In a dramatic twist on “Jeopardy Masters,” Vancouver, Washington’s Yogesh Raut, who seemed to be on an unstoppable winning streak, faced an unforeseen defeat in the episode that aired Monday evening, May 13, 2024.
Going into that episode, cognitive and behavioral scientist Raut was securely in second place on the “Jeopardy Masters” leaderboard. This led many viewers to anticipate his victory over fellow contestants Amy Schneider and Mattea Roach in Game 10 of the three-week tournament. However, the outcome was far from predictable.
Raut’s performance was impressive, but Schneider and Roach also excelled. By the time “Double Jeopardy” began, Schneider, a writer from Oakland, California, was in first place, Raut held second, and Roach, a writer and podcaster from Toronto, Ontario, Canada was in third.
During “Double Jeopardy,” Raut briefly took the lead. However, Roach’s success in winning the “Daily Double” twice allowed them to overtake him. As they entered “Final Jeopardy,” the scores were close: Roach led with 20,400 points, followed by Raut with 17,200, and Schneider with 9,800.
Host Ken Jennings 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 proved to be one of the most difficult “Final Jeopardy” questions of the tournament. Schneider wagered 7,401 points, ending with 2,399. Raut risked everything and dropped to zero. Roach, who had shown uncertainty, also failed to answer correctly. Jennings revealed the answer: “algorithm and logarithm.”
Jennings humorously remarked, “Sheesh, make it hard, why don’t you, ‘Jeopardy Masters!’”
Roach wagered 14,001 points, reducing their total 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-proclaimed “Final Boss” of “Jeopardy!” from Las Vegas, and Matt Amodio, a quantitative researcher from New York.
Groce, who entered the game at the top of the “Jeopardy Masters” leaderboard, maintained her position with another win. Entering “Final Jeopardy,” Groce had an impressive 46,000 points, while 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 contestants answered correctly with “Northern Territory of Australia.” Amodio wagered zero, maintaining his 2,200 points. Holzhauer bet 11,914 points, raising his total to 31,514. Groce added 4,000 points, bringing her final score to an astounding 50,000—the highest seen in the 2024 tournament.
Currently, Groce leads the “Jeopardy Masters” leaderboard, followed by Raut, Holzhauer, Schneider, Roach, and Amodio.
“Jeopardy Masters” continues this week with Games 11 and 12.
