South Jersey ‘Jeopardy!’ champ Cris Pannullo is quietly dominating

Cris Pannullo has quietly become one of the most successful Jeopardy! contestants of all time.

The New Jersey native and Ocean City resident won again Thursday night, besting an English professor from New York and a product manager from Canada for his 19th straight victory. So far he’s earned $666,744, the fifth-most regular-season winnings in the history of the show.

And he shows no sign of slowing down.

Flashing his trademark thumbs-up before the game, Pannullo won a tighter match than usual Thursday night because he missed out on both Daily Doubles during the Double Jeopardy round. But he guessed correctly during Final Jeopardy and had enough of a lead to eke out a narrow victory.

Pannullo, 38, grew up in Brick Township in Ocean County, according to his uncle, Mike Glaser. He said Pannullo was always a smart kid who could read fluently at a young age and would make his own crossword puzzles.

“Cris is just on a different level with his intelligence,” said Glaser, who noted Pannullo is more laid-back and down-to-earth in person compared with what comes across on the show.

“People think he’s a brain, that he has no personality,” Glaser said. “He is so much better in real life than he is on Jeopardy! as far as his personality goes.”

Pannullo hasn’t done many interviews during his Jeopardy! run and was not available to speak with The Inquirer. He has revealed some details about his life through short anecdotes given on the show, including eating the same lunch every day from the studio’s commissary and being encouraged to apply by his longtime girlfriend, who also acts as his Jeopardy! coach.

He also explained what his puzzling job title — customer success operations manager — really means.

“Basically, I work in operations on behalf of the customer success or account management department, making their jobs easier, putting processes in place so that it allows us to scale up,” Pannullo said during a show last month.

“Customer success is a fun, Pollyanna way to say account management,” Jeopardy! host and former contestant Ken Jennings responded. “I now understand perfectly.”

Pannullo’s favorite movie? Mel Brooks’ 1987 Star Wars spoof, Spaceballs.

“I have seen it more than all of the actual Star Wars movies combined, and that makes sense because it’s better than all the actual Star Wars movies combined,” Pannullo said on Wednesday’s show.

The Schwartz is definitely with him. In addition to his winnings, his 19-game winning streak is tied for the seventh longest in Jeopardy! history, and he has easily qualified for next year’s Tournament of Champions. Many, including Jennings, have compared his style of play to James Holzhauer, the former Jeopardy! champ who raked in $2.6 million during his 32-game run in 2019.

Like Holzhauer, Pannullo is a former professional poker player. He put himself through college at SUNY Geneseo in western New York with his winnings, according to his uncle.

“I’m not as good as James Holzhauer,” Pannullo told Jennings during an October show.

Long winning streaks have become more common on Jeopardy! Two of the top five winning streaks in the history of the show happened last season, with Amy Schneider winning 40 straight games and Mattea Roach lasting 23 games. Philly Uber driver Ryan Long had a 16-game winning streak last season.

During a recent episode of the Inside Jeopardy! podcast, longtime producer Sarah Foss came up with a nickname for contestants defeated by Pannullo.

“Something does happen to the challengers when we get into these big runs,” Foss said. “People … they’re just excited to play against a super champion. They’re like, I get to say ‘I was Pannullo’d!’”

Pannullo will defend his streak Friday against two more challengers — Josh Gregor, a teacher from Grand Rapids, Mich., and Ilana Freedman, an occupational therapy assistant from New Orleans.

This isn’t Pannullo’s first attempt at televised trivia stardom, but it’s easily his most successful. In 2018, he appeared on Who Wants To Be a Millionaire?, but only took home $5,000 after missing the $7,000 question.

Jeopardy! began its 39th season on Sept. 12, and Jennings — a former champion who won a record 74 straight games in 2004 — is hosting until January. He is once again splitting duties this season with actress Mayim Bialik.