2024 Jeopardy Masters Recap: After The Controversy The Game Takes Center Stage
Part 1: Introduction and Day 1 Recap
The path to the 2024 Jeopardy Masters has been problematic, to say the least. First we’ve had to go through the long, seemingly endless Bataan death march to go through the Jeopardy postseason just to get to the Tournament of Champions. Much of this was, as we all know, brought on by the stubbornness of the producers to go on with Season 40 despite the strike as well as the decision to expand the field all the way up to 27 competitors.
After the season was nearly half over we finally got to the Tournament of Champions. While that was thrilling from beginning to end, for understandable reasons many fans were not happy with the player who ended up winning. Yogesh Raut, the three-day Jeopardy champion who had controversially blasted both the show and the players after his original run back in February of 2022 had been invited back to compete. Offered a chance to apologize, he remained unrepentant. Then he managed to climb all the way to the cop and win a thrilling six-game final to become the winner of the Tournament of Champions. Despite his incredible play, Jeopardy fans didn’t easily forgive.
Then the first ever Jeopardy Invitational Tournament took place with the winner coming back to compete in the Masters. The three players who had been eliminated: Amy Schneider, Andrew He and Sam Buttrey, were among those invited back along with 24 other players who were more than qualified. However as first the quarterfinals and then the semi-finals took place with none of these three former Masters competing against each other fans and even some competitors were irked by this, particularly as it seemed likely that we might end up with a rematch between the three finalists in the 2022 Tournament of Champions. That didn’t happen as Victoria Groce, known more for her role as ‘The Queen’ on The Chase then her one game victory back in 2005 (even though that victory had been over 19 game winner and fellow invitee David Madden) first defeated Sam Buttrey and then prevailed over both Amy and Andrew to earn a spot in the Masters.
Then two weeks ago the final blow came. For months we had been told that the final spot would be filled with a ‘producer’s choice’ that would be name after the Jeopardy Invitational Tournament took place. At a live event in Hudson Yards, the producers announced that the final spot would go to…Amy Schneider, who had finished second in the Invitational. This led to a firestorm on the internet, as most fans had speculated it would be someone who had not participated in the Invitational that had just happened but someone who had been withheld — possibly Brad Rutter, the biggest money winner in Jeopardy history. Many thought this rendered the entire purpose of the Invitational moot. Michael Davies did nothing to improve the optics by saying after the announcement that he knew the fans would be outraged but he didn’t care because it was his job to come up with what was best for the show’s ratings. No one applauded at the time these remarks and his attitude led to a torrent of abuse from those came fans for his entire cavalier attitude. (This was a bridge too far for me, and I have called for his resignation)
But all of this remains irrelevant now that the 2024 Masters is upon us. The fact remains four of the greatest Jeopardy players of all time are going head to head against two newcomers to the field. And we know that the second time around is going to be tougher in the first. Can we match the same expectations as before? Can this new blood keep up with this new talent? And of course the big question: who would win this time?
The format, as they reviewed as Ken Jennings walked us through in the beginning of the Tournament, begins with the first six episode each featuring twelve matches in which all six players will face off. Success is measured in match points. The winner gets three match points, second place gets one, third place gets zero. Therefore the usual strategies of trying to win not apply and wagering is important even in runaway games. This became all too clear in almost every quarterfinal match James Holzhauer participated in.
After each episode, the winners of the first two quarterfinals compete against each other in the second quarterfinal game of the next episode. The winners of the two quarterfinals in that match then compete against each other in the third match and so on. (It is hard to find a pattern in the first matches of each successive game; I was unable to find one.)
After 12 games the four players with the highest number of match points move on to the semi-finals. Here we have four games following the same format, and again the three players with the most match points go into the finals. (In case of a tie, as was the case last year, the tiebreaker is the player who gave the most correct responses in the three games involved: this put Mattea Roach in the finals over Andrew He.) The final is a two-game total point affair, with the winner getting half a million dollars. Second place gets $250,000; third place $100,000. All three players return for the following Masters.
I should note going into my recaps that the most controversial decision of the Masters — revealing to the audience the location of the Daily Doubles in each round — was removed this year. I guess most fans were outraged at the idea and the producers listened.
So let’s start the recap with the first two games.
May 1, 2024: The Queen Rules And The Final Boss is Beaten
If we had any doubt this would be a whole new ballgame going in, the tone was set on the first match. I imagine many were questioning how the new blood: Victoria Groce and Yogesh Raut would prove themselves against four of the greatest players of all time. In each of their respective appearances, they staked their claims very quickly and impressively.
Match 1 put Victoria against Mattea and Matt. Mattea found the Daily Double on their first pick but that was the only sign in both games that the Masters were picking off right where they ended last year. Mattea ended up getting it wrong and starting in the red. Victoria jumped into the lead with 5000 points to Mattea’s 3400 and Matt’s 3200, so all three players started out basically dead-even. But in Double Jeopardy Victoria went on a tear early in the round putting both Mattea and Matt at a disadvantage. By the time Matt found the first Daily Double he had 8000 points to Victoria’s 16,600 so betting everything was really his only option
“In 1873 Helen Blanchard received a patent for one of these that could zigzag.” Matt struggled and guessed scissors rather than sewing machine.
