YOGESH Raut has won the 2024 Tournament of Champions off a well-played Final Jeopardy move in game six of the most ferocious finals in the game show’s history.

Yogesh defeated fan-favorite Troy Meyer and scrappy college professor Ben Chan earning $250,000, a Jeopardy! Masters slot and the coveted title.

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Jeopardy! champ Yogesh Raut has won the 2024 Tournament of Champions off a savvy bet from second placeCredit: Jeopardy!

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Viewers posted, ‘Insane a 3-day champion who heavily criticized Jeopardy! is now one of the all-time greats’ as others defended, ‘Yogesh earned his win’Credit: Jeopardy!
Ken Jennings opened Tuesday’s 2024 ToC finals match noting it may “possibly be the last time” these determined players face off.

Yogesh and Ben each had two wins, meaning they each only needed one more to take the grand prize.

Troy’s fans were “rooting for him” to make a comeback as he only had one win so far and bring the tournament to game seven.

After the Jeopardy! round, Troy led with $9,400 having aced a True Daily Double, Yogesh had $5,400, and Ben had $3,400.

In Double Jeopardy!, Ben found both Daily Doubles which Ken called a “big break,” but he forgot the category on the third one, dropping to $0 as the audience gasped.

Troy, donning his late mom’s cardigan, led at every break and carried a small lead into Final Jeopardy with $19,800 while Yogesh had $16,600 and Ben $3,200.

Under, “THE HUMAN BODY” the crucial clue read, “This glandular organ that starts to shrink at puberty is known for being where the cells key to adaptive immunity develop.”

Ben was correct with “The thymus,” and Ken applauded him for not missing a single Final Jeopardy clue, doubling to $6,400.

Yogesh incorrectly wrote “Spleen” but dropped just $3,201, leaving him with $13,399.

Troy incorrectly wrote “pituitary” and opted for a big bet dropping to $6,399.

He lowered his head and looked distraught as cries of shock could be heard in the audience.

With that, Yogesh won his decisive third victory and was named the winner.

“That is three wins for Yogesh Raut, the winner of this Tournament of Champions! What a finals,” Ken declared.

The finalists got up and exchanged hugs and Yogesh stood beside his podium in disbelief.

Nine-day champ Ben earns $100,000 for second place while six-day champ and breakout star Troy earns $50,000 for third.

‘UPSETTING’

Fans flooded social media feeling bittersweet about the victory given his rivals lost on unlucky blows and Yogesh’s past comments about the very game show he’s now the ambassador of.

“Not the way i was hoping for it to go #jeopardy,” one X user wrote.

“Loses on Jeopardy after three games -S**t-talks on the show -Goes back to win the Tournament of Champions -Refuses to elaborate,” wrote another.

“No cause it’s really upsetting that the guy who went on a days long rant about Jeopardy! being a bad show even got an invitation to come back to the ToC, and now I have to endure him in the Masters tournament too?” wrote a third.

“NOO. That was literally the ONLY outcome I didn’t want on this #Jeopardy TOC,” wrote a fourth.

“Disappointed with today’s outcome to say the least. But congrats to the winner,” a Reddit user posted.

“What. The heck. I was really hoping Troy would wager $0 in Final,” wrote another.
Jeopardy! champ gets surprise tournament invite after online rampage against the show
A third wrote, “Congrats to Yogesh as our a new ToC champ and Master! He’s been very consistent in this ToC, excited to see more of him in the future.

“Admittedly, it’s rather insane that a 3-day champion who criticized Jeopardy! rather heavily and who was bashed consequently is now, like, one of the all-time greats of Jeopardy! I will be praying for his buzzer in Masters.”

A fourth agreed, “I love to see the ‘bad guy’ win, sometimes!”

A fifth said they were, “Rooting for Troy for the sole purpose of getting a Game 7.”

“Congrats Yogesh, probably the best player there barely, well deserved. I was rooting for Troy, so I’m sad he lost due to FJ, but I doubt it’s the last we’ve heard of him,” wrote a sixth, adding Troy could be the Masters Producer’s Pick.

A seventh wrote, “Well, you gotta feel for Ben and Troy. Troy’s big enemy was definitely Final Jeopardy, while Ben’s were the Daily Doubles.

