‘Jeopardy! Masters’: James Holzhauer Crushed as Mattea Roach & Victoria Groce Win Big

The fifth episode of Jeopardy! Masters aired on Monday night (May 13) and saw Victoria Groce continue her dominant ways in Game 9, while underdog Mattea Roach made a surprise comeback in Game 10. Plus, what next for James Holzhauer after another crushing defeat?

Here’s a look at what went down in this two-game episode of Jeopardy! Masters.

Game Nine

Groce added to her tournament lead in the first game of the evening as she faced off against Jeopardy! super-champ Matt Amodio and reigning Masters champion James Holzhauer.

Heading into the game, Groce had already secured her spot in the semi-finals, while Holzhauer was in a solid position to advance. The pressure was all on Amodio, currently at sixth place on the leaderboard, who needed a win to keep himself in the running.

However, yet again, the game came down to a battle between the two Chase stars, Groce and Holzhauer. Groce came out of the gates hot, picking up the first Daily Double and answering an impressive 17 clues correctly to give her a score of $13,600 heading into Double Jeopardy.

As Double Jeopardy started, Holzhauer stood in second place with $6,200, while Amodio trailed behind with -200. Holzhauer momentarily closed the gap after securing the second Daily Double of the night, but Groce soon dashed his dreams as she found the last Daily Double and wagered her entire $20,800 to double up.

Groce had a runaway heading into Final Jeopardy, which meant she was pretty much unbeatable. Each player answered the final clue correctly, but it was Groce who won the episode with $50,000 over Holzhauer’s $31,514 and Amodio’s $2,200.

Game Ten

The second game of the night brought a more surprising result as frontrunner Yogesh Raut suffered his first last-place finish of the competition so far.

Much like the first game, the battle was between a player who’d already cemented their spot in the semi-finals (Raut), a player who was in a solid position to advance (Amy Schneider), and a player who needed a win to keep in contention (Roach).

Things started off a little rough for Roach as they struggled to compete with Raut and Schneider in the first round. Instead, it was Schneider who put Raut through his paces, taking the lead after a doubling up through a Daily Double and leading the game with $6,600 over Raut’s $5,200. Roach trailed in third with $2,600.

However, things took a dramatic turn in the Double Jeopardy! round as Roach picked up both Daily Doubles and jumped into the lead, which they maintained heading into Final Jeopardy.

Going into the final, Roach led the way with $20,400, while Raut was close behind with $17,200, and Schneider had dropped to third with $9,800.

The final clue ended up being a Triple Stumper, but with the way the wagers broke down, Roach took the 3 points with a winning total of $6,399, while Schneider snatched the 1 point with a score of $2,399. Unfortunately for Raut, he wagered his entire amount, dropping him to 0, meaning no points on the board for the 2024 Tournament of Champions winner.

If Roach can give another impressive performance on Wednesday (May 15), they could still advance to the semi-finals. The top four points-getters will move onto the semis, while the bottom two will be eliminated. While Groce and Raul are breezing through to the semi-finals, reigning champ Holzhauer still has work to do if he is to stand a chance of retaining his title.

Here is the updated leaderboard after Monday’s games:

1st = Victoria Groce – 3 tonight, 13 total
2nd = Yogesh Raut – 0 tonight, 10 total
3rd = James Holzhauer – 1 tonight, 6 total
4th = Amy Schneider – 1 tonight, 5 total*
5th = Mattea Roach – 3 tonight, 5 total
6th = Matt Amodio – 0 tonight, 1 total

*Tiebreaker is the number of correct responses.

Jeopardy! Masters, Night Six, May 15, 8/7c, ABC