The 2025 Jeopardy! Champions Wildcard Tournament began on Monday night.
Jeopardy! has invited 15 people to compete for a wildcard spot in the 2025 Tournament of Champions.
And having a tournament to award a spot in the larger tournament has ramped up the excitement level.
During the week of January 13-17, three players face off each night to advance to the tournament semi-finals.
Every player invited to play in this tournament is a former winner who failed to qualify for the 2025 Tournament of Champions.
But fear not, because they each get another shot through the Jeopardy! Champions Wildcard Tournament.
Day 1 results from the Jeopardy! Champions Wildcard Tournament
Will Yancey, Paul Clauson, and Jen Feldman competed in the first new tournament match. The winner would automatically advance to the semi-finals.
The match was ultracompetitive, with Will, Paul, and Jen jockeying for the lead. Paul took many risks, going all-in on his Daily Dobles to advance in the game. His score kept fluctuating, but he wasn’t in the running to win on Day 1 with $4,000 to his credit.
Jen had the lead heading into Final Jeopardy! with $10,200, but when she saw that Historic Currency was the category, she bet low.
Will had $9,800 and knew he had to wager just enough to catch Jen or finish strong and possibly snag one of the highest money totals from the non-winners.
The top four non-winners from the quarterfinals will also advance to the semi-finals with the five winners. This means there is a strategy in those final wagers.
“Henry VII minted the first pound coin in 1849, which was called this, also a term for what Henry was,” read the clue for Final Jeopardy! on January 13.
Paul responded with “Sovereign” and doubled his $4,000 wager to $8,000.
Will also got it correct, improving his $9,800 to $13,800.
It came down to Jen, but she got it wrong, guessing “Tudor Crown.” She dropped from $10,200 to $8,200.
Will advanced with the Day 1 win, and Jen and Paul landed on the leaderboard with good non-winner scores.
Below is a video of Jeopardy! host Ken Jennings presenting Final Jeopardy!
More to come on 2025 Jeopardy! Champions Wildcard Tournament
The January 14 episode of Jeopardy! has another fun battle in this wildcard tournament.
Davey Morrison, Stevie Ruiz, and Evan Dorey battle on Day 2 to advance to the semi-finals.
Looking ahead, Drew Goins, Jay Fisher, and Aiden Orzech battle on Day 3.
Joey DeSena, Mehal Shah, and Eamonn Campbell are slated for Day 4.
The quarterfinals end with Adam Hersh, Marko Saric, and Will Weis playing on Day 5 (January 17).
Who do you think will win the tournament?
Weigh in with your thoughts in the comment section!