Jeopardy! Masters 2023 episode 1 recap: How did Andrew He and James Holzhauer beat Amy Schneider and Mattea Roach?

Jeopardy! Masters 2023 premiered on ABC on Monday, featuring six highest-ranked champions. The first episode consisted of two games, where Game 1 welcomed three players and Game 2 included the remaining three. Andrew He won Game 1 and James Holzhauer won the second in the latest episode, hosted by Ken Jennings.

The one-hour episode featured the first game in the first half and the players were Andrew, Amy Schneider, and Matt Amodio. The second half showed Game 2 and its players were James, Mattea Roach, and Sam Buttrey.

All the champions played wonderfully and will return in the upcoming six episodes (12 games).

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Jeopardy! Masters premiere: Game 1 & 2 results explored

Jeopardy! Masters 2023, hosted by Ken Jennings, aired its first episode on Monday. In one episode, two games were played. Jeopardy! fans were familiar with the players as they became champions in previous seasons and tournaments.

The players’ results will be counted as per match points. The winner will receive 3 points, the second-ranked will get 1 point, and the third place holder will get zero points. The competition will consist of three rounds — Jeopardy, Double Jeopardy, and Final Jeopardy.

Let’s take a look at how Andrew He and James Holzhauer became winners in their respective games on Jeopardy! Masters:

GAME 1:

The first half of the ABC tournament featured Game 1 which included three players — Andrew He, a software developer from San Francisco, California, Matt Amodio, a postdoctoral researcher from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Amy Schneider, a writer from Oakland, California.

In the Jeopardy round, Andrew and Amy gave each other some tough competition. Matt started slow, however, tried to gain momentum in the second round but couldn’t up his scores. Andrew was leading the scoreboard before Final Jeopardy, followed by Amy in second place. While all three gave the correct answer in the final round, Andrew won the first game with a difference of $201.

Under the category of “Poetry,” the final question read:

“A colossal head of Ramses II brought to the British Museum inspired this 1818 poem.”

The correct answer was “Ozymandias.”

Take a look at the final results of Jeopardy! Masters 2023 episode 1 game 1:

Andrew He: $27,800 + $601 = $28,401 (What is Ozymandias?)

Amy Schneider: $14,200 + $14,000 = $28,200 (What is Ozymandias?)

Matt Amodio: $8,200 + $6,001 = $14,201 (What Ozymandias?)

As per the point system, Andrew earned three points, Amy bagged one point, and Matt got zero points.

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GAME 2:

The next half an hour of episode 1 featured Game 2, including players — Sam Buttrey, an associate professor at the Naval Postgraduate School from Pacific Grove, California, Mattea Roach, a writer, and podcaster from Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and James Holzhauer, a self-described game show villain from Las Vegas, Nevada.

In the first round, James started strong as he found the first Daily Double. While he was leading the Jeopardy round, Sam was just $200 behind him. Mattea landed in third place. The same order continued till the end. In the second round, James’ luck worked in his favor again as he found two back-to-back Daily Doubles. He got a big lead, therefore, his score was not affected even after incorrectly answering the final question. Only Sam gave the correct answer.

Under the category of USA, the Final Jeopardy question read:

“Opened in 1909 & less famous than an older neighbor, it connects Brooklyn & Chinatown.”

The correct answer was “Manhattan Bridge.” While Sam correctly answered the question, Mattea wrote “Verrazzano Narrows Bridge” and James took a jibe at host Ken Jennings instead of scribbling down any guesses.

Take a look at the final results of Jeopardy! Masters 2023 episode 1 game 2:

James Holzhauer: $40,800 – $9,812 = $30,988 (Stop ducking a rematch, Ken)

Sam Buttrey: $12,200 + $6,201 = $18,401 (What is the Manhattan Bridge?)

Mattea Roach: $9,200 – $3,001 = $6,199 (What is the Verrazzano Narrows Bridge?)

James got three points, Sam received one point, and Mattea got zero.

All six champions will now appear in the next episode of Jeopardy! Masters, which will air on Tuesday, May 9, 2023, at 8.00 pm ET on ABC.