Ocean City, NJ Jeopardy! Champ Returns for Tournament of Champions

Ocean City's Cris Punnullo will finally get the chance to prove he is one of the game's all-time greats when he appears on the 2024 Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions, which begins Friday night.

 Pannullo Waits A Year for His Chance at Tournament of Champions

Ocean City's Jeopardy! sensation never had the opportunity to play in last year's Tournament of Champions, which was eventually canceled because of the lingering WGA writer's strike.

Pannullo was one of the first to say he would not cross the picket line to appear in the Tournament of Champions while the WGA strike was in effect.

Well, the strike is over and it's time to make up for lost time for Cris and the 26 other contestants taking part in the TOC, making it the largest playing field ever.

Pannullo will begin his tournament campaign on Monday, Feb. 26, by facing Ben Goldstein, a 5-game champion from Michigan, and Jared Watson, a 3-game champion from Texas.

Pannullo Has Voiced Some Apprehension about Jeopardy! Tourney

Pannullo has said he is "sort of dreading" facing some of the talented players in the tournament. He has the most consecutive wins by far of any of the competitors, followed by Ray Lalonde, a 13-game champion from Toronto.

Speaking about the tourney on the "Inside Jeopardy!" podcast in 2023, Cris said, "I know it'll be harder this time because everyone out there is really, really good, and I'm looking forward to the challenge. I think there are some incremental improvements I can make, and I'll hopefully make those."

A Recap on Cris Pannullo's Amazing Jeopardy! Win Streak

Pannullo, a customer success operation manager and former poker player, won 21 straight games for the sixth-longest streak overall and earned an amazing $748,286!

Cris Pannullo is a former poker player who grew up in Brick Twp, Ocean County, and relocated to Ocean City with his longtime girlfriend.

The 2024 Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions

The upcoming tournament includes the players who won the most games since the last Tournament of Champions in 2022. There was no Tournament of Champions in 2023, due to the Writers Guild of America strike.

It also features six players who advanced out of the most recent Champions Wildcard competitions, the winners of the "Jeopardy!" High School Reunion Tournament and "Celebrity Jeopardy!"

Players will compete across nine quarterfinal games, three semifinals, and a "best of seven" finals series. The overall winner will claim the $250,000 grand prize and an invitation to compete in the upcoming "Jeopardy! Masters" event.

The "Jeopardy!" Tournament of Champions quarterfinal round kicks off at 7 pm. Friday on 6ABC.