The “Jeopardy Masters” episode that aired on Monday evening, May 13, 2024, brought a surprising end to the winning streak of Yogesh Raut, a cognitive and behavioral scientist from Vancouver, Washington. Raut, who had been performing impressively, experienced an unexpected defeat in the face of stiff competition.
At the start of the episode, Raut was poised in second place on the leaderboard, leading many to predict his triumph in the tenth game of the three-week tournament. His competitors were Amy Schneider, a writer from Oakland, California, and Mattea Roach, a writer and podcaster from Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
As the game progressed, Schneider took the first position followed by Raut and Roach in the second and third places respectively. However, the tables turned during the “Double Jeopardy” round. Raut momentarily grabbed the top spot, only to lose it to Roach who won the “Daily Double” twice. The points were closely matched as they moved into “Final Jeopardy,” with Roach leading at 20,400, Raut at 17,200, and Schneider at 9,800.
The “Final Jeopardy” round was a tough one. The category, “Anagrams,” stumped the contestants with the clue, “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 challenging questions of the tournament.
Schneider bet 7,401 points and ended with 2,399. Raut, who wagered all his points, ended up with nothing. Roach, despite their uncertainty, managed to remain in the game. The correct answer, revealed by host Ken Jennings, was “algorithm and logarithm.”
Jennings humorously commented, “Sheesh, make it hard, why don’t you, ‘Jeopardy Masters!’” Roach wagered 14,001 points, bringing their total down to 6,399, but this was sufficient for their first victory of the season.
Meanwhile, in Game 9, Victoria Groce, a writer and television personality from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, held her own against James Holzhauer, a contestant from Las Vegas, and Matt Amodio, a quantitative researcher from New York. Groce, who was at the top of the leaderboard, secured another win, amassing a remarkable 46,000 points. Holzhauer and Amodio had 19,600 and 2,200 points respectively.
The “Final Jeopardy” round in this game had the category “Around the World.” The contestants were asked, “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 correctly answered “Northern Territory of Australia.” Groce ended the game with a record-breaking score of 50,000 points, the highest in the 2024 tournament.
As it stands, Groce leads the leaderboard in the “Jeopardy Masters” tournament, followed by Raut, Holzhauer, Schneider, Roach, and Amodio. The tournament continues with Games 11 and 12.
