Roger Alan Craig (born 1977) is an American
game show
A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or Let's Play, demonstrative and are typically directed b ...
contestant and computer scientist. He held the record for highest single-day winnings on the
quiz show
A game show is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment (radio, television, internet, stage or other) where contestants compete for a reward. These programs can either be participatory or demonstrative and are typically directed by a host, sh ...
''
Jeopardy!
''Jeopardy!'' is an American game show created by Merv Griffin. The show is a quiz competition that reverses the traditional question-and-answer format of many quiz shows. Rather than being given questions, contestants are instead given genera ...
'' from September 14, 2010 (surpassing
Ken Jennings
Kenneth Wayne Jennings III (born May 23, 1974) is an American game show host, author, and former game show contestant. He is the highest-earning American game show contestant, having won money on five different game shows, including $4,522,70 ...
) to April 9, 2019 (when
James Holzhauer
James Holzhauer (born August 6, 1984) is an American game show contestant and professional sports gambler. He is the third-highest-earning American game show contestant of all time and is best known for his 32-game winning streak as champion ...
surpassed him). In 2011, Craig returned to win the
''Jeopardy!'' Tournament of Champions. In 2014, he competed in the Battle of the Decades tournament, finishing third overall behind
Brad Rutter
Bradford Gates Rutter (born January 31, 1978) is an American game show contestant, TV host, producer, and actor. With over $5.1 million in winnings, he is currently the 2nd highest-earning American game show contestant of all time, behind Ken Je ...
and
Ken Jennings
Kenneth Wayne Jennings III (born May 23, 1974) is an American game show host, author, and former game show contestant. He is the highest-earning American game show contestant, having won money on five different game shows, including $4,522,70 ...
.
Early life and career
Craig, who was 33 years old at the time of his initial ''Jeopardy!'' appearance in 2010,
[Graduate Student Roger Craig Surpasses Ken Jennings as Highest One-Day 'Jeopardy' Winner]
CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainm ...
press release, September 14, 2010 is a native of Ferndale, Pennsylvania
Ferndale is a borough in Cambria County, Pennsylvania, United States. It is part of the Johnstown, Pennsylvania Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 1,636 at the 2010 census, down from 1,834 at the 2000 census.
Geography
Ferndale i ...
. He grew up there and later in Virginia
Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, where he graduated from Annandale High School
Annandale High School is a public high school in Annandale, Virginia, United States. It is part of the Fairfax County Public Schools system.
The school's student body has been well-recognized for its high level of racial and cultural diversity ...
in 1995.["Local native winning big on 'Jeopardy!'"]
''The Tribune-Democrat'' (Johnstown, Pa.), September 15, 2010; accessed April 3, 2014.
Craig holds a first degree in biology and biochemistry
Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...
from Virginia Tech
Virginia Tech (formally the Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University and informally VT, or VPI) is a Public university, public Land-grant college, land-grant research university with its main campus in Blacksburg, Virginia. It also ...
, and a master's degree
A master's degree (from Latin ) is an academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional practice. and Ph.D. in computer science from the University of Delaware
The University of Delaware (colloquially UD or Delaware) is a public land-grant research university located in Newark, Delaware. UD is the largest university in Delaware. It offers three associate's programs, 148 bachelor's programs, 121 mas ...
. He was working on his doctorate at the time of his first appearance on ''Jeopardy!'', and completed the degree later in 2010.[
In his scholarly career, Craig has published eight papers in the field of ]bioinformatics
Bioinformatics () is an interdisciplinary field that develops methods and software tools for understanding biological data, in particular when the data sets are large and complex. As an interdisciplinary field of science, bioinformatics combi ...
, specifically on topics of combinatorial protein synthesis
Protein biosynthesis (or protein synthesis) is a core biological process, occurring inside Cell (biology), cells, homeostasis, balancing the loss of cellular proteins (via Proteolysis, degradation or Protein targeting, export) through the product ...
and protein-protein prediction.
As of November 2011, Craig was living in Newark, Delaware
Newark ( )Not as in Newark, New Jersey. is a small city in New Castle County, Delaware, New Castle County, Delaware, United States. It is located west-southwest of Wilmington, Delaware, Wilmington. According to the 2010 United States Census, ...
