Jeopardy champion Brad Rutter spills on how he ‘memorised’ winning answers

Brad Rutter has spoken on the three main categories he memorised to secure his title as Jeopardy’s reigning champion. 

During the show’s 2020’s Greatest of All-Time Tournament, Brad competed alongside fellow champs Ken Jennings and James Holzhauer.

Although Ken walked away with the victory, it was the first time the host had defeated Brad in their years of competing, while James finished as runner-up

While he didn’t win the competition, Brad currently remained at the top of the leaderboard for all-time winnings. 

As the 45-year-old is the highest-earning contestant with a total of $4,938,436, he has lifted the lid on his achievement. 

During an interview with Tyler Boroniski, Brad advised contestants to get familiar with three categories that come up a lot on the show.

He stated: “There is a lot of stuff that comes up all the time… there are some things you can memorize.

“You can be pretty confident that at least one of them is going to come up in some way. And that is Presidents, World Capitals, and Shakespeare.”

The former champ suggested hopefuls should know all the US Presidents by number in order and every capital on the planet.

Brad added that trying to get a basic knowledge of all the Shakespeare play titles with characters will give you a “big advantage going in”.

However, the host also noted that the buzzer is something contestants will have to get used to as he remarked there’s “nothing else quite like the Jeopardy buzzer”.

Unlike the questions, he stated there was no real way to prepare or practice for the buzzer. 

“The returning champion has a big advantage every show just because they have played at least one full game with that buzzer, and the other two people haven’t,” he shared.

Since Brad’s success on the beloved game show, he has become one of five chasers on ABC’s The Chase alongside former Jeopardy rival James.

Highlighting the differences, the star admitted things are more laid-back. 

He told the NY Post: “Backstage on The Chase, we’re just joking around and having fun and making fun of each other. 

“On The Chase, I get paid either way. I’m still answering trivia questions, but I just want to get into a good frame of mind and banter with host Sarah [Haines] and the contestants, as opposed to Jeopardy! which is so intense on every clue.”