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.
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