Jeopardy! champ Laura Faddah makes show history as the first 7-day winner to score less than $100k after wagering errors

JEOPARDY! champion Laura Faddah has made show history after becoming the first contestant to score less than $100,000 during a 7-day winning streak.

Fans will have to wait several weeks to see if Laura is able to break through the six-figure mark as this is the last regular game until February as the Jeopardy! postseason takes over.

Ken Jennings hosts Friday’s game of Jeopardy!Credit: Jeopardy!

Laura Faddah plays her 7th Jeopardy! gameCredit: Jeopardy!
The research group manager from Memphis, Tennessee had already secured $79,400 over her six-day winning streak.

Many fans had hoped she’d take home a big prize on Friday’s game – pushing her over the $100,000 figure.

However, Laura has continued to bet low on Final Jeopardy! and Daily Doubles – making her the only person to be under $100,000 after seven wins.

Previously, the record was held by contestant Tim Aten, who won seven games in 2016 before getting beaten out on his 8th episode.

After playing his 7th game, Tim had a prize pot of $107,499 – over $20,000 more than Laura’s 7-day total of $87,400.

On Friday’s game, Laura went up against Megan Riddell, a human resources data analyst from Linthicum, Maryland and Herb Jeong, a retired pension administrator from San Francisco, California.

Laura had a quick, albeit a smaller, lead early on in the game which only increased after Megan dropped $2,000 when getting the first Daily Double wrong.

Going into Double Jeopardy!, Laura was ahead with $3,400 while Megan secured $1,800 and Herb garnered $400.

Jeopardy! players from L-R:Credit: Jeopardy!
The returning champ ended up finding the second Daily Double however, she got it wrong – dropping her $1,800.

Herb rounded out the trio of missed Daily Doubles, losing $2,000 when he incorrectly guessed the third advantage.

Heading into Final Jeopardy!, Laura had $10,000 while Herb was far behind with $3,200 and Megan had $1,400.

Host Ken Jennings, 50, then introduced the last category as “Fictional Characters” as the three contestants placed their wagers.

Jeopardy! champ Laura Faddah blows fans away with ‘improbable’ winning streak after ‘getting lucky’ with game advantages
“In his very first appearance by name, this character comes downstairs ‘bump-bump-bump on the back of his head’,” the host read of the Final Jeopardy! clue.

“Who is Winnie-the-Pooh?” was the correct answer however, only Megan was successful in writing it down.

However, she wagered small – ending her game with just $1,452.

Herb ended the game with $2,900 while Laura dropped $2,000 – ending her 7th winning game with a total of $8,000.

LUCKY NUMBER 7

Laura’s seventh win puts her winning streak total at $87,400 – far behind what most of her counterparts have at the same point.

For example, season 41 champion and Survivor alum Drew Basile had scored $129,601 by his seventh win.

While Isaac Hirsch secured a whopping $215,390 with nine wins.

Ryan Manton had earned a similar figure to Laura, $83,179, within just four wins.

Jeopardy! 2025 Tournament of Champions

Jeopardy!’s next Tournament of Champions will take place this winter, midway through Season 41 (exact airdate TBA) and it’s shaping up to be another showstopper. Here’s who is officially eligible so far:

Adriana Harmeyer (15 wins and $349,600 total)
Isaac Hirsch (nine wins and $215,390)
Greg Jolin (five wins and $135,002)
Survivor alum Drew Basile (seven wins and $129,601)
Alison Betts (5 wins and $121,500)
Mark Fitzpatrick (five wins and $107,201)
Dr. Amy Hummel (5 wins and $100,994)
Ryan Manton (four wins and $83,179)
Grant DeYoung (four wins and $81,203)
Will Wallace (four wins and $79,998)
Amar Kakirde (four wins and $55,899)
Lisa Ann Walter (winner of Celebrity Jeopardy! 2024)

The prize for winning the ToC is $250,000 and a coveted slot in Jeopardy! Masters.

Jeopardy.com notes: “All 4-time and over winning players starting from 04/10/24 will be eligible for a future Tournament of Champions.”

“Presence on this list does NOT guarantee an invitation to compete. Other eligibility rules apply and final selection is up to the producers’ sole discretion.”

Fans took notice of Laura’s history-making game, with one writing: “Laura having such a small amount by game 7 is so unfortunate.”

“Laura needs to change her wagering strategy. She could have SO much more money. Either way congrats on another win it’s impressive,” a viewer wrote.

Fans will need to wait to see if Laura can continue to build her Jeopardy! resume as today was the last regular game for many weeks.

Beginning on Monday, the Jeopardy! Second Chance Tournament will begin – giving non-winners who still made impressive moves another chance to win big.

Following the Second Chancers will be the Wildcards Tournament – which includes four contestants with the highest scores in the quarterfinals who didn’t win their respective games.

The postseason will conclude with the highly coveted Tournament of Champions – where the winner will score $250,000.