“Both players were within winning grasp. And honestly? So was Yogesh in a couple of the games he lost. This really was the most evenly matched group of finalists I’ve seen. Congrats to Yogesh!”

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Troy got up from his chair and there were hugs across the boardCredit: Jeopardy!

CONTROVERSIAL CONTESTANT

Yogesh is a writer, podcaster, psychologist, and professional online trivia player of Indian descent based in Vancouver, Washington.

The three-day champ amassed a dominant $98,800 (including a rare perfect game) in 2023.

He was the first three-day champ to make the ToC finals since Emma Boettcher in 2019 (who ended James Holzhauer’s streak).

He’s the first three-day champ to win the tournament, reserved for the biggest winners from the season prior, since 2006.

This was the first time all three-day winners from Season 39 competed in the ToC, a major twist that not everyone liked.

That’s largely because Yogesh has a controversial history with the show and made headlines for how he handled his initial defeat.

Shortly after losing, Yogesh took to his public Facebook page criticizing Jeopardy! as “unimportant” and a “glorified reality show”.

“Jeopardy has not nor will ever be the Olympics of quizzing. Jeopardy is not the problem, its centrality to American quizzing culture is,” he wrote, in part.

“There will never be healthy quizzing culture in this country until we can learn to stop pretending Jeopardy! is important.”

He added that his three wins will “never top the list of my quizzing accomplishments – not even my quizzing accomplishments of 2022.

“It is entertaining to watch but it bears the same relationship to real quizzing that ‘Holey Moley’ does to golf.”

Such sour grapes were so unprecedented that NBC ran the headline: “Jeopardy!’ champ Yogesh Raut takes aim at the relevance of the very game he won 3 times.”

Some fans even demanded he be banned for good, but now he’s won its most esteemed tournament.

Yogesh also used many of his initial interview segments to brag about his clear trivia prowess, including defeating Holzhauer in high school trivia and now-host Ken.

While he returned for the ToC in a much more jovial fashion, he also never made it a point to address his past statements.

Ken even gave Yogesh an opening to make amends upon his ToC return, asking him if he had “any regrets” during the finals; Yogesh offered with a joke reply.

Yogesh also called out beloved show figures like Amy Schneider during his Facebook posts, mentioning, “Amy Schneider’s BS relating quizzing expertise to ‘privilege.'”

Amy Schneider was the previous ToC winner, making history as the first transgender contestant to win in 2022.

Amy will have to gift Yogesh a custom championship belt, as is tradition for his victory.

THAT’S A WRAP!

The 2024 Tournament of Champions premiered on February 23, 2024.

Previously known as the 2023 ToC, the WGA strike postponed this year’s throwdown from the fall, then finally returned with an unprecedented 27 contestants (the largest playing field ever).

The lineup included the biggest winners from Season 39, Season 40’s comeback contest winners, a Celebrity Jeopardy! winner and all three-day champs including Yogesh.

But the opening round was utterly shocking, with the most highly anticipated contestants losing upon arrival.

21-day champ and golden boy Cris Pannullo lost in a blowout, and 13-day champ Ray LaLonde lost to none other than Celebrity Jeopardy!’s Ike Barinholtz.

Fans called Ike’s win “the craziest thing to ever happy in the history of Jeopardy!” on social media.

Ken also called this year’s quarterfinal round its “most dramatic in history.”

And even Matt Amodio joked on X that losing from the first podium was “getting old.”

From there, the final three have duked it out over six games, which fans called some of the most intense gameplay they’ve ever witnessed.

Yogesh will return for Masters in May along with James Holzhauer, Mattea Roach, Matt Amodio, the winner of JIT, and a Producer’s Pick.

Fans think if either Troy nor Ben is this years’ Masters Producers Pick, they will be in the 2025 JIT at the very least.

The star-studded new Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament (JIT) premieres tomorrow at 7 p.m. ET on ABC.

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Others posted, ‘What. The heck. I was really hoping Troy would wager $0 in Final’ which would have brought Troy the win and the finals to game 7Credit: Jeopardy!

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Yogesh succeeds Amy Schneider after criticizing her ‘BS relating quizzing expertise to ‘privilege” on Facebook in 2023Credit: AP

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Ken Jennings will helm the new JIT tournament with stars from decades past starting tomorrow nightCredit: Jeopardy!