Sam Kavanaugh is a substitute teacher from Carlton, Minnesota. He first appeared on Jeopardy! on July 10, 2019 and defeated 4-time Champion and fellow Tournament of Champions participant Ryan Bilger. He went on to win 5 games, accumulating $156,202. He later returned for the 2021 Tournament of Champions, which he won and took home the $250,000 grand prize.
Jeopardy! Run[]
Regular-Season Play[]
| Game No. | Air Date | Final score | Cumulative Winnings | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | July 10, 2019 | $38,001 | $38,001 | He ends Ryan Bilger's streak. |
| 2 | July 11, 2019 | $7,999 | $46,000 | |
| 3 | July 12, 2019 | $29,601 | $75,601 | |
| 4 | July 15, 2019 | $38,200 | $113,801 | Sam's first runaway game. |
| 5 | July 16, 2019 | $42,401 | $156,202 | |
| 6 | July 17, 2019 | $0 | $157,202 | Lost to Roey Hadar (in a runaway game). |
Tournament of Champions[]
In the fifth quarterfinal game, he faced off against Andy Wood and Veronica Vichit-Vadakan. Throughout the first two rounds, he came up with 18/20 correct responses (including 2/2 Daily Doubles). He was the only player correct in Final, and after a come from behind win, he became the last automatic semifinalist. Veronica earned a wildcard with her $22,460, while Andy received $5,000 as his $100 was not enough.
In the first semifinal game, he faced off against Karen Farrell and Ryan Hemmel. Throughout the first two rounds, he came up with 23/24 correct responses (including 1/1 Daily Double). Everyone got Final correct. Sam advanced to the finals. Karen and Hemmel received $10,000.
In the finals, he faced off against Veronica Vichit-Vadakan and Jennifer Quail. Throughout the finals, he came up with a combined 39/41 correct responses (including 3/3 Daily Doubles). He got 1/2 Final Jeopardy correct and won $250,000.
Invitational Tournament[]
In the seventh quarterfinal game, he faced off against Chuck Forrest and Monica Thieu. Throughout the first two rounds, he came up with 13/15 correct responses (including 2/3 Daily Doubles). No one got Final correct, but Sam pulled off a come from behind win to advance to the semifinals. Chuck and Monica received $5,000.
In the second semifinal game, he faced off against Larissa Kelly and Andrew He. Throughout the first two rounds, he came up with 12/14 correct responses. He and Larissa got Final incorrect, but after losing to Andrew (in a runaway game), they both received $10,000.
Common with Other Champions[]
Mark Fitzpatrick[]
- Both are five-time champions.
- They defeated the male champion with the first name Ryan Bilger for four consecutive wins and became the new champion.
- The former champion also qualified for ToC.
- They won a landslide victory when trying to win 4 games in a row.
- Both got off in third place.
- Both appeared and got off on the same day. The difference was that Sam appeared and left on Wednesday and Mark appeared and left on Friday.
Vik Vaz[]
- Both qualified for ToC after beating the four-time champion.
- Both advanced to the finals on their own and came from behind to win. Vik came in 3rd place in the semifinals, and Sam came in 2nd place in the quarterfinals.
- Both had rematches against opponents they had faced in the finals, Vik in the Regular Game and Sam in the ToC qualifiers. The difference is that in Vik's case, he beat his opponent again, but a third person won, and in Sam's case, it was actually a third person (Jennifer Quail).
Michael Falk[]
- Both lost the last Regular Game to an opponent's lock game.
- The two-person ToC was held in May, and the 19th consecutive champion participated.
- They met the champion (Bill MacDonald) who defeated the 19-game winning streak champion in the finals.
- A rematch took place in their own ToC. In Michael's case, he beat two of his regular game rematches (the other being Vik Vaz), and Sam reunited with his ToC Quarterfinal competitor.
- A contestant from the same season as the season the two entered won the ToC. The difference is, Michael is after his victory (Celeste DiNucci), Sam is before his victory (James Holzhauer).
Celeste DiNucci[]
- Both are five-game champions, appearing in mid-July. They were also penniless when leaving, and both new champions ended up winning singles.
- There was a ToC winner in the same season before his appearance. (Celeste - Michael Falk, Sam - James Holzhauer)
- There was a rematch at the ToC Final where he appeared. In Celeste's case, they won by defeating both contenders in a rematch (Doug Hicton and Cliff Galiher), and Sam met his opponent Veronica Vichit-Vadakan in the qualifiers and finals.
Dan Pawson[]
- Both got off on Wednesday in 3rd place. The difference is that Dan was in first place in the last FJ.
- The ToC female runner-up who competed together holds the record of more than 10 consecutive FJ correct answers overall.
Kristin Morgan[]
- Bost got off on Wednesday to an opponent's lock game.