, and working as a computer scientist.[UD alumnus Roger Craig returns to 'Jeopardy!' for tournament]
''Newark (Delaware) Post'', November 2, 2011. He is the founder of Cotinga, a company which performs data analyses and creates learning applications for smartphones.[Jeopardy! champ uses computer skills](_blank)
by Wade Malcolm, ''Delaware News Journal'', November 30, 2011. Craig was a guest on KFC Radio of Barstool Sports
Barstool Sports is an American blog website and digital media company headquartered in New York City that produces content on sports and pop culture. Founded by David Portnoy in 2003 in Milton, Massachusetts, the company's two primary owners are ...
on August 23, 2012.
''Jeopardy!''
Preparation
Craig prepared for ''Jeopardy!'' by studying the online archive of past questions maintained on th
J! Archive website
Using data-mining and text-clustering, he identified the topics most likely to occur in game questions, then used the spaced repetition
Spaced repetition is an evidence-based learning technique that is usually performed with flashcards. Newly introduced and more difficult flashcards are shown more frequently, while older and less difficult flashcards are shown less frequently in ...
program Anki for memorization and tested himself using his own program.[Alexandra Carmichael]
"Roger Craig Wins Jeopardy Championship with Knowledge Tracking"
''Quantified Self'', November 17, 2011.
Craig played quiz bowl as a student at both Virginia Tech and the University of Delaware. Before his Jeopardy appearances, he played numerous Jeopardy scrimmage matches against his friends with quiz bowl experience.[
Craig believes his attendance at the two universities helped the most in his success:]Let's face it, for Jeopardy!, the name of the game is breadth not depth. I think the main reason both universities helped so much is that they cover just about all spheres of learning in extraordinary depth.
Appearances
Original run
Craig set his record of $77,000 on the second day of the 2010–2011 ''Jeopardy!'' season on the episode airing September 14, 2010.[ In his record-setting appearance, he had a score of $47,000 after the game's first two rounds, then wagered and won $30,000 in the Final Jeopardy! round. Prior to Craig, the single-day record of $75,000 was held by ]Ken Jennings
Kenneth Wayne Jennings III (born May 23, 1974) is an American game show host, author, and former game show contestant. He is the highest-earning American game show contestant, having won money on five different game shows, including $4,522,70 ...
. Craig lost to North Carolina sportswriter
Sports journalism is a form of writing that reports on matters pertaining to sporting topics and competitions. Sports journalism started in the early 1800s when it was targeted to the social elite and transitioned into an integral part of the n ...
Jelisa Castrodale in his seventh appearance. He had the lead going into the Final Jeopardy! round, in the category "Sports and the Media". Castrodale won when she gave the correct response to the Final Jeopardy question about the winner of the 2010 Super Bowl
Super Bowl XLIV was an American football game between the National Football Conference (NFC) champions New Orleans Saints and the American Football Conference (AFC) champions Indianapolis Colts to decide the National Football League (NFL) champ ...
, while Craig gave an incorrect response, finishing third behind Castrodale and police officer Matt Martin.
In his seven-day run, Craig earned $231,200, all except $1,000 of which was from winning episodes. This total was the sixth-highest amount of money won non-tournament on the show, ranking Craig behind Ken Jennings
Kenneth Wayne Jennings III (born May 23, 1974) is an American game show host, author, and former game show contestant. He is the highest-earning American game show contestant, having won money on five different game shows, including $4,522,70 ...
, Julia Collins, David Madden, Arthur Chu
Arthur Chu (born January 30, 1984) is an American columnist and former contestant on ''Jeopardy!'', a Television syndication, syndicated U.S. game show. Chu first became known for the unusual style of play he adopted during his eleven-game winni ...
, and Austin Rogers.["Pricey day at 'Pardy'"]
''New York Post
The ''New York Post'' (''NY Post'') is a conservative daily tabloid newspaper published in New York City. The ''Post'' also operates NYPost.com, the celebrity gossip site PageSix.com, and the entertainment site Decider.com.
It was established ...
'', September 22, 2010.
On April 9, 2019, professional sports gambler James Holzhauer
James Holzhauer (born August 6, 1984) is an American game show contestant and professional sports gambler. He is the third-highest-earning American game show contestant of all time and is best known for his 32-game winning streak as champion ...
broke Craig's single-day record, surpassing it 15 more times during his own run; the record now stands at $131,127 as of April 17, 2019. Holzhauer, like Craig, relied on aggressive Daily Double and Final Jeopardy! wagers to amass his totals. Holzhauer also surpassed Craig's records for most earnings won in a player's first five games and the largest successful bet on a Daily Double.
