Game play

Each day, there are three contestants, one of whom is usually the winner from the previous show. (Before 2003, Five-time winners were retired; now, there is no winnings limit.)

The show consists of three rounds. The first one is called just "Jeopardy!", or rarely "Single Jeopardy!". The game focuses on a game board (before 1979, it was a grid of pull cards; since 1984, it is a video wall) containing six columns and five rows of trivia "answers" or "clues". Each column is a topical category, and categories change on each show. Each category has five questions, which are worth certain amounts:

• 1963-1975: $10, $20, $30, $40, $50
• 1978-1979: $25, $50, $75, $100, $125
• 1984-2001: $100, $200, $300, $400, $500
• 2001-now: $200, $400, $600, $800, $1000

The second round, "Double Jeopardy!", works like the first round, with the following exceptions:

• The categories are different.
• The value of each clue is double what it was in the first round:
  • 1963-1975: $20, $40, $60, $80, $100
  • 1978-1979: $50, $100, $150, $200, $250
  • 1984-2001: $200, $400, $600, $800, $1000
  • 2001-now: $400, $800, $1200, $1600, $2000
• The contestant with the lowest amount of money at the end of the first round picks first in the second round.

One of the spots on the board is a "Daily Double", which only the contestant who selected it is allowed to respond to. They can wager as much as the maximum amount of a clue on the board or as much as they have accumulated, if that is more; the minimum wager is $5. In the first "Jeopardy!" round, if a player has less than {$50, $125, $500, or $1000, depending on the era}, they may risk up to that amount. In "Double Jeopardy!", there are two Daily Doubles; if a player has less than {$100, $250, $1000, or $2000}, the may risk up to that amount.

The third round is "Final Jeopardy!". Contestants with zero or negative scores are not allowed to participate in Final Jeopardy! and automatically win the third-place (and possibly second-place) prize. Alex first announces the category, and the contestants risk as little as $0 or as much money as they have accumulated, by writing it on a card (before 1979) or electronic drawing board (since 1984). Then the clue is revealed. Contestants have 30 seconds to write a response on a card/electronic drawing board, again phrased in the form of a question.

The contestant who wins the most money is the day's champion and usually returns the next day. Before 1979, all contestants won their winnings in cash; since 1984, only the champion wins the amount of money accumulated on the show, and the other two contestants win consolation prizes. If more than one contestant ties for first place, they all win the money and come back. If there is a tie in a tournament, a tiebreaker question is played, but this is extremely rare. The most it is theoretically possible to win on the show in one day is $566,400 with the clues at their present value. However, that would involve getting each question correct, picking the daily doubles last in each round, having all the Daily Doubles be under the lowest-valued spaces (which they almost never are), wagering everything for each Daily Double, and again wagering everything in Final Jeopardy!.

In previous seasons, if a contestant won 5 days in a row, they retired undefeated, won a car, and were guaranteed a spot in the next Tournament of Champions.