‘Jeopardy!’ Contestant Has Jaw-Dropping Win in TOC — Fans React

[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for the Tuesday, January 27, episode of Jeopardy!]

The first semi-finals game of the 2026 Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions delivered a jaw-dropping win for one contestant. Scott Riccardi, who earned a bye from the quarterfinals, returned to play against two quarterfinal winners.

Riccardi, from Somerville, New Jersey, played against Ph.D. candidate Allegra Kuney, from New Brunswick, New Jersey, and attorney Tom Devlin, from Washington, D.C., on January 27.

At the beginning of the round, Kuney and Devlin fought for first place. However, Kuney answered a few clues incorrectly and only had $200 by the first 15 clues. Riccardi, an engineer, answered a few, but he wound up in second. Devlin led with $5,400.

By the time Riccardi found the Daily Double on clue 20, he had $3,800. He made it a true Daily Double and wagered it all in “California Geographic.” The clue read, “Formerly Ocean View Avenue, this Monterey street processed around 240,000 tons of sardines in 1945.” He answered correctly with “What is Cannery Row?” giving him $7,600.

At the end of the round, Riccardi and Devlin were very close. Riccardi was in first place with $8,200. Devlin wound up in second with $7,400. Kuney had $1,200.

In Double Jeopardy, Riccardi and Devlin fought for first place again. However, Riccardi found the first DD on clue 15 and made a huge wager. He had $15,400 and made it a true Daily Double.

In “Lighting Up The Enlightenment,” the clue read, “We’re all signatory to this, the title of a 1762 work by Rousseau.” Riccardi answered correctly with “What is The Social Contract?” giving him a huge lead with $30,800. Devlin had $14,200.

He found the last DD on the next clue. Out of his $30,800, he wagered $6,000 in “Latin Lovers.” The clue read, “Euripides was famous for this Latin-phrased plot resolution; in ‘Orestes’, Apollo shows up & restores order.” “What is deus ex machina?” he answered correctly, giving him $36,800.

Although Kuney and Devlin did answer a few clues correctly, it wasn’t enough to take the lead. Riccardi ended with $41,200. Delvin had $19,000. Kuney was in third place with $7,600.

The category for Final Jeopardy was “European History.” The clue read, “Writing from prison to her père in 1793, she quoted the dramatist Corneille, ‘crime makes the shame, and not the scaffold.'” The correct response was “Who is Charlotte Corday?” It was a Triple Stumper among the contestants, but they all had the same wrong answer.

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They all said, “Who is Marie Antoinette?” Kuney wagered $6,700, leaving her with $900. Devlin did not wager anything, leaving him with $19,000. Riccardi also did not wager anything, so, he won the game with $41,200.

Riccardi will move on to the finals. Two more semi-final games will take place on Wednesday and Thursday to determine who will play against him in the finals. Friday is an Exhibition game against Riccardi, Laura Faddah, and Paolo Pasco.

Fans reacted to Riccardi’s incredible game on Reddit. “One of the best games of all time. Congrats to Scott, Tom, and Allegra on a hard-fought competition!” one wrote.

“This was an amazing game!” said another.

“Now THAT was a TOC game,” added a third.

“I had Scott winning this; I did not expect James Holzhauer from him,” another commented.

“This game was absolutely electric – the hunt for DD2 and 3 ramped up the tension, and the players are all top-flight competitors. No outcome would have surprised me – any of these three could have taken it! Truly, anyone’s game. Great job, Tom and Allegra, and congratulations to Scott on winning a stacked game!” one last fan wrote.

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