Jeopardy! Masters Recap - Friday, September 4, 2026 (Game 1)

Current Champion

Frank Merchlewitz, career statistics:
24 correct, 8 incorrect
0/2 on rebound attempts (on 6 rebound opportunities)
45.61% in first on buzzer (26/57)
2/3 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $1,000)
0/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $15,800

To win:
2 games: 57.289%
3: 32.820%
4: 18.802%
5: 10.772%
6: 6.171%

Avg. streak: 2.341 games.
(Click Here for Methodology)

Upcoming Encore Presentations

October 24-25: S42 E178 (May 13, 2026)
October 31-Nov. 1: S42 E179 (May 14, 2026)
(Source: Bell Fibe TV program guide)

All Time Winnings

All Time Jeopardy! Winnings, Regular Play Only:

1. Ken Jennings $2,520,700
2. James Holzhauer $2,462,216
3. Matt Amodio $1,518,601
4. Amy Schneider $1,382,800
5. Jamie Ding $882,605
6. Cris Pannullo $748,286
7. Mattea Roach $560,983
8. Jason Zuffranieri $532,496
9. Scott Riccardi $455,000
10. David Madden $430,400
11. Julia Collins $428,100
12. Matt Jackson $411,612
13. Austin Rogers $411,000
14. Ray Lalonde $386,400
15. Harrison Whitaker $373,999
16. Adriana Harmeyer $349,600
17. Caleb Groen $346,968
18. Adam Remsen $306,415
19. Ryan Long $299,400
20. Arthur Chu $297,200

All Time Jeopardy! Winnings, Including Tournaments (and Consolation Prizes):

1. Brad Rutter $4,968,436
2. Ken Jennings $4,372,700
3. James Holzhauer $3,614,216
4. Matt Amodio $1,964,601
5. Amy Schneider $1,864,800
6. Yogesh Raut $1,598,403
7. Victoria Groce $1,023,801
8. Mattea Roach $897,983
9. Jamie Ding $885,605
10. David Madden $785,733
11. Cris Pannullo $754,286
12. Roger Craig $706,200
13. Andrew He $684,365
14. Larissa Kelly $671,930
15. Matt Jackson $623,612
16. Jason Zuffranieri $549,496
17. Paolo Pasco $548,717
18. Scott Riccardi $533,000
19. Jerome Vered $499,102
20. Julia Collins $495,767
21. Austin Rogers $493,000
22. Juveria Zaheer $491,000
23. Ben Ingram $449,201
24. Adriana Harmeyer $446,600
25. Buzzy Cohen $441,603

Are you looking for today’s syndicated Jeopardy! recap? Find that here!

Are you looking for today’s Jeopardy! Masters (game 2) recap? Find that here!

Warning: This page contains spoilers for the September 4, 2026, first game of Jeopardy! Masters — please do not scroll down if you wish to avoid being spoiled. It will be updated alongside the Eastern Time airing of the show, beginning at about 8:00 PM Eastern.

This game's Jeopardy! Masters contestants:

Paolo enters this game with a 13-7 career win-loss record and 0 points thus far in the semifinals. Andrew enters this game with a 19-22 career win-loss record and 0 points thus far in the semifinals. Victoria enters this game with a 26-8 career win-loss record and 6 points thus far in the semifinals.

Andy's Pregame Thoughts:

Tonight's opening game is Semifinal #3 of the competition; Yogesh Raut, the #2 seed, sits out while Victoria Groce, Andrew He, and Paolo Pasco do battle. If either Andrew or Paolo win this game, they will clinch one of the three spots in the finals. 

One thing that I think needs to be made abundantly clear: in between the taping of last night's two games and the tapings of tonight's two games, Victoria began suffering from migraines. This very likely means that she isn't going to be as dominant as she was last night. It also likely means viewers will post incorrect "theories" online. As a community, we need to make sure that if we have the correct information, those theories do not take over the discourse. That may mean correcting people, and it may require aggressive moderation across various spaces to ensure misinformation isn't amplified.

In any case, here's what the Unified Prediction Model thinks about today's game:
Victoria: 40.4% chance of winning, 30.9% chance of finishing second;
Andrew: 30.9% chance of winning, 33.4% chance of finishing second;

(Content continues below)

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Are you going on the show and looking for information about how to bet in Final Jeopardy? Check out my Betting Strategy 101 page. If you want to learn how to bet in two-day finals, check out Betting Strategy 102. In case the show uses a tournament with wild cards in the future, there is also a strategy page for betting in tournament quarterfinals.

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You can find game-by-game stats here at The Jeopardy! Fan of all 23 players, including Caleb Groen, Adam Remsen, Tristan Williams and Jamie Ding, that have won 10 or more games on Jeopardy!

