Strong play, smart bets earns Cris Pannullo 'Jeopardy!' win streak, tournament spot

A South Jersey man has won his way in to the "Jeopardy!" Tournament of Champions and will next year go head-to-head with 18 other players in hopes of winning a $250,000 grand prize.

Of course, those winnings would be on top of the more than $160,000 — and counting — Cris Pannullo has already collected from the hit trivia game show.

Pannullo, an Ocean City resident, secured his sixth consecutive win on "Jeopardy!" automatically qualifying for quarterfinal play in next season's Tournament of Champions. (The current season tourney is already set, with episodes of the two-week contest to begin airing Oct. 31.)

While Pannullo has not yet been available for comment, he has amassed a total of $161,859 over the course of his current televised run. His guaranteed spot in the tournament, which pits the season's best players against one another, was secured with his fifth consecutive win on Thursday night.

He added a sixth victory in the episode that aired Friday night, carrying a $10,000 lead into Final Jeopardy.

The latest Jeopardy winner has come a long way since beginning his winning streak Sept. 30, and is even being compared to James Holzhauer, who leads the game show in all-time single winnings. Host Ken Jennings, who owns the game's record for most consecutive wins, compared the two after noticing Pannullo and Holzhauer, both avid poker players, employee similar game-play strategies.

Before "Jeopardy!", Pannullo was also on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?” in 2018, winning a total of $5,000.

Related:Now five wins in, New Jersey's Cris Pannullo could be the next 'Jeopardy!' super champ

Though Pannullo will not be on this season's Tournament of Champions, the competition is impressive nonetheless. Amy Schneider, Matt Amadio, and Mattea Roach, are the top three seeded players heading into the upcoming season of Tournament of Champions each with more than 20 consecutive Jeopardy wins.

Also amongst the competition is Philadelphia resident Ryan Long with a total of 16 wins, earning him $299,400.

Pannullo isn't the first South Jersey resident to make a name for themselves on Jeopardy. In 2021, Williamstown resident Kevin Walsh became a semi-finalist in the Tournament of Champions.

At the moment, there are three contestants, including Pannullo, who are eligible for the next season of Tournament of Champions. According to Jeopardy's website, all 4-time and over winning players will be eligible for the Tournament of Champions.

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In response to Jennings confirmation that he would be moving on to the Tournament of champions Pannullo said "That's incredible, hopefully by then the flights are a little cheaper." Jennings reassured Pannullo that he will be flown out by the show.

Pannullo's next appearance is Monday at 7 p.m. on ABC.

Nicolette White is the Diversity and Inclusion reporter for the Burlington County Times, The Daily Journal and Courier-Post. She is a Temple University graduate with Dallas, Texas roots. Send tips to nwhite@gannett.com and follow her on Twitter @nicolettejwhite. Please support local journalism with a digital subscription.

This article originally appeared on Burlington County Times: Cris Pannullo qualifies for 'Jeopardy!' tournament