UPDATE: Cris Pannullo lost on “Jeopardy!” Tuesday, Dec. 6, ending a 21-game winning streak. Syracuse lawyer Ellen LaBerge will face whoever wins Thursday’s episode.
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A Syracuse lawyer may have a formidable opponent on “Jeopardy!” this week.
Ellen LaBerge, a chief legal officer at C&S Companies, will appear on the long-running game show this Friday, according to the “Jeopardy!” website. She’ll face Matthew Ott, an accountant from Boston, and whoever the returning champion is — likely Cris Pannullo, the current champion who has won 21 straight games.
Pannullo, a former professional poker player and customer service operations manager from New Jersey, won $37,421 on Monday, bringing his total prize money to $748,286. He ranks fifth among all-time “Jeopardy!” regular-season earnings and has already landed a spot in the 2023 Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions, but still has a ways to go to catch up to past champs like James Holzhauer, who won 32 games and $2.46 million in 2019; Amy Schneider, who won 40 games and $1.6 million earlier this year; and Ken Jennings, who won 74 straight games and a total of $2.52 million.
LaBerge will be at least the seventh Central New Yorker to appear on “Jeopardy!” this year. Jo Austin, a retired IT project manager from Manlius, lost to Pannullo in October. David Bzdak, a philosophy professor at Onondaga Community College, won an episode in July.
According to her LinkedIn page, LaBerge has been an attorney at C&S in Syracuse since 1997. She is a 1980 graduate of Dartmouth University and a 1983 graduate of Notre Dame Law School.
“Jeopardy!” airs weeknights at 7:30 p.m. on Fox 68 (WSYT) in the Syracuse area. LaBerge’s episode will air Friday, Dec. 9.