Jeopardy! Million Dollar Masters
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The Jeopardy! Million Dollar Masters tournament was a two-week Jeopardy! tournament televised in May 2002. Fifteen former champions participated in the event, which was taped at Radio City Music Hall. The tournament, which commemorated the 4,000th episode of the Alex Trebek-hosted version of the show, was won by Brad Rutter (who would go on to win the Ultimate Tournament of Champions in 2005).
[edit] Results
The event's first round ran from May 1 to May 7. After the first round, the champions of all five games, as well as four "wild-card" non-winners with the highest scores, moved on to the semi-finals. Bob Harris, Brad Rutter, Chuck Forrest, Bob Verini, and India Cooper won their games, and were joined by Claudia Perry, Leslie Frates, Eric Newhouse, and Leslie Shannon. Notable contestants Frank Spangenberg and Eddie Timanus did not make the semi-finals.
In three semi-final matches, televised on May 8-10, Eric Newhouse, Brad Rutter, and Bob Verini won, advancing to face each other in the two-day final of May 11 and 12. Rutter took a strong but not commanding lead in the first final game, answering as many questions as both opponents combined. Trailing, both Newhouse and Verini tried to make up ground with aggressive wagers, only to lose money and fall further behind, allowing Rutter to expand his overall lead despite a relatively unexceptional second game. Indeed, Rutter was only $201 away from a lock match which would have rendered the last Final Jeopardy meaningless. In the end, all three contestants answered the final question correctly, and Rutter won the final -- and the million dollar grand prize -- with a $201 wager. Other prizes included $10,000 for each player eliminated during the first week, $25,000 for each defeated semifinalist, $50,000 for third place in the finals with the second-place runner-up receiving $100,000.
