Victoria Groce may need misplaced her Jeopardy! Masters title to Yogesh Raut on Wednesday night time’s (June 4) tense two-game finale, however she is taking the loss in her stride.
The author from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, went up towards Raut and Juveria Zaheer within the finals, and regardless of successful the primary sport of the night time, Groce was unable to repeat her success within the second. In the long run, Raut took the Masters crown, whereas Zaheer completed in second place.
Taking to the Jeopardy! Reddit discussion board after final night time’s episode, Groce, who gained the 2024 version of Masters, spoke extremely of her expertise and the way she by no means anticipated a second likelihood at Jeopardy! after initially successful only one episode again in 2005.
“In 2005, I went on Jeopardy! I gained one sport towards two spectacular gamers, misplaced my second sport, figured Jeopardy! was squarely in my rearview mirror, and fortunately went on with my life,” she wrote. “Between work and faculty and parenting my life was manner too busy to do a lot else, and quiz is among the issues that I dropped.”
Nonetheless, slowly however absolutely, Groce discovered herself being pulled again into the world of quizzing in 2014 when a pal provided her an invite to the web-based, invitation-only international quiz league, LearnedLeague. Groce recalled considering to herself, “Perhaps I can relearn what I realized for Jeopardy to get on one other sport present.”
She continued to hone her craft, competing within the World Quizzing Championships and touchdown a spot as one of many Chasers on ABC’s The Chase. This could finally result in her invite to the 2024 Jeopardy! Invitational Event, which she gained, incomes her a spot on the second annual Jeopardy! Masters Event, which she additionally gained.
“The totally insane issues which have occurred to me during the last three years—The Chase, getting an invite to come back again on Jeopardy!, Masters, every part—I by no means ever might have predicted after I obtained again into this pastime a decade in the past,” Groce shared. “I don’t really feel like I deserved them. I most actually don’t really feel like I used to be owed them.”
She continued, “I can’t categorical how grateful I’m. Ten years in the past I used to be fearful that I’d should stop working due to my well being and I’d be mainly dependent the remainder of my life. And now I’ve not solely had such wonderful experiences in JIT and Masters, however I’ve made probably the most fantastic mates and gotten the possibility to write down a e book, which had been a dream of mine since I used to be a child.”
Groce opened up about her well being points in a 2022 interview with the What It Takes to Know All the pieces podcast, revealing that after having her daughter at 23, she “spent most of [her] twenties actually fairly unwell.” She defined how she suffers from “persistent migraine,” which she mentioned “various from being an annoyance to being fairly debilitating by means of most of my grownup life.”
Expressing her gratitude for her Masters expertise, Groce instructed followers on Reddit, “Thanks for watching, and thanks for having fun with this present. I’m acutely conscious that I had all types of the way to not be right here in tonight’s matches—they didn’t have to ask me; I had plenty of routes to losses in JIT and Masters final 12 months and this 12 months—and I can actually say I’ve felt nothing apart from nice about how issues have gone.”
She additionally had excessive reward for her opponents, writing, “All my congratulations to Yogesh and Juveria, who performed superbly and deserved to win 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻.”
Followers jumped into the feedback to react to Groce’s submit and her loss within the Masters finals. “This was like watching the Giants beat the Patriots, jaw absolutely on the ground. Mad respect in your sport,” wrote one commenter.
“We cherished watching you the previous two seasons in tournaments and Masters! Finest needs!” mentioned one other.
“I cherished watching you on Jeopardy!—particularly throughout the 2024 JIT and the 2024 and 2025 Masters! You’re so entertaining and provoking. Thanks for sharing your journey!” one other added.
One other wrote, “You’re the most effective! i cherished rooting for all three of you – can’t wait to see you come again!”
“It was a lot enjoyable to observe you on this 12 months and final 12 months’s Masters!! I hope they have you ever again subsequent 12 months!” added one commenter.
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Jeopardy! Masters, now streaming on Hulu