Julia Collins’ Jeopardy Statistics
We did it for Arthur Chu and we’re doing it for Julia Collins, too.
In her 11th game on 5/19/14, Julia not only tied Arthur Chu for number of games won, she also broke Larissa Kelly’s record ($222,597) as the highest-winning female contestant. Julia broke Arthur’s win record on 5/20/2014.
On 5/23/2014, she won her 15th game and with $314,900, surpassed Chu’s Jeopardy earnings of $297,200. With that $314,900, Julia became the third highest money winner in regular Jeopardy! games, knocking Arthur Chu down to No. 4.
Julia won her 19th game on 5/29/2014, putting her in a tie with Dave Madden for second most games won, and on Friday, 5/30/2014, Julia won her 20th game!
Julia’s streak came to an end on 6/2/2014 when she was defeated by Brian Loughnane. Her 20-day winnings of $428,100 came out to an average of approximately $20,385 per appearance. Nice work if you can get it, as the saying goes!
Julia never made a True Daily Double bet until her 13th game and all she had to risk was $400. In her 17th game, she made her second TDD, risking $3,200. In her 19th game, she lost $1,200 on a DD in the first round, and in her last game, she got a TDD in the first round for $1,8800. She has racked up 12 runaway games altogether.
Her biggest one-day haul was $35,000 on May 27th. Her biggest FJ bet was $11,700 on May 1st and her smallest was $0 on May 28th.
Here is a table with quick statistics on Julia’s 19 wins. 20-day total is $428,100. She also got the $1,000 third place prize in the last game.
| No | Date | Winnings | FJ Bet | Daily Double 1 | Daily Double 2 | Daily Double 3 |
| 1 | 4/21/14 | $15,605 | +7,605 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 2 | 4/22/14 | $21,000 (R) | +2,600 | N/A | -2,000 | +2,000 |
| 3 | 4/23/14 | $16,500 | +4,200 | +700 | N/A | N/A |
| 4 | 4/24/14 | $20,005 (R) | -795 | N/A | -2,000 | +2,000 |
| 5 | 4/25/14 | $29,700 | +9,100 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 6 | 4/28/14 | $22,000 | +3,000 | +1,500 | N/A | N/A |
| 7 | 4/29/14 | $20,100 (R) | -5,000 | N/A | N/A | +3,500 |
| 8 | 4/30/14 | $25,700 (R) | +4,500 | -1,000 | -1,000 | N/A |
| 9 | 5/1/14 | $28,100 | +11,700 | N/A | +1,500 | +3,500 |
| 10 | 5/2/14 | $18,600 (R) | -2,000 | +1,600 | N/A | N/A |
| 11 | 5/19/14 | $10,700 | -5,700 | N/A | -2,600 | +2,000 |
| 12 | 5/20/14 | $14,300 | -5,700 | +2,000 | N/A | -3,000 |
| 13 | 5/21/14 | $15,800 (R) | -2,000 | +400 (TDD) | +2,000 | N/A |
| 14 | 5/22/14 | $22,690 (R) | +2,390 | +1,500 | N/A | +2,000 |
| 15 | 5/23/14 | $30,800 (R) | +400 | +1,200 | +2,000 | +2,000 |
| 16 | 5/26/14 | $22,800 (R) | -8,600 | +2,400 | +3,000 | N/A |
| 17 | 5/27/14 | $35,000 (R) | +6,600 | +3,200 (TDD) | N/A | +3,000 |
| 18 | 5/28/14 | $18,900 (R) | -0- | -1,200 | N/A | +2,300 |
| 19 | 5/29/14 | $18,400 (R) | -4,800 | -1,200 | +1,400 | +1,200 |
| 20 | 5/30/14 | $18,100 | +6,500 | -1,800 | N/A | -2,400 |
| Total Winnings | $428,100 | |||||
| No | Date | Final Score | FJ Bet | DD 1 | DD 2 | DD 3 |
| 21 | 6/2/14 | $0 | -11,000 | +1,800 | -3,200 | N/A |
That (R) after the winnings means she had a runaway going into Final Jeopardy!
This video is from the chat segment on Friday, 5/23/14 (Game No. 15). Julia said she doesn’t risk a lot in her Daily Doubles because she really wants to keep winning. She got all the Daily Doubles in the match but didn’t bet very big and still went into Final Jeopardy with an unbeatable $20K lead!
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Thank God! She’s GONE!!!!! Best day ever! Did anyone look at her face when she lost????? SORE LOSER!
Really???????? I just saw disappointment. Why the vitriol?
Maybe you should look at the video again — she smiled and clapped for Brian.
