Jamie Ding's 'Jeopardy!' streak ends. How he got dethroned
Jamie Ding's 'Jeopardy!' streak ends. How he got dethroned
Melina Khan, USA TODAYTue, April 28, 2026 at 11:41 AM UTC
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Jamie Ding, the New Jersey law student whose "Jeopardy!" run cemented himself among the show's greatest players, lost on April 27 after a 31-game win streak.
The 33-year-old was defeated by Greg Shahade, a chess player from Philadelphia who won $33,000 during Monday's game.
Ding's winning streak, which began in March, captured both lawmakers and fans of the long-running quiz show alike.
A resident of Lawrenceville, New Jersey, Ding works for the state's Housing and Mortgage Finance Agency and is enrolled as a law student at Seton Hall University.
Here's what to know about Ding's "Jeopardy!" streak, including how it came to an end.
How many 'Jeopardy!' games did Jamie Ding win?
"Jeopardy!" contestant Jamie Ding is pictured at the podium while playing.
Ding won 31 straight games on "Jeopardy!," marking a historic run on the show.
It puts the Princeton University alumnus as the player with the fifth most consecutive game wins and fifth highest winnings in the show's history, according to the "Jeopardy!" leaderboard.
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How much money Jamie Ding won on 'Jeopardy!'
Ding earned a whopping $882,605 throughout his monthlong run on "Jeopardy!"
He falls behind former winners Amy Schneider, Matt Amodio, James Holzhauer and the show's current host, Ken Jennings, in the ranking of highest winnings in the game.
How Jamie Ding lost on 'Jeopardy!'
In addition to Shahade, Ding also played against Katrina Puckett, a teacher from Ohio, during the April 27 episode of "Jeopardy!"
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Going into Final Jeopardy, Ding had $16,000, while Shahade led with $32,600 and Puckett had $3,000 from the early rounds.
The Final Jeopardy question, which fell under the world languages category, asked for the alphabetically first and last of South Africa's 12 official languages.
While all three players answered correctly – Afrikaans and Zulu – Shahade ultimately walked away with the win.
Ding wagered $3,010 on the final question, bringing his total for the game up to $19,010. Shahade wagered $400, making his winnings $33,000 on the game.
Jamie Ding had one final message before ending 'Jeopardy!' win streak
Despite his loss, Ding signed off with a final message for fans while submitting his Final Jeopardy answer.
"TTFN!" he wrote, shorthand for "ta ta for now."
Ding is set to return for the show's season-ending Tournament of Champions.
A two-week postseason event, the competition bids the highest-performing contestants from the regular season against each other.
See leaderboard of most consecutive 'Jeopardy!' wins -
Ken Jennings: 74 wins, $2,520,700
Amy Schneider: 40 wins, $1,382,800
Matt Amodio: 38 wins, $1,518,601
James Holzhauer: 32 wins, $2,462,216
Jamie Ding: 31 wins, $882,605
Contributing: John Connolly and Kate Perez
Melina Khan is a national trending reporter for USA TODAY. Keep up with her on X @melinakh and Instagram @bymelinakhan.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Jamie Ding's 'Jeopardy!' winning streak ends, defeated by Greg Shahade
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
