It’s time to welcome James Holzhauer back to the Alex Trebek Stage. The quiz show champion, who earned nearly $2.5 million in regular-season games due in part to his affinity for high-risk bets, is back for ABC’s “Jeopardy! Masters” tournament, which began Monday (8 EDT/PDT).
The three-week tournament, hosted by Ken Jennings, presents “Jeopardy! James” against five other contestants who competed in last fall’s Tournament of Champions: Matt Amodio, Sam Buttrey, Andrew He, Mattea Roach and Amy Schneider, who walked away with the $250,000 grand prize. The “Masters” offers a $500,000 pot.
Here’s everything you need to know about the primetime tournament, which offers two games each night.
James Holzhauer calls out Ken Jennings on Final Jeopardy!
After he took first, Schneider took second and Amodio took third in the first game, Holzhauer played against Buttrey and Roach. Introduced by the show announcer as “a self-described game show villain from Las Vegas, Nevada,” Holzhauer also sparred with the host, his main competitor in (and the winner of) 2020’s “Great of All Time” tournament . Monday, Jennings mentioned the competition, which Holzhauer tends to forget. “I don’t think this happened,” he said of their throwdown. “I think you’re imagining it.”
“You blocked it,” Jennings responded. “Good.”
Holzhauer found all three of the game’s Daily Doubles, doubling his score each time. He entered the Final Jeopardy! with a lead (40,800 points) that made it impossible for his competitors to catch him. So he has no issue using his Final Jeopardy! reply to troll Jennings. The clue: “Opened in 1909 and less famous than an older neighbor, it connects Brooklyn and Chinatown.” Instead of answering Manhattan Bridge correctly, Holzhauer chose to write: “Stop ducking a rematch, Ken.”
Jennings shot back: “You know how much work I have to go to to get to this lectern and avoid playing with you again, James?”
When is ‘Jeopardy! Master’s release?
The tournament continues on Tuesday, with additional games this week on Wednesday and Friday. For the second week of the showdown, starting May 15, the contest will air on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays. The semifinals will be aired on May 22 and 23; the winner will be crowned after the finals on May 24.
The tournament is points-based, with no cash total, executive producer Michael Davies said on “Inside Jeopardy!” podcast. “Every player will appear in every episode, whether it’s the front-half game or the second-half game,” Davies said. “Everyone will play each other in every combination and everyone, each of those Masters, will play 10 games.”
The winner of each game receives three points, and the second place participant gets one. Cumulative totals determine who advances to the next round.
Although Holzhauer and He won their games on Monday, because He had more correct answers than Holzhauer, he currently leads the tournament. Buttrey and Schneider each had one point. Roach and Amodio have zero.
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Who is the ‘Jeopardy! Masters contestants?
With the exception of Holzhauer, all “Masters” participants competed in the 2021-22 season, making them eligible for the 2022 Tournament of Champions. Holzhauer ended his 32-game hitting streak in 2019.
Last month, Holzhauer tournament lineup joke on Twitter, referring to a promotional image for the contest: “This poster screams ‘We know you saw this contest last year, but a new supervillain has joined the cast for the sequel!’ and I’m here for it”
track record of participants
Matt Amodio: Won 38 in-season games.Sam Buttrey: Winning “Jeopardy!” Professor Tournament; came third in the Tournament of Champions (won one game).James Holzhauer: Won 32 games in the seasons games.Andrew He: Won 5 in-season games, finished second in the Tournament of Champions (winning two games).Mattea Roach: Won 23 in-season games.Amy Schneider: Won 40 in-season games; winner of the 2022 Tournament of Champions.
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Initially, the locations of the Daily Double were revealed to viewers
The Masters tournament adds a new wrinkle: Spectators — but not the contestants or the studio audience — are shown the location of each Daily Double before a round begins. This marked the first time the show previewed where bonus clues were hidden, allowing the contestant to double their score with a correct response.
Jeopardy! Masters’ ‘didn’t fail’
Buzzy Cohen, a 2016 competitor who won the Tournament of Champions the following year, attended games during the “Masters” tournament. Cohen, who hosts a new podcast detailing the history of the quiz show, says he’s observed contestants experience a sense of relief.
“One thing you started to see was the more time people spent on ‘Jeopardy!’ stage, they’re more relaxed, they’re happier,” he said. “It doesn’t mean the competition is less intense; it just means, ‘I’m not kidding about it. I know I’m going to win here.’ And you have six people who won so much and enjoyed doing it.”
“Everyone shines, and everyone is challenged,” Cohen added. “And that’s exactly what you want in one of these special tournaments. It did not fail.”
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