Even as Jeopardy! remains a nightly mainstay for many viewers, the iconic game show continues to expand with new iterations and tournaments, like the new Jeopardy! Masters tournament. Debuting for the first time in 2023, this tournament is slated to bring together some of the best Jeopardy! players of all time.
Jeopardy! has had a number of different offshoot tournaments to break things up throughout the year, including the popular college tournaments, Tournament of Champions and Celebrity Jeopardy! tournaments. And while the contestants in Jeopardy! Masters are all going to be familiar to Jeopardy! fans, this is an all new challenge for them to enjoy.
Here is everything that we know about Jeopardy! Masters.
When is the next Jeopardy! Masters episode?
The Jeopardy! Masters finals take place on Wednesday, May 24, at 8 pm ET/PT on ABC. Two games will be played to see who takes home the $500,000 grand prize and the first ever Alex Trebek trophy.
Jeopardy! Masters contestants
The field for the Jeopardy! Masters tournament features the best of the best, as it is made up of the six highest-ranked current Jeopardy! contestants. They are:
- Amy Schneider
- Matt Amodio
- Mattea Roach
- Andrew He
- Sam Buttrey
- James Holzhauer
Check out some of the key stats for the Jeopardy! Masters contestants from their original runs.
Jeopardy! Masters standings
Now that we've advanced to the semifinals, we're down to the last four contestants. Here is how they stand after the first two games of the semifinals that aired on Tuesday, May 23. See a full breakdown of the Jeopardy! Masters leaderboard here.
- James Holzhauer: 9
- Matt Amodio: 3
- Mattea Roach: 2 (advances on tiebreaker)
- Andrew He: 2
Jeopardy! Masters host
Because Ken Jennings is going to serve as the host for the three-week tournament. Jennings has helped take over permanent Jeopardy! hosting duties following the death of long-time host Alex Trebek in 2020; he shares those duties with Mayim Bialik.
In addition to Jennings' record 74-game winning streak and earning the most winnings from during his run of any contestant in Jeopardy! history, Jennings also won a previous primetime Jeopardy! tournament, Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time. That saw him go up against Holzhauer and Brad Rutter and come out on top, allowing him to officially earn the Jeopardy! GOAT status.
Check out the promo for the tournament feature Jennings right here:
Jeopardy! Masters format
The basics of Jeopardy! Masters are the same as a usual game of Jeopardy!, with the players providing answers in the form of a question to earn as many points (instead of dollars) through Jeopardy and Double Jeopardy rounds and then wagering points on a single question in Final Jeopardy. Whoever has the most points at the end of the game is the winner.
Where things start to differ is how those outcomes impact the rest of the tournament. There are going to be 14 games before the semifinals, with the players amassing a cumulative point score based on where they finished in each game: winning the game gets you three points, coming in second nets you one and if you finish in third you get no points. The three players with the highest point total at the end of the regular games move onto the semifinals.
There are tiebreakers put in place if need be. The first is number of games won, the second is correct responses, the third tiebreaker is total in-game points but excluding Final Jeopardy and Daily Doubles and the fourth tiebreaker is total in-game points but just excluding Final Jeopardy.
How to watch Jeopardy! Masters
Jeopardy! Masters is going to air on primetime on ABC. As the network is one of the US' four main TV channels, it is available to anyone that has a traditional pay-TV subscription service. ABC is also carried by a number of live TV streaming services, including FuboTV, Hulu with Live TV and YouTube TV, which will allow subscribers to watch the show as it airs.
If you can't watch Jeopardy! Masters live for whatever reason, the episodes will stream on Hulu the day after they air and available on ABC.com for free if you are signed up to a TV service that carries ABC.
