Over the last several decades that Jeopardy! has been on the air, the annualTournament of Champions (ToC) has become one of the most hotly-anticipated game-show events. The competition features the best of the best in the Jeopardy! universe, pitting the top contestants against each other for the $250,000 grand prize. The 2024 ToC kicked off in late February and featured 27 contestants (the largest group to date). While the dates for the next competition have yet to be announced, producers previously said they'd be delaying it until 2025. According to TV Insider's reporting last month, regular gameplay will pause for tournaments starting in January.
But who will be playing in the ToC? That's where things get interesting. While five wins is the magic number for Jeopardy! players to nab a spot, the show's website says that four wins earn players eligibility and a potential invite to the ToC. So far, seven Season 40 players, one Season 41 player, and one Celebrity Jeopardy! winner have qualified thanks to their impressive performances. Read on to find out who you'll likely see duking it out in the next ToC.
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1 | Adriana Harmeyer
ABC / YouTubeGames Won: 15
Total Winnings: $349,600
This year's standout contestant is Adriana Harmeyer, a clinical assistant professor and archivist for University History at Purdue. The 35-year-old Indiana native racked up a whopping 15 wins in June, bringing her total winnings to $349,600.
Harmeyer's stats are impressive: She responded to 13 out of 15 Final Jeopardy! clues correctly and answered a total of 331 general clues with 91 percent accuracy. At the time of writing, Harmeyer stands as the sole super-champion in Season 40.
2 | Drew Basile
ABC / YouTubeGames Won: 7
Total Winnings: $129,601
Drew Basile, a graduate student from Birmingham, Michigan, and a previous castaway on Survivor, dethroned Harmeyer in the Wednesday, June 19 game. He secured the win after a big Daily Double gave him a runaway game going into Final Jeopardy! While he didn't answer the final clue correctly, his lead and small wager were big enough to make him a giant-killer, the unofficial term for a player who dethrones a super-champion.
Basile's run ended on June 28 when he was defeated by Cat Pisacano, a nurse from New York.
3 | Isaac Hirsch
ABC / YouTubeGames Won: 9
Total Winnings: $218,390
Isaac Hirsch, a customer support team lead from Burbank, California, held an impressive nine-game streak, which ended with his defeat on July 16.
Like Basile, Hirsch actually had game show experience prior to Jeopardy!, winning $5,000 on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in 2017 and $48,667 on The Chase in 2023. On the latter show, he played alongside fellow Jeopardy! alum John Lance and defeated the "Chaser," Jeopardy! all-star Buzzy Cohen.
But the fun facts don't stop there: Trivia prowess actually runs in his family. Isaac's father, Steve Hirsch, competed on Jeopardy! in 1985.
"My dad was on Jeopardy! in the '80s, one of the first years Alex hosted, and he lost," Isaac shared in a July 9 press release. "I used to tease him about it as a kid."
The young champ doesn't doubt his dad's abilities, though. During Isaac's appearance on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, his father was his "Plus One" lifeline.
4 | Alison Betts
ABC / YouTubeGames Won: 5
Total Winnings: $121,500
Another player we'll definitely see in the next ToC is Alison Betts. The writer and creative executive, originally from San Jose, California, won five games in April and earned a total of $121,500.
She was the first player in Season 40 to officially secure a spot in the ToC.
5 | Amy Hummel
ABC / YouTubeGames Won: 5
Total Winnings: $100,994
The third woman on this list and the fourth competitor with an automatic ToC spot is Amy Hummel, who also won five games in April. The ER doctor from Milwaukee, Wisconsin, racked up a total of $100,994—and she already has a strategy for the upcoming tournament.
"I’ll probably go back and watch some prior Tournaments of Champions," Hummel said in a Jeopardy! press release. "And then keep doing what I was doing, which was a 300,000 question flashcard deck."
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6 | Ryan Manton
ABC / YouTube
Games Won: 4
Total Winnings: $86,179
The latest to make the cut for the ToC—and the first from Season 41—is Ryan Manton, who held a four-game streak in early October. The systems administrator from Columbus, Ohio, ended up with a total of $86,179 in winnings, eventually being dethroned by Mark Fitzpatrick (the reigning champ as of Oct. 8).
In an interview with Jeopardy! producer Sarah Whitcomb Foss, Manton, a systems administrator from Columbus, Ohio, said that a chance to face off against the best of the best in the ToC "would be amazing."
"I mean, I don't think I'm quite on their level, but to even be able to show up would be quite a treat," Manton added.
The humble champ isn't the only brain in his family, either—Manton's wife, Lauren Menke, also competed on Jeopardy! back in 2021.
7 | Grant DeYoung
ABC / YouTubeGames Won: 4
Total Winnings: $81,203
With four wins under his belt, grocery clerk Grant DeYoung has qualified for a potential invite to the elite ToC competition. The Prescott, Arizona native hit his stride in May and quickly became a fan favorite thanks to his genuineness and emotional reactions.
Interestingly enough, DeYoung is also the first known player to win a game with 11 correct responses since Jack Lechner in 1988, TV Insider reports, citing TheJeopardyFan.com.
Also called out for looking a lot like "Weird Al" Yankovic, DeYoung earned a total of $81,203 during his streak.
8 | Amar Kakirde
ABC / YouTubeGames Won: 4
Total Winnings: $55,899
The sixth Season 40 player to qualify for the ToC is Amar Kakirde, who won four games in late May.
The graduate student from New Jersey racked up a total of $55,899, and like DeYoung, he got called out for some stats he'd probably rather not have highlighted. Fans pointed out that Kakirde has one of the lowest four-day cash totals in the game's history. The top spot belongs to Anthony Fox, who finished his fourth game with $51,998 in 2011.
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9 | Lisa Ann Walter
ABC / YouTubeGames Won:Celebrity Jeopardy! Season 2
Total Winnings: $1,000,000 for charity
We can't forget actor Lisa Ann Walter, who qualified for the ToC after winning the second season of Celebrity Jeopardy! and earning $1 million for the Entertainment Community Fund.
The Parent Trap and Abbott Elementary star joked about her role in the all-star competition in an interview with The Daily Beast.
"[The producers] are very smart about this—they have you on their podcast, and then they ask you [if you want to come back], and then you’re very moved and you say, 'Of course I’ll play,'" she shared. "But I was smart enough to say, 'I would be thrilled to come back and lose in the first round of your Tournament of Champions.'"
