Welcome to FTW Explains, a guide to catching up on and better understanding stuff going on in the world. We here at For The Win are big Jeopardy! fans, and the Jeopardy! Masters tournament is no exception. What’s that? Glad you asked.
Ken Jennings is the ultimate Jeopardy! GOAT — remember a few years ago when he topped James Holzhauer and Brad Rutter in the Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time tournament? — but that’s not stopping him from hosting a new best-of-the-best Jeopardy! tournament.
Monday kicks off the first episode of the Jeopardy! Masters tournament, which will pit some of the shows most successful candidates against each other to see who will become a different kind of Jeopardy! champion.
What is Jeopardy! Masters?
Mark your calendars: #JeopardyMasters starts May 8, and it only gets better from there. 🗓
Go to https://t.co/TB04kXqDg0 to learn more! pic.twitter.com/RSoHAi0acN
— Jeopardy! (@Jeopardy) May 3, 2023
As we mentioned, it’s a tournament version of the beloved trivia game show.
Hosted by GOAT Ken Jennings, Jeopardy! Masters features six of the show’s best contestants who will compete for the title of Jeopardy! Masters champion and the $500,000 top prize. The tournament runs from Monday, May 8 to Wednesday, May 24.
How does Jeopardy! Masters work?
Sharp wits, sharper tongues. If you need proof that this competition is fierce, check out this exchange between @Jeopardamy and @KenJennings. 😉
Watch the premiere of #JeopardyMasters on May 8 at 8/7c on @ABCNetwork, and stream on Hulu! pic.twitter.com/W4clb9PUZL
— Jeopardy! (@Jeopardy) May 5, 2023
The TV schedule and episodes will look a little different compared with regular Jeopardy!
The tournament consists of 10 episodes. One episode is an hour long, and within each episode, there will be two Jeopardy! games. The first seven episodes, or first 14 games, through May 17 are classified as the quarterfinals, while Episodes 8 and 9 will be the semifinals and Episode 10 the finals.
Following the first seven episodes, (14 total games), the top-4 contestants will move onto the semifinals, after which one more player will be eliminated, Jeopardy! explained. After that, the top-3 contestants will compete in the finals.
But instead of the contestant standings being based on winnings, Jeopardy! is implementing a match points system that will be used for every game except the finals. First place gets three points, second place gets one and third place gets zero.
Once the finals come around, though, everything will switch back to Jeopardy! scores in dollars for a two-game total.
Who are the Jeopardy! Masters contestants?
Per Jeopardy!, the six highest-ranked current Jeopardy! contestants made the cut for this tournament.
Matt Amodio: Once had a 38-game winning streak across two Jeopardy! seasons and is No. 3 in both all-time consecutive games one and highest winnings in the regular season; infuriated fans with his responses.
Sam Buttrey: 2021 Professors Tournament champion with a 96.1 percent correct response rate.
Andrew He: Once a five-day champion, but Amy Schneider snapped his streak; led all Season 38 contestants with the largest correct Daily Double wager at $14,000.
James Holzhauer: A revolutionary Jeopardy! contestant, once had a 32-game win streak and was runner-up in the Jeopardy! GOAT tournament; No. 4 in all-time consecutive wins; holds the single-game winnings record at $131,127 (plus the next win spots on the top-10 list).
Mattea Roach: Once had a 23-game win streak for No. 5 on the all-time consecutive wins list (and they’re currently the youngest contestant among the top five); ranked No. 6 in regular-season winnings with $560,983.
Amy Schneider: Once had a 40-game win streak, putting her No. 2 all time behind Jennings; one of only four people to earn more than $1 million in regular-season games.
To highlight the star power here, in regular-season appearances, only four contestants have earned more than $1 million in their initial appearances, and all four are involved in this latest tournament: Jennings, Holzhauer, Schneider and Amodio.
What are the prizes?
Per Jeopardy!, this is the prize structure for the Jeopardy! Masters tournament:
1st Place – $500,000 + Trebek Trophy
2nd Place – $250,000
3rd Place – $150,000
4th Place – $100,000 (awarded after Semifinals)
5th Place – $75,000 (awarded after Episode 7/Game 14)
6th Place – $50,000 (awarded after Episode 7/Game 14)
Are there any rule differences for Jeopardy! Masters?
We expect the tournament’s games to function very similarly to regular Jeopardy! games: Jeopardy, Double Jeopardy and Final Jeopardy.
However, as Jennings recently explained, there will be a new element in the Jeopardy! Masters tournament — though not a rule. He told WISN 12 News in Wisconsin that viewers will get a look at where on the board the Daily Doubles are, but, of course, the contestants still won’t know.
Jennings explained:
“This is something we’re trying out with ‘Masters.’ We noticed it’s very fun in the studio that we know where the Daily Doubles are because we can see the contestants get close; sometimes they veer away at the wrong time; it’s a little bit like a big game of Battleship.
“So, for the first time, we’re going to give viewers at home a sneak preview of where the Daily Doubles are on the board. And if at home you prefer to remain unspoiled, you can avert your eyes.”
Jennings added that the host of Jeopardy! — he alternates hosting regular games with Mayim Bialik — always knows where on the board the Daily Doubles are. But now, viewers will get a look too.
“You can really get a sense of how the match is changing and how the odds are changing in real time,” Jennings said.
How to watch the 2023 Jeopardy! Masters tournament
The Jeopardy! Masters tournament premieres Monday, May 8 at 8 p.m. ET — a universal start time versus the usual syndication time — with Episode 1. You can watch on ABC or stream it on Hulu.
Quarterfinals
May 8: Episode 1, Games 1 and 2
May 9: Episode 2, Games 3 and 4
May 10: Episode 3, Games 5 and 6
May 12: Episode 4, Games 7 and 8
May 15: Episode 5, Games 9 and 10
May 16: Episode 6, Games 11 and 12
May 17: Episode 7, Games 13 and 14
Semifinals
May 22: Episode 8, Games 1 and 2
May 23: Episode 9, Games 3 and 4
Finals
May 24: Episode 10
