‘Jeopardy!’: Matt Amodio Faces Tough Opponents as He Begins ‘JIT’ Title Defense

The JIT is an invitation-only tournament, where contestants can choose if they want to compete or not. They are typically pulled from previous years’ Masters, TOCs, and other champions. The winner of the JIT takes home $150,000 and will advance to this year’s Jeopardy! Masters, which has not yet set a date.

After six quarterfinal games, the winners will face off in the semi-finals, and then eventually the finals, where the first player to reach two wins becomes the champion.

Amodio, a quantitative researcher from New York, New York, played against Drew Basile, a writer from Birmingham, Michigan, and Karen Farrell, a professional lecturer of international affairs from Chesapeake, Virginia, on February 5.

Amodio and Basile competed for first place, but it was Farrell who found the Daily Double on clue five. With $1,000 in her bank, she wagered all of her money.

In “One of These Days,” the clue read, “This Caribbean island nation gained its name from Columbus, who sighted it on Sunday, November 3, 1493.” She didn’t know the answer, which was Dominica, so she dropped down to $0.

Amodio and Basile were neck and neck the rest of the round, but Amodio came out on top by the first 15 clues with $2,800. The 2025 JIT winner then went on to double his amount to $5,400 by the conclusion of the round. Basile had $2,800. Farrell ended the round with -$200.

In Double Jeopardy, Amodio found the first DD on clue two. He wagered $3,000 out of his $7,000. In “World History,” the clue was “Meaning ‘the way of the warrior’, it was the code of conduct for Japan’s samurai, akin to European chivalry.” He answered correctly with “What is Bushidō?” which gave him $10,000.

He then answered four of the next seven clues correctly to find the second DD on clue 10. Out of $14,800, he wagered $2,000.

In “Cousins,” the clue read, “The American composer of the opera ‘Satyagraha’ is second cousins to this radio personality.” “Who is Copland?” he answered incorrectly.

“No, I’m sorry, it would’ve helped to know that ‘Satyagraha’ is by Philip Glass. Who is Ira Glass?” host Ken Jennings shared. Amodio dropped down to $12,800, but still had a wide lead.

“That would’ve helped,” he said.

Amodio kept the lead the rest of the round and ended with $18,800. Basile, a seven-game champion, had $3,600. Farrell, an eight-game champion, moved to second place with $8,600.

The category for Final Jeopardy was “Coins of the World.” The clue was: “Coins issued by this territory have depicted old world monkeys, neanderthal skulls & Europa Point lighthouse.” Two of the three game show contestants had the right answer. Did it affect Amodio’s game?

Basile’s response was “What is Gibraltar?” That was correct. He wagered $3,600 and ended with $7,200. Farrell also had the right answer. She wagered all of her money, giving her a final total of $16,400. Amodio did not have the correct response with “What is Kenya?” He wagered $0, giving him a final total of $18,800.

Amodio will advance to the semifinals next week. Three new players will face off on Friday to try to nab a spot in the semifinals.

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