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Game Recap & Tonight's Game Stats:

Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! Masters today? Here's the Friday, September 4, 2026 Jeopardy! Masters (game 1) by the numbers, along with a recap:

Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: All Around Europe; I'm Back!; From Bad To Better; Pick Your Literary Poison; The 2026 Time 100; Academy Award Firsts)

Victoria found the Daily Double early, picking up 1,000 points from it; however, it seemed like Victoria was affected by those migraines, picking up 6 incorrect in the round. She still led, though, through 30. On the opening board, Victoria picked up 3 in Europe and Oscar firsts, while Andrew got 3 (all rebounds) in literary poisons.

Statistics after the Jeopardy round:

Victoria 14 correct 6 incorrect
Andrew 9 correct 0 incorrect
Paolo 3 correct 2 incorrect

Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:

Victoria 5,000
Andrew 3,600
Paolo 1,200

Today's interviews:

Paolo wants to see a raccoon after Masters.
Andrew feels influenced by his father.
Victoria gets lots of tax questions from senior citizens.

Double Jeopardy! Round:

(Categories: King Of The Castle; The Many Deaths Of Rock & Roll; A Pop Of Color; Opposite Ideas; Anatomy & Physiology; French Words & Phrases)

Paolo got DD2 correct; Andrew got DD3 incorrect. However, Victoria's score was also kept down by incorrect responses, so it wasn't a runaway, and nobody was in five figures, but Victoria still led entering Final Jeopardy. Andrew also got 3 in the anatomy category.

Statistics after Double Jeopardy:

Victoria 24 correct 10 incorrect
Andrew 16 correct 3 incorrect
Paolo 8 correct 4 incorrect

Scores going into Final:

Victoria 8,600
Andrew 6,000
Paolo 5,600

Final Jeopardy category: Geographic Named People

Final Jeopardy! clue: Giulio Romano was a famed Renaissance architect; this medieval builder is portrayed as a chump in Vasari's "Lives of the Artists"

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Correct response: Who is Giovanni Pisano?

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We have a Triple Stumper in Final; Andrew made a small bet…and that makes him a winner and a finalist. 1 point to Victoria for second.

Tonight's results:

Paolo 5,600 - $404 = $5,196 (Who is Venetio???)
Andrew 6,000 - $316 = $5,684 (Who is Vitruvius?) (Winner)
Victoria 8,600 - $3,401 = $5,199 (Who is Palladio? Hi, Nora!)

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Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:

Daily Double locations:

1) PICK YOUR LITERARY POISON $1000 (clue #2)
Victoria 800 +1000 (Andrew 0 Paolo 0)
2) FRENCH WORDS & PHRASES $1600 (clue #4)
Paolo 2400 +2400 (Victoria 5000 Andrew 5200)
3) KING OF THE CASTLE $800 (clue #20, $8000 left on board)
Andrew 7200 -2000 (Victoria 4600 Paolo 4800)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 172

Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:

J! Round:
Victoria 4 5*
Andrew
Paolo

DJ! Round:
Victoria 4 5 3 4 5 5 4 5 2 2
Andrew 4 3 3 4 3 2*
Paolo 3 4* 3 2

Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:

Andrew 3.17
Victoria 4.00
Paolo 3.00

Game Stats:

Andrew $8,000 Coryat, 16 correct, 3 incorrect, 21.05% in first on buzzer (12/57), 5/6 on rebound attempts (on 12 rebound opportunities)
Victoria $8,600 Coryat, 24 correct, 10 incorrect, 52.63% in first on buzzer (30/57), 2/3 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Paolo $4,800 Coryat, 8 correct, 4 incorrect, 15.79% in first on buzzer (9/57), 1/2 on rebound attempts (on 10 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $21,400
Lach Trash: $16,000 (on 11 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $16,600

Player Statistics:

Victoria Groce, career statistics:

929 correct, 145 incorrect
35/45 on rebound attempts (on 108 rebound opportunities)
44.30% in first on buzzer (932/2104)
49/60 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $186,105)
21/37 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $19,292

Andrew He, career statistics:

774 correct, 116 incorrect
52/65 on rebound attempts (on 165 rebound opportunities)
30.58% in first on buzzer (732/2394)
37/51 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $144,800)
21/42 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $14,067

Paolo Pasco, career statistics:

425 correct, 45 incorrect
28/33 on rebound attempts (on 105 rebound opportunities)
32.25% in first on buzzer (386/1197)
27/30 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $104,800)
8/21 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $15,800

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Paolo: 28.7% chance of winning, 35.7% chance of finishing second.