- They won five in a row by defeating the four-game champion (Ashok Poozhikunnel) and played against the same opponent (Keith Whitener) twice in the ToC. The difference is that Kristin lost both times to that opponent.
Ben Ingram[]
- Both made their first appearance in early July.
- The two have advanced to the ToC as the champions with four consecutive wins. The difference is that Ben's winning opponent (Mark Japinga) has a four-game winning streak, and Sam has a four-game winning streak champion (Ryan Bilger).
- In the ToC in which he appeared, the champion with 10 or more wins in a row was added as a wild card (Ben - Julia Collins, Sam - Jason Zuffranieri). Also, opponents who have won 10 or more consecutive champions (Joshua Brakhage, Ryan Bilger) were eliminated in the semifinals. For reference, Ben beat his opponent and won.
- The 5-game winning streak champion, who was scheduled to participate in the ToC, was unable to participate due to unavoidable circumstances. In the case of Ben, it is the participant's crime Jerry Slowik, and in the case of sam, it is the participant's sudden death Brayden Smith.
- Like Celeste DiNucci, prior to their appearance, a champion who appeared in the same season won the ToC (Ben - Colby Burnett).
Evaluation[]
He is one of the champions who showed that skill is important in Jeopardy, but DD's luck and strategy are also necessary. When Ryan Bilger, a 4-game winning streak champion at the time, was highlighted by many as a Super Champ candidate, as a result of monopolizing 3 DDs, Ryan Bilger stopped Ryan's 5-game winning streak and became the 5-game winning streak champion.
Because of that, many people expected that another Superchamp would be born following James, but eventually got off due to the jinx described later. Losing all 3 DDs to Roey Hadar at the time was one of the losses. Later, the super champion spot following James was taken by another teacher Jason Zuffranieri after the third episode.
After that, when he participated in ToC, attention was focused on Jason, the 19-win champion, and he did not receive proper attention. Even in the early stages of the preliminaries, they tended to be pushed back by other competitors, but with the success of DD, they reversed themselves to second place and eventually advanced to the semifinals with first place, and advanced to the finals through a bold DD in the semifinals. Jason, who really caught the attention, advanced to the semifinals as a Wildcard after losing to Ryan B from the first game, but was caught by Jennifer Quail, the 8-game winning streak champion and ToC runner-up. If he didn't hit FJ in the qualifier, he could have been knocked out, like Seth Wilson.
Especially in the final match against Jennifer Quail, there are many views that the bold DD strategy succeeded and won. There were many opinions that if Jennifer had risked the DD Wager so boldly, Jennifer would have won. Through this appearance, he is receiving attention like other ToC champions, and he is emerging as a champion that will receive attention if he appears in a special event in the future.
Trivia[]
- This is the fourth case of being caught in the jinx of 'If you beat a champion who has won more than 4 wins in a row, you can't win more than 6 consecutive wins. S29: Ashok Poozhikunnel → Kristin Morgan, S31: Elliot Yates → John Schultz, S35: Alex Schmidt → Alan Dunn. This jinx was broken by Cris Pannullo who defeated David Sibley in S39.
- Instead, he broke the jinx that a champion who won a four-game winning streak could not win the ToC.
- He and James Holzhauer made their original appearances in Season 35, and both went on to win their respective ToC's (James Holzhauer in Season 36 and Sam Kavanaugh in Season 37). This is the third instance of two ToC champions original runs occurring in the same season. The previous two examples are S22 - Michael Falk (S22) and Celeste DiNucci (S24), S29 - Colby Burnett (S29) and Ben Ingram (S31). Also, like James, the prize money earned by Daily Doubles and FJ! The percentage of correct answers is high.
- Among the ToC champions, he is the only participant who has experienced both lock game wins and losses in regular games.
- Much like Roger Craig, Alex Jacob, and James Holzhauer, he is known for his extreme aggression on Daily Doubles. Everyone mentioned here has won the ToC.
- If the FJ had been guessed during the 2-game winning streak, it would have been the first time in history that 3 ToC winners had won $100K+ in 3 games.
- Andrew He, later a 5-game winning streak champion and runner-up in the 2022 ToC, tweeted that he helped prepare for the ToC.
- He and James are believed to be the only two people to have ever averaged more than $10,000 a game on Daily Doubles in regular play. (Sam's average net gain on Daily Doubles in his original run was $11,040, while James’ average was $20,419.)
- He is a person who is deeply related to the number 5. He was the 5th champion with more than 5 consecutive wins in season 35, and succeeded in winning 5 consecutive wins by defeating champions who challenged for 5 consecutive wins, and in addition, in ToC, he was ranked 5th in the prize money list in addition to group 5.
- Following the reorganization of the S39 ToC format, he became the last ToC winner in the 15-people system, and first Toc Winner in the post-Trebek era of Jeopardy.