recaps
A game recap for the Thursday, September 3, 2026 Jeopardy! Masters game between Paolo Pasco, Yogesh Raut, and Victoria Groce.
Jeopardy! Masters Recap - Thursday, September 3, 2026 (Game 1)
Current Champion
Anthony Cantor, career statistics:
22 correct, 2 incorrect
1/1 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
36.84% in first on buzzer (21/57)
1/1 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $11,200)
1/1 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $17,200
To win:
2 games: 73.068%
3: 53.389%
4: 39.011%
5: 28.504%
6: 20.827%
Avg. streak: 3.713 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 3, 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 13‑6 career win-loss record. Yogesh enters this game with a 19‑18 career win-loss record. Victoria enters this game with a 24‑8 career win-loss record.
Andy's Pregame Thoughts:
6 players are now down to 4 as we enter the semifinal phase of 2026's Jeopardy! Masters competition, where Victoria Groce, Yogesh Raut, Paolo Pasco, and Andrew He face off in a full round robin between today's two games and tomorrow's two games. This game sees #4 seed Andrew He sit out while #1 Victoria Groce, #2 Yogesh Raut, and #3 Paolo Pasco battle. (Don't worry, everyone gets a bye once during the semifinals.)
I should mention that the points do reset from the quarterfinals; all 4 of our players are back at 0.
What does the Unified Prediction Model think about this first game in the semifinals?
Victoria: 39.0% chance of winning, 29.6% chance of finishing second;
Yogesh: 33.0% chance of winning, 36.3% chance of finishing second;
Paolo: 28.0% chance of winning, 34.0% 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.
Are you looking for information on how to stream Jeopardy! in 2026? Find out information here on how to stream from most places in North America!
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!
Game Recap & Tonight's Game Stats:
Looking to find out who won Jeopardy! Masters today? Here's the Thursday, September 3, 2026 Jeopardy! Masters (game 1) by the numbers, along with a recap:
Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: We're Putting You On Oblast; TV Show Add A Letter; The Woman, The Myth, The Legend; This & That; Words Of Indigenous Origin; Tattoos & Piercings)Victoria controlled the proceedings early as she doubled up through the Daily Double and picked up 16 correct. Victoria ran the words category, got 4 in oblasts, and 3 in women in myth, while Paolo got 3 in This & That and Yogesh got 3 in TV shows.
Statistics after the Jeopardy round:
Victoria 16 correct 1 incorrectPaolo 6 correct 0 incorrect
Yogesh 5 correct 0 incorrect
Scores after the Jeopardy! Round:
Victoria 14,800Paolo 3,000
Yogesh 2,200
Today's interviews:
Paolo is "just jazzed" to be here, and came second in a pigeon trivia competition.Yogesh is the "Taylor Swift" for a public school teacher named Avery; she's in the audience.
Victoria thinks her upcoming book helped in preparation.
Double Jeopardy! Round:
(Categories: Starts With An Airport Code; Nonfiction; Freedom!; This Category Is So Money; Scientists; Moviemaking Partnerships)Victoria continued to dominate, finding the Daily Doubles on back-to-back clues and cruised to a runaway. Meanwhile, Yogesh needed the last clue of Double Jeopardy to have a chance of second. On the second board, Victoria got 3 in freedom, scientists, and moviemaking partnerships.
Statistics after Double Jeopardy:
Victoria 31 correct 3 incorrectPaolo 9 correct 0 incorrect
Yogesh 11 correct 2 incorrect
Scores going into Final:
Victoria 29,200Paolo 6,600
Yogesh 3,800
Final Jeopardy category: The Name Game
Final Jeopardy! clue: First in the news in the 1970s, her Amharic name is Dinkinesh, meaning "you are marvelous"
Correct response: Who is Lucy?
Yogesh and Victoria were correct in Final; 3 points to Victoria and 1 to Yogesh.Tonight's results:
Yogesh 3,800 + $3,800 = $7,600 (Who Lucy)Paolo 6,600 - $1,001 = $5,599 (✓ Make it to Final Final Right)
Victoria 29,200 + $5,367 = $34,567 (Who is Lucy? Hi, Nora!) (Winner)
Other Miscellaneous Game Statistics:
Daily Double locations:
1) WE'RE PUTTING YOU ON OBLAST $800 (clue #10)Victoria 5800 +5800 (Yogesh 800 Paolo 800)
2) NONFICTION $1200 (clue #4)
Victoria 20400 -6000 (Yogesh 2200 Paolo 3000)
3) SCIENTISTS $1600 (clue #5, $27600 left on board)
Victoria 14400 +1600 (Yogesh 2200 Paolo 3000)
Overall Daily Double Efficiency for this game: 82
Clue Selection by Row, Before Daily Doubles Found:
J! Round:Victoria 4 5 3 4 5 3 4 4*
Yogesh 5
Paolo 4
DJ! Round:
Victoria 4 5 3* 4*
Yogesh 5
Paolo
Average Row of Clue Selection, Before Daily Doubles Found:
Victoria 4.00Yogesh 5.00
Paolo 4.00
Game Stats:
Victoria $30,200 Coryat, 31 correct, 3 incorrect, 52.63% in first on buzzer (30/57), 1/1 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)Yogesh $3,800 Coryat, 11 correct, 2 incorrect, 22.81% in first on buzzer (13/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 2 rebound opportunities)
Paolo $6,600 Coryat, 9 correct, 0 incorrect, 15.79% in first on buzzer (9/57), 0/0 on rebound attempts (on 4 rebound opportunities)
Combined Coryat Score: $40,600
Lach Trash: $9,000 (on 8 Triple Stumpers)
Coryat lost to incorrect responses (less double-correct responses): $4,400
Player Statistics:
Victoria Groce, career statistics:
880 correct, 133 incorrect32/41 on rebound attempts (on 103 rebound opportunities)
44.27% in first on buzzer (881/1990)
45/56 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $175,105)
20/35 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $19,543
Yogesh Raut, career statistics:
839 correct, 83 incorrect66/75 on rebound attempts (on 167 rebound opportunities)
34.01% in first on buzzer (775/2279)
28/32 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $160,294)
24/40 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $15,925
Paolo Pasco, career statistics:
417 correct, 40 incorrect27/31 on rebound attempts (on 95 rebound opportunities)
33.07% in first on buzzer (377/1140)
26/29 on Daily Doubles (Net Earned: $102,400)
8/20 in Final Jeopardy
Average Coryat: $16,350
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