New ‘Jeopardy!’ Champion Is from Ocean City, NJ [VIDEO]
If you watched "America's favorite quiz show, Jeopardy!" on Friday evening, you may have recognized a familiar face.
Cris Pannullo, an Ocean City man, played a strong tactical game and won Friday's Jeopardy! with one-day total winnings of $29,579.
His competitors Friday on the syndicated game show were the previous four-day winner, David Sibley, an Episcopal priest from Walla Walla, Washington, who earned $78,098 on the show, and Pam Warren, a high school science teacher from Petersburg, Illinois.
Pannullo works as a customer success operations manager. Early in the game, Cris revealed he had previously been a professional poker player for a few years and showed a gambler's style by wagering $7000 on a Daily Double and winning to take control of the game.
That set up an intense Final Jeopardy in the category “Before They Were Authors”.
The final clue read: “While working for British intelligence during World War II, he was codenamed 17F.”
The correct answer to the question was Ian Fleming. Both of Pannullo's competitors knew the correct answer
David Sibley only bet $3, ending the game with $4003.
Pam Warren's bet of $14,000 gave her a final score of $27,995. Chris, who was leading with $29,800 going into the final round, gave the incorrect final answer of "Orwell", but won the game dramatically by only having bet $221.
Pannullo's final winning of $29,579 was enough to hold off Warren, who finished with $27,995.
Phillyvoice.com reports that isn't the first time Chris Pannullo has appeared on a televised quiz show. In 2018, Pannullo appeared on "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" He left with $5,000 after missing a $7,000 question.
Chris Pannullo will be back on the next taped episode of Jeopardy!, Monday, Oct 3 at 7 pm on ABC to defend his title as Jeopardy! champion.