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This interview with Matt Amodio originally ran in early August amid his record-breakingJeopardy!run.
So, yeah.You might be aware of some stuffgoing on over atJeopardy!right now.Twonewhosts?
Were not here to talk about that.
From the outside, how has it been to see your winning streak unfold?Its been amazing.
Im an introverted and quiet person.
Random strangers are emailing me just from finding my email address online.
Ive been getting a ton of attention.
Maybe you get used to it over time, but it hasnt come yet.
Im tickled and a little bit uneasy with all of it.
ManyJeopardy!contestants have messaged me with congratulations.
I worry about becoming a bit of a villain; a Death Star of someone who just keeps winning.
You accumulate reasons to not be liked, you know?
Ive been pleased that everyone has been very nice to me.
Tell me about your relationship withJeopardy!prior to getting on the show.
Did you grow up watching it?Absolutely I did.
It was on in my household from before I was able to understand what the words were.
My parents were everyday watchers for my entire life, so I grew up with it.
Eventually, I started to be able to interact with the show on my own.
I was a huge Ken Jennings fan.
It was like a sporting event.
Need to say that again.
When did auditioning eventually occur to you, then?My dad thinks highly of me.
As any dad should, I guess.
He said, Youre so smart, you should try out for the show.I said no.
I didnt think I was good enough.
Finally, just to shut him up, I obliged and took the online test.
That led to an in-person audition and eventually being a contestant.
I was always expecting to be a lifelong fan and viewer.
To get the chance to be on the show?
I still cant believe it.
When I get married, thatll be a good one.
Im not sure theyre gonna unseat Ken Jennings recognizing me.
Thats really number one in my book.
Youre now the fourth-highest earner in the shows history.
Being on the show is a tremendous accomplishment, and I dont want to denigrate that at all.
But once you win, youre aJeopardy!champion.
you might call yourself a Jeopardy!champion.
Not a Jeopardy!participant.
Thats something nobody can take away from you.
You might lose the next game, or you might lose 71 games later if youre Ken Jennings.
Youre going to lose eventually.
But that never takes away from the descriptor.
I squeaked one out and it was a close call.
I dont think anything has surpassed that moment winning the first game.
But, again, just standing on that stage is such an accomplishment.
From a mental perspective, how was it filming all of these games back-to-back?
How did you stay centered?Im not a morning person.
I was happy the first day because I started in the afternoon.
Im not my best that early.
So the next day, coming back, I was worried.
I took way too many energy drinks.
I increased Red Bulls stock valuations during my time there.
I stayed energized as well as I could, but its a long day.
You arrive at 7 a.m. and dont leave until 8 p.m.
I didnt know how my body would react to that.
I was pleased that I didnt seem to wear down as the days went on, but Im lucky.
I didnt do anything to earn that.
I felt like I was accumulating mistakes that I had made.
I never really felt like I was on a roll.
And you know what I learned?
I know its not good enough to help at this task at all.
I write those algorithms.
I build those models in my research.
And I know how bad they are and how much work they need.
I wasnt going to rely on that forJeopardy!My studying was good old-fashionedreading.I just read a lot.
I knew my weaknesses coming in.
Im a computer science student, but my recreational reading is history, geography, and literature.
I love classical music.
I was thrilled to answer all of those clues.
What were your weaknesses?Anything that has ever been published in TMZ in the last ten years.
Pop culture in general.
I did my best.
Thankfully, if theres one thing the internet has information on, its celebrities.
I did my best to be interested in the minutiae of the celebrity eye.
I was like,Theres no way thats the same Presley?
There cant be two Presley families in pop culture?That blew my mind.
I dont know if Im gonna have stage fright.
One less thing to go wrong.
That was the reasoning behind the whats.
I knew the show accepted that response as okay.
Did your strategy change as the show went on and you grew more comfortable?It actually did.
I went through good and bad games on the buzzer.
Whats your Daily Double ideology?Oh, Ive thought about that a lot.
If they had just bet on themselves, they couldve won big.
If I have the opportunity to, Im not gonna let timidity get in my way.
Ill bet on myself and venture to take the game out of the control of the opponents.Its scary.
James Holzhauer defined hisJeopardy!strategy as strategically aggressive.
How would you define yours?The opposite.
If I had to put one word on my strategy sheet, its cautious.
If youre on the stage and its your Daily Double, thats where you have the most control.
Thats also the reason why I make a run at speak as slowly as possible.
Ive gotten criticisms from strangers about that, which is fine.
Haters gonna hate.
You have a couple of seconds before the timer goes off.
I dont have to hastily say something.
Youve had the wild distinction of appearing on the show with four hosts.
Whos been your personal favorite?Oh my God, thats so hard to pick.
As a parent, youre not supposed to choose favorites, right?
Ill give you a tie.
I live and breathe baseball, so to get to play with Joe Buck was tremendous.
His voice gives the roller coaster building up to the climax.
He treatsJeopardy!like a sports game.
I was on the stage constantly smiling and laughing when he was hosting.
Ill also give a shoutout to David Faber.
I wasnt familiar with David prior to meeting him, so I had no expectations.
He came in so prepared and so charismatic and calm.
You have more than $500,000 at the time of this interview.
Any idea how youll be spending it?Ill besavingit.
Ive been living from small Ph.D. paycheck to small Ph.D. paycheck for a long time now.
Rent in New Haven isnt cheap.
Itll definitely ease the stress.
Im gonna do the boring thing and give a shot to invest it wisely.
Im learning about the art of investing.
