Yogesh Raut of Vancouver, Washington, a strong contender on “Jeopardy Masters,” faced an unexpected loss in the episode aired on the evening of May 13, 2024.
Before the episode, Raut, a cognitive and behavioral scientist, securely held the second spot on the “Jeopardy Masters” leaderboard. His strong position led audiences to expect his triumph over co-players Amy Schneider and Mattea Roach in the tenth game of the three-week tournament. But the results proved to be unpredictable.
Although Raut’s performance was remarkable, Schneider and Roach also shone brightly. When “Double Jeopardy” started, Schneider, an Oakland, California-based writer, held the top spot, Raut was in second place, and Roach, a Toronto, Ontario, Canada-based writer and podcaster, was in third.
During “Double Jeopardy,” Raut briefly held the lead. However, Roach’s ability to win the “Daily Double” twice allowed them to surpass him. As they moved into “Final Jeopardy,” the scores were neck and neck: Roach was in the lead with 20,400 points, Raut was close behind with 17,200, and Schneider had 9,800.
Ken Jennings, the host, announced the “Final Jeopardy” category as “Anagrams.” The challenging clue was, “One is a procedure foundational to computer science; the other was made in large part obsolete by computers.”
This turned out to be one of the most challenging “Final Jeopardy” questions of the tournament. Schneider risked 7,401 points and ended up with 2,399. Raut risked all and fell to zero. Roach, who seemed unsure, also failed to answer correctly. Jennings revealed the answer: “algorithm and logarithm.”
Jennings light-heartedly commented, “Sheesh, make it hard, why don’t you, ‘Jeopardy Masters!’”
Roach bet 14,001 points, bringing their total down to 6,399, which was enough to secure their first win of the season.
In Game 9, Victoria Groce, a writer and television personality from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, competed against James Holzhauer, the self-titled “Final Boss” of “Jeopardy!” from Las Vegas, and Matt Amodio, a quantitative researcher from New York.
Having entered the game at the top of the “Jeopardy Masters” leaderboard, Groce maintained her position with another victory. Entering “Final Jeopardy,” Groce held an impressive 46,000 points, Holzhauer had 19,600, and Amodio had 2,200.
The “Final Jeopardy” category was “Around the World.” The clue was, “Almost twice the size of Texas but with the population of Lubbock, this part of Australia rejected statehood in a 1998 referendum.”
All three players answered correctly with “Northern Territory of Australia.” Amodio bet zero, maintaining his 2,200 points. Holzhauer wagered 11,914 points, taking his total to 31,514. Groce added 4,000 points, bringing her final score to an impressive 50,000—the highest in the 2024 tournament.
Currently, Groce leads the “Jeopardy Masters” leaderboard, followed by Raut, Holzhauer, Schneider, Roach, and Amodio.
The games continued with Games 11 and 12 of “Jeopardy Masters” on May 15.