[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for the Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament final.]
After months and months of tournaments, new players and regular games will return to Jeopardy! on Wednesday, April 10. This welcome change in format is brought to you by the thrilling conclusion to the first-ever Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament, which crowned its first winner on Tuesday, April 9.
Playing in the JIT finals were Victoria Groce, Amy Schneider, and Andrew He. Groce scored the most correct answers in the first round (she answered seven correctly compared to Schneider’s four and He’s 2), but a Daily Double loss dropped her down to second place by the time of the first break. The scores at that point were Schneider at $3,400, Groce at $2,600, and He at $1,400.
Groce’s speedy buzzing got her seven more correct answers after the break. By the end of the first round, she had 14 correct answers and one incorrect. Schneider had six correct answers, zero incorrect. And He had seven correct answers, zero incorrect. The Daily Doubles were no help in improving anyone’s scores; Groce and Schneider found all of the Daily Doubles, but neither of them got them right.
This left the scores heading into Final Jeopardy at Groce with $11,400, He with $10,000, and Schneider with $7,200. Their statistics for the previous two rounds were Groce with 25 correct and 3 incorrect; He with 13 correct and one incorrect; and Schneider with 15 correct and one incorrect.
Their bad Daily Double luck didn’t repeat itself in Final Jeopardy; all three players answered correctly. The category was “Bodies of Water.” The clue was, “The smallest inland sea in the world, it’s completely within the territory of a single country and connects two other larger seas.” The answer host Ken Jennings was looking for was, “What is the Sea of Marmara?”
Fans had a hunch that Groce would win it all, and they were right. With her final score of 20,0001, Groce became the first-ever winner of the Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament. He ended in second place with $14,401, and in a rare occurrence, Schneider finished in last with $8,600.
With her first-place victory came an additional $100,000 prize for Groce and an invitation to play in the next Jeopardy! Masters Tournament. With her one finals win, Schneider ended the tournament in second place, which came with a prize of $50,000. He earned a $25,000 for finishing the tournament in third.
This win allows regular Jeopardy! games to return for the first time this season. Fans on Reddit had high praise for Groce’s predicted victory.
“Congratulations to Victoria — she absolutely earned this tournament win and the ticket to Masters!! And overcoming two surprising Daily Double misses costing her 8,800, no less,” one fan commented on the discussion board. “That’s a testament to just how strong her all-around game is.”
“Victoria absolutely dominated the Finals, even in the game she lost,” wrote another, while others looked ahead to the next Masters tourney and the new players.
“Congrats Victoria! It’s great to see that the Masters tournament will now likely comprise of 3 entirely new players to take on James, Matt and Mattea,” one user said. “I’m also excited for regular Jeopardy to finally return officially tomorrow. It’ll be interesting to see if the near-year long break has either harmed Lucas or made him a much stronger player!”
“That sound you hear is the Hallelujah Chorus letting us know we get our first regular play game all season. Congrats, Victoria!” said another.
Check out the X (formerly called Twitter) reactions to the exciting finals below.
The level of #Jeopardy play in the JIT has definitely delivered. Whoever wins is going to be lively competition for me in the Masters… will I be able to take ’em? pic.twitter.com/oapVKd2YIv
— Matt Amodio (@AmodioMatt) April 9, 2024
Me, after watching tonight’s #Jeopardy and learning that at long last, regular non-tournament Jeopardy is returning. pic.twitter.com/rUNJVQO4wE
— Michael J. Gleason (@MichaelJGleason) April 9, 2024
Jeopardy is BACK tomorrow!!!#Jeopardy pic.twitter.com/yJJJCAGG55
— Derek (@JukeboxHero717) April 9, 2024
Not picked up by studio mics: 20-odd #Jeopardy champions all gasping at once at the DD.
— Author Jennifer Quail (@jenniferquail) April 9, 2024
Watching #Jeopardy tonight pic.twitter.com/A3uZaJG9md
— Amanda Berendt (@jekyllhj7) April 9, 2024
After the games we’ve seen over the last seven months, I can’t imagine why someone would be so happy about going back to regular play
— masterdoge987yt (@masterdoge_) April 9, 2024
#Jeopardy Go Victoria go! You are gaining new fans!
— Louise Matchett (@ArtmoonLouise) April 9, 2024
#JeopardyMasters 2024 roster
– James Holzhauer
– Mattea Roach
– Matt Amodio
– Yogesh Raut
– Victoria Groce
– ? ** Revealed on Friday after the Inside J! live taping event in NYC#Jeopardy
— Jeric Brual (ジェリック) (@thejericbrual) April 9, 2024
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