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Warning: This page contains spoilers for the May 17, 2024, first game of Jeopardy! Masters — please do not scroll down if you wish to avoid being spoiled. It will be updated alongside the Eastern Time airing of the show, beginning at about 8:00 PM Eastern.
This game’s Jeopardy! Masters contestants:
James Holzhauer, the self-described “final boss” of Jeopardy! from Las Vegas, Nevada (48-9, 0 points)
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Yogesh Raut, a cognitive & behavioral scientist from Vancouver, Washington (11-7, 0 points)
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Victoria Groce, a writer & television personality from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (10-3, 0 points)
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Andy’s Pre-Game Thoughts:
The semifinals of the 2024 Masters—with match points resetting to 0—start out with a match-up between Victoria Groce, Yogesh Raut, and James Holzhauer. The byes have been pre-determined, for what it’s worth: Amy will have the bye in Game 1, James in Game 2, Yogesh in Game 3, and Victoria in Game 4. (The rationale here is that the winner from the quarterfinals will be most likely to have clinched a spot in the finals before Game 4; thus, you are most likely to have a dramatic 3-player-for-2-spot showdown at the end of the semifinals.)
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Game Recap & Tonight’s Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! Masters today? Here’s the Friday, May 17, 2024 Jeopardy! Masters (game 1) by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Scandinavia; We Quote The Reality TV Show; An Intelligence Briefing; Book Noir; Like A “G”6; Muscle Cars)
Victoria found the Daily Double and doubled up through it to take a big lead after 30.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Victoria 10 correct 1 incorrect
James 12 correct 2 incorrect
Yogesh 6 correct 1 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Victoria 9,800
James 3,800
Yogesh 2,600
Today’s interviews:
James was invited to a pizza party in Kamloops, B.C.
Yogesh got a bracelet from a member of his ToC class.
Victoria was first on the show in 2005.
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Party Like It’s 1884; Broadway; Ancient Lit; That’s Just Lawful; You Owe Us An “Ology”; Before, During & After)
Yogesh doubled up through DD2, while Victoria was a bit afraid of the category of DD3—she only bet 3,000 points. That led to Yogesh leading going into Final!
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Yogesh 19 correct 2 incorrect
Victoria 19 correct 2 incorrect
James 18 correct 2 incorrect
Scores going into Final:
Yogesh 24,400
Victoria 18,000
James 13,000
Final Jeopardy category: Native American Language
Final Jeopardy! clue: In 1612 John Smith published a Powhatan word list including these 2 words familiar to us today, one worn in pairs & one wielded
Correct response: What is moccasin & tomahawk?
Yogesh and James were correct in Final; that gives Yogesh 3 points and James 1.
Tonight’s results:
James 13,000 + $98 = $13,098 (What are moccassins & tomahawk)
Victoria 18,000 – $8,001 = $9,999 (What is hatchet + mocassins? Hi, Nora)
Yogesh 24,400 + $11,601 = $36,001 (What moccasin tomahawk?)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) AN INTELLIGENCE BRIEFING $1000 (clue #11)
Victoria 3600 +3600 (Yogesh 0 James 3400)
2) ANCIENT LIT $2000 (clue #9)
Yogesh 8200 +8200 (Victoria 11800 James 8600)
3) BEFORE, DURING & AFTER $1600 (clue #22, $6400 left on board)
Victoria 13800 +3000 (Yogesh 22000 James 11000)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 222
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:
Victoria 4 3 5 2 4 5*
Yogesh
James 4 3 2 5 3
DJ! Round:
Victoria 4 2 2 3 4*
Yogesh 5 4 5 5 5* 5 4 4 3 3 1 2
James 3 3 2 3 2
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Yogesh 3.83
James 3.00
Victoria 3.45
Game Stats:
Yogesh $18,200 Coryat, 19 correct, 2 incorrect, 33.33% in first on buzzer (19/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
James $13,000 Coryat, 18 correct, 2 incorrect, 31.58% in first on buzzer (18/57), 2/2 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Victoria $14,000 Coryat, 19 correct, 2 incorrect, 31.58% in first on buzzer (18/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $45,200
Lach Trash: $4,200 (on 4 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $4,600
Player Statistics:
Victoria Groce, career statistics:
347 correct, 47 incorrect
11/12 on rebound attempts (on 38 rebound opportunities)
43.76% in first on buzzer (347/793)
18/21 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $113,305)
7/14 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $19,143
Yogesh Raut, career statistics:
433 correct, 35 incorrect
32/35 on rebound attempts (on 66 rebound opportunities)
36.97% in first on buzzer (400/1082)
13/14 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $96,795)
11/19 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $18,726
James Holzhauer, career statistics:
1952 correct, 107 incorrect
63/69 on rebound attempts (on 151 rebound opportunities)
49.78% in first on buzzer (1807/3630)
108/119 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $904,193)
49/64 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $24,731
Andy’s Thoughts:
- I’m glad that Victoria’s bet on DD3 didn’t end up costing her three points.
- Today’s box score will be linked to when posted by the show.
Final Jeopardy! wagering suggestions:
(Scores: Yogesh 24,400 Victoria 18,000 James 13,000)
Victoria: So, you can’t both cover James and win a Triple Stumper. Either bet at least 8,001 to cover James, or—because James has reason to bet small—try a bet of 4,799 to stay ahead of James. (Actual bet: 8,001)
Yogesh: Standard cover bet over Victoria is 11,601. (Actual bet: 11,601)
James: Bet no more than 200 points to stay ahead of Yogesh in case he’s incorrect. (Actual bet: 98)
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I had the same response to Final as Victoria. I knew “hatchet” was not a Native American term. But frustratingly, “tomahawk” would not come to mind. I don’t feel quite so bad, seeing that a trivia champion like her had the same blind spot as me.
“Mocassins” are straightforward, and then “what’s that Native American word for a hatchet?” I was able to get it within 30 seconds, thanks to “Tomahawk missile”.
I was less close because after choosing “moccasin”, when I thought of “wielded” I thought of a coup stick but could not think of a word for one (apparently because there isn’t a Powhatan word). As it turns out, that practice was limited to the western (open) plains, not the forested east.
This was a very interesting game. Yogesh got off to the slow start, but made the great comeback for the win. These 3 players have now met twice in a game (1 week ago was the first) and Yogesh has won both with Victoria and James swapping a 2nd and 3rd place. If these 3 meet in the 2 game Final, it seems Yogesh might have an advantage.
I am thinking that daily doubles need to be a bigger risk. At this point, getting the daily doubles in these masters levels tournaments is almost always the difference maker. The three players have very similar numbers of correct and incorrect responses but Yogesh ends up with almost double James in score. If they could up the difficulty of the questions so that it was a real risk, it would make the game better. If they only had a 33% chance of getting the daily double, it would make the betting much different. On the other hand, clue writing is not that easy and it would be difficult to predict what clues give that kind of success rate.
At its core, though, Jeopardy! is still as much a game for the home audience as it is for the players in studio—and if you make clues too difficult for the audience at home, the home audience will not be happy.
More than “basically” true, but I also enjoy learning (via the show) facts I did not already know. However, I feel the viewers dislike a clue so obfuscated that it IS something we already know and just cannot figure out that is what the clue is about. I suspect “making the clues more difficult” would mostly involve that.
I’m excited for the finals. Assuming it’s the combined total of 2 games format and not a first to 2 or 3 wins that might favor James as he has the most/only experience playing with those rules. Obviously James might not make the finals at all but I’m excited to see what plays out