It is also worth noting when she first got it wrong, there was a chance that she could’ve won by betting nothing(ish), so she had to be wondering: what if…
Without getting too into game theory, her reign was plagued with inferior wagering.
However, she seemed very gracious in defeat. I think a little daze is fair: she was just awakened after the greatest dream of her life.
I rooted for Julia for her first 3 games, but when I realized that she was too good to root for, I stopped rooting for her. I was so surprised when she lost and happy when someone finally outsmarted her in her 21st game. Good for her LOL.
I am really going to miss Julia. But she will be back for the TOC.
…during which she will get creamed.
Sorry Ginny, there probably won’t be a ToC this year. It looks as if the end of the season will be a teen tournament. Did you really think that they wanted to risk your poster-girl by placing her against the villian AChu?
Good point, Eric.
there will be TOC this same year (2014) but in the next season
I noticed that too. Kept track because I wanted to see how Jennings compared statistically to other chaps like brad. I looked at total, end of J round, how high they were compared to others before fj and how many times. I took rutter and doubled his first 5 days compared to Ken’s first 5 for all and Ken actually beat him out a little. Julia, I do like her, but I was seeing what others saw here, that she has seemed to run into a lot of competition that was subpar compared to what ken, brad or other greats had to go through. I am confused though, they announce her as a logistics something or other and then one episode last week she said she was looking for a job and she doesn’t have one. what? why would they announce her 2 days later than with the same job title, and would she lost her job because she is missing too much work taping shows? what’s up with that?
Finally, someone who sees what I see…how lousy Julia’s competitors were.
I don’t understand why people think Julia’s competitors were unusually weak. How can you tell that? You don’t know those people. Do you base it on the fact that they didn’t ring in that much? That could be due to not knowing the question, or more likely, not being quickest on the buzzer. I just don’t get how you can *know* that these people were subpar. During Ken’s games, he rang in on almost every question and his competitors barely answered. Yet no one seems to think that he didn’t have good competitors. Why do you hold Julia to a different standard? She beat 40 people. *Anyone* who gets on Jeopardy has to be pretty smart to pass the test and get through the whole process, so any competitor would be pretty smart. If some people don’t seem as smart, I think it comes down more to buzzer technique, variables of categories, able to stay calm, etc. Lot of things. For Julia to beat 40 people and get through 260 categories and come out on top over the course of 20 days is impressive. That is no fluke. Some people say the categories were easy or picked just for her. I’m sure the games are set long before. And anyway, there were so many different categories on all types of subjects over the course of her run, I don’t know how anyone can try to lessen the achievement. Julia knew a lot about a lot of things (history, politics, geography, opera, literature, sports, pop culture, music, word play, language, etc.). Some of the things she knew were common knowledge, but a lot of it was pretty obscure. Her run speaks for itself, and I don’t understand why people feel the need to give excuses to prove that she wasn’t a good player. Her Coryat scores were always above the other players, so even taking out extra money from Daily Doubles, she still did better than her competitors. It’s amazing that people just *know* that she had dumb competitors or that there was some sort of fix for her. Why can’t people just take it for what it was? A smart person did a good job and set some great records.
There did seem to be an inordinate amount of stumpers, in which case the buzzers are irrelevant. It’s maddening enough to watch stumpers when the questions seem easy, but even more intolerable when a multi-time champion is involved.
Further, her record on final jeopardys did not seem commensurate of an elite player.
Others have more varied reasons and beliefs, but these two stand quantitatively undeniable.
You’re right that the buzzers are irrelevant with triple stumpers. But there were so very many more questions that were not triple stumpers. Of the 1220 questions during Julia’s 40 days, how many were triple stumpers? I didn’t keep count, and though I know there was the occasional one, I didn’t notice that there was an inordinate amount. And how many triple stumpers usually occur in that same time period? To do a real comparison, I’d need to look at multiple blocks of 20 days of games. I still think any person that meets the requirements and gets through the process to be on Jeopardy has got to be pretty clever, so for any one person to beat 40 clever people in a row makes them a great player.
A quick check on J! Archive shows that 9 out her 20 wins came with incompleted boards (most with multiple gaps). Further, the trend heated after the 7th game.
A further investigation of the games of one of my favorite players, Larissa Kelly, shows that all of her games were completed.
Obviously, to find someone with as many games as Julia, you would have to go to the games of Ken Jennings. All I can say is good luck with that.
Also, in games with a lot of triple stumpers, more time is used up while Alex waits for someone to ring in, and with a lot of stumper, it takes up a lot of time, so they don’t usually get to all of the questions on the board. I don’t remember any games that the board wasn’t finished. Maybe there was one, but I don’t remember.
