Naperville’s Jeopardy! James Competing in Masters Finale

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Could Jeopardy! James make gameshow history once again Wednesday night?  The Naperville native will be competing in the first ever Jeopardy! Masters Finale at 7pm on ABC.  Coming in with a 9-1 win-loss ratio, could he be crowned the inaugural champion?

About the Jeopardy Masters Tournament

In this finale, three contestants — James Holzhauer, Matt Amodio, and Mattea Roach — will face off in the final two games.  Hosted by former Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings, whoever ends the night with the most points will earn the title of Jeopardy! Master, $500,000 and the Trebek Trophy.

The tournament started with six contestants and over the course of nine nights of two back-to-back shows each – that’s 18 games so far – three players have been eliminated.  The series breaks conventional Jeopardy! rules by determining each night’s winner by using a point system (rather than dollar amounts) and the locations of Daily Doubles on the board were revealed to viewers at home.

The two-part finale will air on ABC at 7pm central standard time on Wednesday, May 24, plus will be available for live stream on various services, such as YouTube TV, Hulu, and DirectTV.  Of course, we’ll also have an update recapping the results on our website.

More About Jeopardy! James

James Holzhauer garnered that nickname back in 2019, when he accumulated more than $2 million on the quiz show, winning 32 consecutive games.  Today his career earnings on the program total:  $2,962,216.  He holds the single-game winnings record, at $131,127. What’s more, he also holds the next nine spots for best single-game winnings. He ranks as fourth for all-time consecutive wins.

Holzhauer returned to the game for Tournament of Champions in November 2019, winning the $250,000 top prize. He then came back for the prime-time Jeopardy! The Greatest of all Time in 2020, where he was bested by Jennings, coming in second.

If he wins Masters, that will put his winnings over the $3-million mark.

Naperville News 17’s Kevin Machak reports.