‘Jeopardy! Masters’ is back, with a Pennsylvania champ filling in for a missing star
James Holzhauer is out and Brad Rutter is in for the third season of Jeopardy! Masters, which debuts Wednesday night.
Where is James Holzhauer?
No, that isn’t a Jeopardy! answer — it’s the question fans will be asking when they tune into Jeopardy! Masters, which returns Wednesday night on 6ABC starting at 9 p.m.
Holzhauer, the professional sports gambler best known for his 32-game winning streak in 2019, is sitting out this year’s Jeopardy! Masters tournament, which has expanded to nine contestants in its third season.
Despite winning the first Jeopardy! Masters and placing third last year, Holzhauer declined an invitation to compete in this year’s tournament, according to the show’s producers.
“As always, our top three Masters are guaranteed an invitation to the next Masters,” Sarah Whitcomb-Foss, a producer on the show, said on the Inside Jeopardy! podcast. “We absolutely did extend the invitation to James, and he decided, for this year, he was not going to compete.”
“Absolutely his right. It’s an invitational. We invite the people we want to invite,” added fellow executive producer Michael Davies. “So we completely respect James’ decision.”
Filling the spot vacated by Holzhauer is Brad Rutter, the Lancaster, Pa. native who has won more money on Jeopardy! — $4.9 million — than any other contestant in the show’s history.
Rutter, who hasn’t competed since finishing third in the “Greatest of All Time” tournament back in 2020 (the first time he lost to a human opponent), will take the stage against fellow Pennsylvania native Victoria Groce, who lives in Pittsburgh and is the defending champ after winning last year’s Jeopardy! Masters tournament.
Also competing against both tonight is Yogesh Raut, a writer and podcaster who was last year’s runner-up in the tournament.
Rutter and Groce aren’t the only contestants with local ties. Software engineer Neilesh Vinjamuri, who is scheduled to compete next week, is a Chester County native who graduated from the University of Pittsburgh.
What is the format of Jeopardy! Masters, and how many nights will it run?’
The Jeopardy Masters! tournament airs weekly, with each hourlong installment consisting of two 30-minute games.
Back to host is Ken Jennings, the show’s permanent replacement for Alex Trebek, who also happens to be one of the most successful contestants in the show’s history.
Here’s the full schedule:
Wednesday: Episode 1
Wednesday, May 7: Episode 2
Wednesday, May 14: Episode 3
Tuesday, May 20: Quarterfinals
Wednesday, May 21: Quarterfinals
Tuesday, May 27: Quarterfinals
Wednesday, May 28: Semifinal
Tuesday, June 3: Semifinals
Wednesday, June 4: Finals
Who are the Jeopardy! Masters contestants?
Victoria Groce: A writer and television personality who lives in Pittsburgh, Groce recorded just one win in her original Jeopardy! run in 2005 (though she did end the run of 19-game winner David Madden, earning the title “giant killer.”). But Groce is among the best trivia players in the world and won last year’s Jeopardy! Masters tournament.
Yogesh Raut: A writer and podcaster from Springfield, Ill., Raut finished in second place in last year’s Jeopardy! Masters tournament and has won $596,403 on the show.
Brad Rutter: What hasn’t the Lancaster native won? Rutter won the 2001 Tournament of Champions, the 2002 Million Dollar Masters Tournament, the 2005 Ultimate Tournament of Champions, and the 2014 Battle of the Decades. He also competed against IBM’s supercomputer, Watson, in 2011.
Matt Amodio: A familiar face to Jeopardy! fans, Amodio racked up 38 wins during his initial appearance on the show in 2021. Earlier this year he won the show’s Invitational Tournament, and his $1.8 million in winnings is fourth-most in the show’s history.
Adriana Harmeyer: An archivist at the University of Purdue, Harmeyer pulled off a 15-game winning streak last season and placed third in the 2005 Tournament of Champions. She has already won $424,600 on Jeopardy!
Isaac Hirsch: A customer support team lead from Burbank, Calif., Hirsch went on a nine-game winning streak last season and has earned $290,390 on the show. He’s also a second-generation contestant — his father competed on the show in 1985.
Juveria Zaheer: A psychiatrist from Ontario, Canada, Zaheer lost in her first Jeopardy! appearance in 2022, but returned to win the show’s Second Chance competition in 2023.
Neilesh Vinjamuri: This year’s Tournament of Champions winner, Vinjamuri’s aggressive approach to Daily Doubles has been compared to Holzhauer.
Roger Craig: A Cambria County native, Craig was a six-game winner in 2010, and held the record for highest single-game winnings ($77,000) until he was topped by Holzhauer in 2019.
What are the Jeopardy! Masters prizes?
The winner of Jeopardy! Masters will walk away with $500,000 and the Trebek Trophy, a nod to the show’s longtime host, Alex Trebek, who died of pancreatic cancer in 2020.
The runner-up in Jeopardy! Masters will be awarded $250,000, while the third-place contestant will walk away with $150,000.
Will regular Jeopardy! episodes continue to air while the tournament is going on?
Yes. Because Jeopardy! Masters is airing in prime time, the show will also air in its regular slot on 6ABC at 7 p.m., ahead of Wheel of Fortune. So trivia buffs will get their fill for the next month.
The good news for fans is Jeopardy! remains as popular as ever, averaging over 8 million viewers each week, according to Nielsen numbers. Here in Philadelphia, it is consistently the second-most-watched TV show in the Philadelphia market, trailing only ABC World News Tonight.