Tournament play
In 2011, Craig returned for the Tournament of Champions, which aired in November. In the quarter-final match, he had $200 shy of $40,000 going into Final Jeopardy! and won despite losing $20,200 after getting Final Jeopardy! wrong. In the semi-final match, described as "a bloody, epic, inter-planetary death match... the Jeopardy! equivalent of a title-unification fight", Craig beat college physics professor Joon Pahk and student and waiter Mark Runsvold, the sixth and tenth regular-play all-time money winners on the show at the time. On the first night of the two-day finals, Craig became the first player in the history of the show to uncover two Daily Double items in succession, wager all of his money on both, and win both times.
When Craig hit the first of his back-to-back Daily Doubles, he wagered his entire pot of $9,000, and won when he correctly identified Anne Brontë
Anne Brontë (, commonly ; 17 January 1820 – 28 May 1849) was an English novelist and poet, and the youngest member of the Brontë literary family.
Anne Brontë was the daughter of Maria (born Branwell) and Patrick Brontë, a poor Irish cl ...
as the author who wrote the 1847 book ''Agnes Grey
''Agnes Grey, A Novel'' is the debut novel of English author Anne Brontë (writing under the pen name of "Acton Bell"), first published in December 1847, and republished in a second edition in 1850. The novel follows Agnes Grey, a governess, as ...
'' under the pseudonym 'Acton Bell'. After switching categories and uncovering the second daily double, Craig wagered his entire pot of $18,000, winning when he correctly answered, "What is Suriname
Suriname (; srn, Sranankondre or ), officially the Republic of Suriname ( nl, Republiek Suriname , srn, Ripolik fu Sranan), is a country on the northeastern Atlantic coast of South America. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north ...
?" after being given the clue "Although Dutch is the official language, Sranan Tongo
Sranan Tongo (also Sranantongo "Surinamese tongue," Sranan, Surinaams, Surinamese, Surinamese Creole) is an English-based creole language that is spoken as a ''lingua franca'' by approximately 550,000 people in Suriname.
Developed originally amo ...
is spoken by most people in this South American country." At the time, his $18,000 win was the largest successful Daily Double wager in the show's history.
Craig won the Tournament of Champions. In the finals, he defeated systems engineer Buddy Wright and writer Tom Nissley (the latter being the show's fourth highest all-time non-tournament money winner), to win the grand prize of $250,000.[Aubrey Cohen]
"Seattle's Tom Nissley wins $100,000 on 'Jeopardy'"
Seattle's Big Blog, SeattlePI.com, November 15, 2011.
Craig returned for the ''Jeopardy!'' Battle of the Decades tournament on April 1, 2014, as part of the 2000s Week. Facing chemical engineer Vijay Balse (2010 Tournament of Champions winner) and history professor Stephanie Jass, he defeated Balse by $1 and advanced to the quarterfinals. Craig won in the quarterfinals on May 5, facing off against instructional designer and curriculum developer Robin Carroll (2000 Tournament of Champions winner) and "shovel bum" Leszek Pawlowicz (1992 Tournament of Champions winner). Craig then defeated then-world history teacher Colby Burnett
Colby Burnett is the first ''Jeopardy!'' contestant to have won both the Teachers Tournament and the Tournament of Champions. Burnett, who at the time was a teacher at Fenwick High School in Oak Park, Illinois, won the Teachers Tournament in ...
(Fall 2012 Teachers Tournament and 2013 Tournament of Champions winner) and graduate student Pam Mueller (Fall 2000 College Championship winner) in the semifinals and advanced to the finals where he placed third. Craig was hurt in the finals by two "True Daily Double" wagers, one on each day of the two-day final, in which he risked $10,200 and responded incorrectly both times.
Craig later appeared in the 2019 All-Star Games with team captain Austin Rogers and 2013 Teen Tournament winner Leonard Cooper. His team went home with $75,000 after losing in the wild card match.
Records
During his ''Jeopardy!'' appearances, Craig set the following records:
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Craig, Roger
1970s births
People from Cambria County, Pennsylvania
People from Annandale, Virginia
University of Delaware alumni
Virginia Tech alumni
Jeopardy! contestants
Living people
American computer scientists
Scientists from Virginia
Annandale High School alumni