Some people just can’t deal with a successful woman so they have to create some bs to drag her down.
That hardly seems fair. If you scroll down just a bit, you’ll see my comment on Larissa Kelly, Pam Mueller, Robin Carroll, and Rachael Schwartz. I truly believe the first two and possibly the second two to be better players than Julia. I would easily place Larissa and Pam in the top ten of all-time. I don’t think that I can say the same for Julia.
Also, Sandie Baker, the 6-time champion right before Julia, was a great player and would destroy Julia in a game.
Maria…nice attempt at victimization. I could just as easily say that some women are too insecure and just can’t accept criticism of a ‘sista’.
Sharon…it doesn’t take a genius or personal acquaintance to see when a competitor is sharp or not. On all but perhaps two or three of Julia’s appearances, her opponents made ridiculously unnecessary–and costly–guesses on fairly trivial questions, acting as if they didn’t even know how to play the game. Many looked barely out of high school or were slow and awkward in their responses. Also, many were quiet and blank, clearly not knowing the answers to questions that routine Jeopardy viewers would likely have an easy time with. When Ken Jennings made his first appearance on Jeopardy, right away with his sharpness and speed, one could see he was a top-notch player. Julia was not particularly fast on the buzzer and, while possessing a lot of knowledge, there were several questions per game that she did not know that even I did, yet none of her opponents could step up. What really amazed me is when neither Julia nor her opponents–one a lawyer, the other a history major–knew who Anwar Sadat and Menachem Begin were in the photo. That was downright embarrassing. If she ever goes up against Ken Jennings, he will humiliate her.
It is also worth noting that the record she broke was held by a fantastic player. Dave Madden beat the computer, Watson, twice in simulation. He crushed over 90% of his daily doubles.
A lot of people don’t know much about him because he didn’t participate in the Battle of the Decade. I believe that he either is developing a jeopardy rival (although I don’t think that he sees it that way) or just simply wishes to move on. To many, he has almost a Bobby Fischer (without the later paranoia and hatred, I hope) mystique.
But, for now, it’s all just numbers, and as Neil Young sang, numbers add up to nothing.
I agree Sharon! I am shocked at the negativity toward Julia and Arthur this season. They are fabulous and I was an avid fan of the show while they were on. Since then, no one has measured up. I am more apt to question the show itself. Does the management try to get them off on a technicality or by putting someone on who is strong in one area and stacking the deck with questions related to their strength. I would like contestants on Jeopardy vetted by an organization unrelated to the program. I’ve lost my faith in the legitimacy of the show.
she can now afford to buy more sweaters
And nice necklaces.
Most commenting here are being too extreme one way or the other. I’m not going to hate on Julia like some are, nor do I think she is this brilliant champion. She clearly has a lot of knowledge (thanks to a very privileged life, where surviving was not an issue, and going to good schools) and is a better-than-average Jeopardy champion. However, anyone with eyes and ears can notice that her competition has been absolutely PATHETIC. For the first time ever, today she had two opponents who had decent knowledge, and the 2nd place winner nearly toppled Julia…she would have for sure had she just bet more in Final Jeopardy. In short, Julia is solid but far from the greatest. She would get crushed by Rutter or Jennings, and would likely lose to Chu and Madden also. I think Jeopardy has put her against weak opponents to start a new Jennings-like interest in the show, and it is understandably annoying a lot of viewers.
Dan, rewatch the game or read the recap — the lady who finished 2nd was in 3rd place most of the game. She got in 2nd place with the very last clue played in Double Jeopardy and finished with $9,000. She would not have beat Julia even if she had bet the whole $9,000 because Julia covered that possibility and finished with $18,100.
Yeah, that’s right…oops. I stand by my broader point, though. Today, for the first time, Julia had two decent opponents and just barely squeaked through. Brad and Ken for sure would have take n both of them to the shed.
In all fairness to the ladies, so would Larissa Kelly and Pam Mueller (whose numbers are rarely mentioned because she began, like Colby Burnett, with a tournament win and thus ineligible for such a streak), and possibly others (Rachael Schwartz, Robin Carroll, et all).
You hit it square on the head. I am an extremely loyal viewer and I have been so annoyed with the level of competition facing Julia. It has been notably weak.
Thanks, Paul. I started getting suspicious of it on week 2….terrible players going against her.
That all may be true, however the games are put together long before. Jeopardy! isn’t rigging the game. It may seem like it, but they aren’t.
