Ballard's Jeopardy! star, Tom Nissley, won $100,000 as the second place winner in the 2011 “Jeopardy!” Tournament of Champions. Nissley earned a spot in the finals after competing in a series of impressive games against some of the show’s recent top players.

“I really didn't expect to do so well. Getting into the finals was all I really hoped for… That and making a respectable showing – if only to prove that my original run wasn’t just a fluke!” he added jokingly.

Nissley spent weeks studying for the competition and reviewing various statistics and facts. However, there was one subject Nissley wished he would have studied more. “I actually groaned as soon as I saw the category about Bond girls. I thought about reviewing their names before the competition, but decided it wasn't worth it. Then there it was – right in one of my games,” he said.

Besides studying, Nissley focused on developing a strategy to play the tournament. “My top strategy was to not guess on any clues. This helped me out the most last time I played, and I think I did a good job again staying off the buzzer,” he said. “I also tried to bet aggressively if I was confident in the category. Though, unfortunately, I didn’t have too many chances this time to land on the Daily Doubles.”

Nissley first appeared on Jeopardy! in December 2010, amassing an eight-day total of $235,405, making him the third highest-winning contestant ever in the history of the quiz show (excluding tournaments), right behind all-time Jeopardy! champ Ken Jennings ($2,520,700) and David Madden ($430,400). Since first appearing on the show, Nissley’s life has changed significantly. “Thanks to Jeopardy! I’ve been able to do something I’ve wanted to do my entire life – focus on becoming a full-time writer,” he said. Besides supporting his writing career, Nissley hopes to use some of his earnings to help his wife start a small business and support several nonprofits.

Nissley competed in the two-day final competition against Roger Craig, a computer scientist from Newark, Del., and Buddy Wright, an operations engineer from Fort Worth, Texas. Craig finished first in the tournament, winning $250,000, and Wright finished third, pocketing $50,000. The six players eliminated in the semifinals each took home $10,000; players eliminated in the first round received $5,000.