By the time Victoria found the other Daily Double not long after she already had 20,200 points and just needed to put some distance. She wagered 7000 points in a new category AARON BURR & FRIENDS. (Each response involved a person who, like Aaron Burr, had their names start with 2 consecutive letters of the alphabet.)
“In 1877 Congress commissioned the Electoral Commission after he got 184 electoral votes but needed 185; it did not end well for him.” Victoria knew it was Samuel Tilden (he lost the Presidential election to Rutherford Hayes and her lead was now insurmountable. Victoria’s performance was at Masters level: 26 correct responses just one incorrect one.
At the end of Double Jeopardy not only had Victoria run away with the game with 31, 600 points, we already knew who was going to finish second and third with Matt at 800 and Mattea at 7400. All three players could therefore have turned Final Jeopardy into a joke but as a credit to all three, they all took it seriously.
The Final Jeopardy category was LATIN SCIENCE TERMS: “In 1694 the latest in bio-knowledge was Tournefort’s ‘Elements of Botany’ listing 698 of these, like ambrosia and chrysanthemum.” Matt was the only player who knew the correct response: “What is genus?” Mattea thought it was Flora and Victoria thought it was species. Finishing her response with her trademark Hi Nora! And a heart symbol, Victoria drew first blood with 3 match points.
James Holzhauer was facing off against Yogesh and Amy in Match 2. But whereas Holzhauer went in claiming he was the final boss of Jeopardy; Yogesh got the last laugh by trouncing him. If James Holzhauer was Bowser, Yogesh was the unlikely Mario.
There were signs early on this would not be business as usual. All three players got off to an even start in the Jeopardy round but when James got to a Daily Double and once again bet all his chips, this time it didn’t go his way. The category was THE LIBRARY OF CONGRESS: ‘loc.gov gives access to a huge collection of this, printed documents of transitory value intended to be thrown away. James thought it was rubbish rather than ephemera. He lost everything and finished the Jeopardy round in third place with 3000 points to Amy’s 3400 and Yogesh’s 7800.
Within two clues in Double Jeopardy Yogesh had made Double Jeopardy almost entirely his own. With 9400 points he bet everything in AUTHOR’S FICTIONAL PLACES. He knew that Eastwick, Rhode Island was a location of John Updike and very quickly had 18,800 points. Amy and James spent the entire round trying to catch up to Yogesh. And neither had anything resembling a chance. When Yogesh found the Daily Double in the category KERNEL OF THE CLUE ( a category that was already given everybody agita) he wisely chose to bet only 5 points and lost just that. Yogesh finished Double Jeopardy with 26,395 points to James’ 10,200 points and Amy’s 7000. Yogesh had become not only the second player to defeat James but the first time since the GOAT in 2020 where James had been on the losing side of a runaway game. (Ken Jennings was kind enough not to rub it in that day. He might bring it up later.)
All three players, just as in Game 1, took Final Jeopardy seriously though in James’ and Amy’s case they both had too, considering second place was up for grabs. The Final Jeopardy category was WORLD HERITAGE SITES. “This entire world capital is a world heritage site ‘linked to the history of the military and charitable order of St. John of Jerusalem.” All three players knew the correct response: “What is Valletta?” (the capital of Malta) None of them could agree on the spelling. James was the only player to bet anything — 3010 points — in order to ensure he would have second place.
LEADERBOARD AFTER DAY 1
Victoria Groce — 3
Yogesh Raut — 3
James Holzhauer — 1
Mattea Roach — 1
Matt Amodio -0
Amy Schneider — 0
The tiebreaker for first is based on correct responses. Victoria gave 26; Yogesh 24.
I should mention the spirit de corps that was part of the original Masters was on full display here as much as before. Victoria was overjoyed to be playing among the greats; Matt mentioned how much he’d enjoyed the Jeopardy Invitational Tournament but how terrified he’d been about the winner; Mattea expressed appreciation for the entire group considering how bad things were during last year’s Masters (their father had passed away). James welcomed his father as an attendee and again revealed the whole ‘game show villain’ thing is a façade; he was the first to shake Yogesh’s hand after losing and mocked himself by saying that his father had admonished him for wagering in Final Jeopardy in the climatic match.
And Amy did address the elephant in the room during her introduction: “I came into the Jeopardy Invitational Tournament not even thinking about Masters because I just came away disappointed with myself and I was just there to get my confidence back. But then I didn’t win, and I didn’t qualify to get into this. And I do think I belong here and I’m grateful for the opportunity…But it also feels like it gives me a little bit something more to prove, that I didn’t earn my way back in the same way that the other contestants did.”
Credit to Amy for not only dealing with this situation with dignity but putting the onus back on Michael Davies for putting her in this situation to begin with. I didn’t think I could love her more.
I’ll be back with the next blow by blow after the next two games once we have gotten a clearer picture of what we see next. It looks like we’re already in for a hell of a ride.