(That’s just to let everyone know that they’re not planning Julia Collins and destroying Ken Jennings) 😀
I can’t stand Julia. Watch her face when someone else finds the Daily Double. Watch her face when someone else answers correctly. Why does Jeopardy seem to be “dumbed-down” ever since Julia has been on. I can’t believe how easy the questions have become. Get her off the show PLEASE!!!!! Every Jeopardy fan I know feels the same way. I have been watching Jeopardy faithfully since Art Fleming was the host way way back in the late ’60’s but, if someone doesn’t beat Julia SOON, I will be tuning out. Jeopardy is no longer entertaining.
I don’t think the questions have been all that easy, but I do agree that her opponents have really gotten dumb. I couldn’t believe it a few games back when her opponents both looked barely 20 and knew absolutely nothing…the female opponent was this Asian girl who worked in her father’s garage, and she was terrible. I believe Jeopardy wants to start another Ken Jennings kick and is deliberately putting in players that scored on the lower end in tryouts. How Julia failed her first tryout a few years ago is beyond me.
I have seen some excellent contestants on Jeopardy through the years. Perfect example the recent battle of the decades. They seemed fun, smart and gracious in demeanor. I have no idea how anyone could not see through Julia’s facade. Please help me understand exactly what you find in Julia that is refreshing and a good role model. Does she really think Jeopardy is apprropriate way to find a job? At least she has $400K to allow her time to find a job. Narcissistic, smug, “the world revolves around me” approach has totally rendered me a not so happy jeopardy fan.My entire household has agreed to give it til Friday before calling it quits for watching Jeopardy until JULIA IS OFF THE SHOW.
I don’t see a facade, or narcissism or any smugness about her. When she gets something right that she knows is right, she just moves on. When she gets something right that she’s not sure of, she’s happy. Who wouldn’t be? Like Micah said below, what do you want her to do, frown? Look miserable? She’s winning a lot of money. At this point, I’d be doing cartwheels and fist pumps.(just kidding)
I’ve seen contestants through the years too. There’s been a few I couldn’t wait til they lost just so they would stop making faces and mugging for the camera. Julia’s not one of them.
I’ve noticed that Julia is starting to get a bit like Chu, where she vocalizes it when she misses a question with things like, “Oh, okay,” as if she feels a sense of entitlement to the answer. She didn’t do that at first, but now she has become so comfortable with winning that she shows more irritation when she misses a question.
There’s got to be some pressure after so many games, just being aware that you are being touted as the latest Jeopardy Einstein and knowing you will be totally ridiculed for each and every wrong answer but I don’t see any similarity in the way AChu and Julia handled this.
As his games went on, Chu appeared to get angry when he got something wrong. Julia seems more embarrassed than anything else — esp if it is something that she knew (i.e., Siam, Thailand).
I agree that Chu showed more anger. It looks like Julia was feeling the pressure of keeping her streak going, but I think either way, it shows a slight sense of the whole thing starting to take over them. No surprise that Julia’s loss came just as Chu’s did…the game AFTER they started showing their feelings more.
Selene settle down. Julia is lovely, and bright as anyone I’ve seen in years on Jeopardy.
Julia is pretty and looks like a young Hillary Clinton. What we see as movements and facial expressions after she answers a question express a self satisfaction that says “So there”. A bit like a stuck up girl giving an interested boy the cold shoulder. It may not be that at all. She may have a touch of Asberger’s and has difficulty in body language.
Look at how attention getting she wrote her name every night.
Wow. What a crime. At the point where she can’t have a little fun with her name without inviting viewer criticism — people are looking for things to dislike.
Agreed VJ. Ken Jennings did the same thing.
I thought I was the only one that thought she was smug. She seems condescending and full of herself… I hate her dumb face.
Congrats Julia. Your confidence and calm are charming. You are a very gracious winner and a respectful contestant. A wonderful role model and a pleasure to watch. You are obviously a smart lovely young lady.
In keeping with the office reference, perhaps this situation would be better if we had Rashida Jones: she’s a Harvard alumna. Everything is better with Rashida
Don’t be so quick to give Rashida props about attending Harvard. Since Quincy Jones is her father she would not have had a problem going there. I had a co-worker who graduated Harvard. He could hardly put a sentence together but his Dad was quite wealthy.
Congrats to Julia!!! She’s a breath of fresh air, very intelligent and a very gracious winner. Watching her play is great entertinment. I hope she breaks all Jeopardy records. Go Julia!!!
I 2nd that!!!Congrats Julia!!!You ARE AN INSPIRATION to all young ladies. Obviously, you are very knowledgable, gracious and a pleasure to watch!!GO JULIA. Make JEOPARDY HISTORY!!!. Show all the male watchers that women can be just as intellegent than men: Perhaps even smarter. GOODLUCK JULIA!!!!
I’ll take Larissa Kelly or Pam Mueller over her any day.
