By MADDY VITALE
Cris Pannullo confidently flashed a thumbs-up, which wasn’t all bluster because Tuesday night, the Ocean City resident breezed through his third straight Jeopardy win.
Pannullo, a customer success operations manager in Ocean City, easily outdistanced his two opponents, bringing his total winnings to $83,458.
From correct answers like Silly Putty, Slinky and kayak, to the Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art, it seemed whatever the Jeopardy category, if Pannullo hit the buzzer, he got it right on an array of topics.
Jeopardy host Ken Jennings called Pannullo’s three-day earnings “impressive.” He also noted Pannullo’s lucky streak when it came to hitting the Daily Doubles, while wagering a lofty sum on each question to up his earnings.
On one Daily Double, he calmly wagered $4,600 and correctly answered a question about the popular Hot Wheels toy cars.
The final Jeopardy clue left all three contestants stumped under the category: Asian Country Names.
Like the T-U-V in Tuvalu, this landlocked country has three consecutive letters in its English name in alphabetic sequence.
The answer was Afghanistan.
That brought Pannullo down from $35,300 in winnings Tuesday night to $20,079 after wagering $15,221 on the final clue and answering incorrectly.
Jennings noted that Pannullo not only responded correctly to all three Daily Doubles, but also had many other correct responses for another “runaway game.”
Pannullo said during the opening of the show that he and his girlfriend enjoy watching Jeopardy and trying to guess the answers before they are said on the air.
Pannullo returns to Jeopardy Wednesday, Oct. 5, at 7 p.m. on Channel 6.
The three-day Jeopardy winner will face challengers Tory Martin of Grand Rapids, Michigan, a communications and fundraising director, and Francis Gomes, of Tottenham, Ontario, a quality assurance technologist.
For more information, visit the official Jeopardy website at www.jeopardy.com
