Jeopardy!’s James Holzhauer nabs humorless Masters Night 2 win as Amy Schneider’s confidence is shot
JEOPARDY! Masters 2024 raged on Monday with James Holzhauer and Victoria Groce winning big, and Amy Schneider looking defeated in last place.
Ken Jennings hosts the six-champ special worth $500,000 across the month of May.
Jeopardy! Masters Season 2 aired its second episode of two quarterfinal matches on ABC tonight.
The six elite-level contestants are Amy Schneider, James Holzhauer, Matt Amodio, Mattea Roach, Victoria, and Yogesh Raut.
Newcomers Victoria and Yogesh led in the standings going in, hot off their "dominating" runaway wins in the premiere.
So episode two was all about the four returning Masters looking to settle the score.
GAME ONE - JAMES 'STRIKES BACK'
In Game 1, Mattea faced Matt and "self-proclaimed final boss" reigning champ James (a rematch of last year's Masters finale).
After their Jeopardy! round, Matt doubled to 10,000 on the first Daily Double, which he aced as Haydn, giving him 12000, James 6800, Mattea 1200.
In the interviews, James revealed he attended the SuperBowl but had "pink eye" which Ken quipped must have been tough for those with "nose tickets."
In Double Jeopardy!, James - who was beaten by Yogesh in the premiere in a runaway - had a return to form, nabbing an early Daily Double and the lead.
Then, came the dagger - Jeopardy! James caused gasps by going all in with 20,000 on the last Daily Double despite Matt being 1200 behind, which brought him to 40,000.
James finished Double Jeopardy with 45200, the highest score of Masters history.
Everyone was correct with "Clemenceau," giving James an extra 908 and a record-breaking 46108 for 3 matchpoints, Matt 1, Mattea 0.
Fans flooded social media dazzled by James' massive win, though some admitted they were expecting a joke Final Jeopardy answer with a runaway.
In fact, aside from his name being written in Japanese on his podium, there were no jokes on the board from James who seemed hellbent on just winning.
"James don't play," one fan wrote on X.
"James strikes back," wrote another.
"I thought James might come up with an unhinged message," joked a third surprised by James' seriousness.
A fourth agreed, "I'm a little sad we haven't had a pro wrestling taunt intro or a joke Final Jeopardy response from James this year. But it is still fun."
GAME 2 - VICTORIA SHINES, AMY STRUGGLES
In Game 2, Amy faced last week's winners Victoria and Yogesh.
In the Jeopardy! round, Victoria doubled to 8800 on the first Daily Double, winding up with 12200, Yogesh hammered away at the buzzer to 5000, and Amy had a mere 600.
In the interviews, Victoria revealed her daughter Nora, in college, is barred from having an emotional support "lobster" in her dorm.
In Double Jeopardy, Amy gained 2000 "Jeoparbucks" on the second Daily Double in "the nick of time."
Victoria found the last Daily Double and aced it as "hoover" bringing her to 33600 and a runaway.
By the end of Double Jeopardy she had a stunning 41000, Yogesh 11800 and Amy 10200- which meant Amy once again finished last place.
"We knew Victoria would be good but WOW," one fan wrote.
"They should put Yogesh in a video daily double and the answer be "what is violating a buzzer button"" a Redditor joked.
"All hail queen Victoria," another X user wrote, as a fourth pointed out "Amy is in way back third place."
"Yogesh, your clicker is working. You don’t need to put your full body weight into it each time. The other contestants are just faster than you #Jeopardy," wrote a fifth.
"Watching Yogesh mash the buzzer is hilarious," wrote a sixth.
Another lamented, "Amy’s confidence is so shot. 40 games and second-place finishes in JIT are sooooo commendable chin up babes!"
An additional fan wrote, "Imagine if the Producer’s Pick ends up in 6th place lol," referring to Amy.
One more wrote, "She most likely will. Amy is super smart and likable and one of my favorite players but she just isn’t on the same level as the others."
"I feel horrible for Amy," wrote yet another and "Yeah, she's having a rough tournament."
The standings now are as follows: Victoria leads with 6 match points, James has 4, Yogesh has 4, Matt has 1, Mattea has 1 and Amy has 0.
#jeopardy #jamesholzhauer #kenjennings #mayimbialik