Jeopardy questions KNOWLEDGE not intelligence. Julia is good but not great, and Brad and Ken would easily destroy her in a game.
The majority (22/40) of the players she has beaten have been women. She can beat a thousand women and it would not prove that she is just as intelligent, or have as much knowledge, as any man. In all fairness, she has a gifted intellect and is blessed with much knowledge, but only by facing the true competition of other tested champions can she really prove anything.
Go Julia! I think she is a great champion. She doesn’t gloat or make fun of Alex. Why are people hating on her? (It’s Arthur Chu all over again.) She’s just playing the game!
Julia makes these shows difficult to watch. She is not as intellectually impressive as her winning streak would indicate. She also comes across as extremely smug and cynical. She reminds me of Pam from the show The Office (not a compliment).
You just don’t like her because she’s a woman.
Agreed. It took them 15 episodes to finally put two men against her and one was a complete knucklehead (finished in the red and failed to make final jeopardy) and the other was only “average” at best. Believe me, I’ve counted; she’s beaten 17 females and only 13 males in her 15-day run. I’ve been watching this show almost religiously for 20+ years and I’ve noticed a disturbing PC trend in the last 5-7 yrs: when a non-white male wins they throw virtually every knucklehead they can against him/her to ensure said NWM champion remains there. They never want to see another Ken Jennings. But a Julia Collins – bring her on!
Agreed, she is not as good as her record indicates. She does not answer clues which have obvious answers (and amazingly the knucklehead competitors don’t answer them either). For example, she and the other competitors essentially did not know that Hanoi was the capital of Vietnam today. Also today, she and the other competitors did not know that Cyrus the Great was a ruler of the Persian empire which is common knowledge to any high school student. Her 22,000 average per day is merely average. Ken Jennings averaged 35,000 per day over 75 days.
What is Pam Lee’s problem. I think Julia is a breath of fresh air–unassuming, bright as hell, and fun to watch. I really think she is a great role model for young women as well as people in general. I hope she continues to win.
I really like Julia as a contestant. I truly don’t understand Pam Lee’s comments.
I have not seen all of her winning days but I am proud of her! We did not hear so much grousing about Ken Jennings and by the way, I was and AM proud of him too!
Jacobska, Julia is anything but humble. She’s smug, has a very holier than thou attitude, bets insignificant amounts to ensure her wins rather than play a competitive game. As a woman, I shudder to think she represents my gender in leading Jeopardy stats. Someone please get her off the show.
I totally agree with you! Couldn’t have said it better. Thank you! Seems everyone else-especially women-support her just for being a female winner.. She is arrogant and yes, that holier than thou sure comes across. Never says please.Apparently, she is smart but that doesn’t make for a nice person. Can’t they find anyone to get her off the show?
I guess she is supposed to frown and cry while she is winning. She has the winning attitude that you are supposed to project in a job interview. It’s encouraged to have this kind of positive attitude. When women are taught to think less of themselves, they take their insecurities out on women who are secure, and that is probably what you and Pam Lee are doing. You want her to stop winning, because perhaps you are embarrassed for your gender. If she wanted to, she could have bet way more than 400 and really crushed her opponents, but she didn’t. She is just someone who has watched Jeopardy since she was like 8 or 9 years old, and had always wanted to one day be player on the show. Good for her for making her dreams come true. GO JULIA!!
Yes, Micah, yes!
The stats speak for themselves regardless of her gender. They say to me “winning.” All winners need not use the same strategy. As Frank Sinatra sang “I did it my way.” The same goes for Julia. Her way seems to be working,
Agreed!
Dude, that was the Sex Pistols.
LOL…
The better version, in any case!
Double LOL! The BEST — Yo, Sid, that was Vicious!!
Keep it going, Julia. We are pulling for you in Moss Beach, Ca.
vj, thanks for the stats. I wondered how Julia’s winnings compared to Larissa’s winnings.
Give me Arthur Chu any day. And get this woman off the air. Someone, anyone, beat her!
Why?
WHY?? Julia Collins seems to be a sensible, respectful, humble winner, as opposed to the arrogant, rude (to Alex), conniving Chu. I am rooting for her – but my favorite still is Ken Jennings. Brad Rutter seems to be nice as well. He almost bypassed my high estimation of Ken in their latest match.
Couldn’t agree more. The limit to wins used to be just 5 games and for good reason; 5+ games is rare and incredibly commendable. on top of that considering the typical champion gets between 10-20 thousand $$ with anything above and beyond being pretty good no matter how you want to look at it. with 9 games over $20,000 and 0 games under $10,000 i should be able to speak for all of us in saying, “GO JULIA”