After the incident, the video went viral on TikTok.