Victoria Groce might have lost her Jeopardy! Masters title to Yogesh Raut on Wednesday night’s (June 4) tense two-game finale, but she is taking the loss in her stride.
The writer from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, went up against Raut and Juveria Zaheer in the finals, and despite winning the first game of the night, Groce was unable to repeat her success in the second. In the end, Raut took the Masters crown, while Zaheer finished in second place.
Taking to the Jeopardy! Reddit forum after last night’s episode, Groce, who won the 2024 edition of Masters, spoke highly of her experience and how she never expected a second chance at Jeopardy! after originally winning just one episode back in 2005.
“In 2005, I went on Jeopardy! I won one game against two spectacular players, lost my second game, figured Jeopardy! was squarely in my rearview mirror, and happily went on with my life,” she wrote. “Between work and school and parenting my life was way too busy to do much else, and quiz is one of the things that I dropped.”
However, slowly but surely, Groce found herself being pulled back into the world of quizzing in 2014 when a friend offered her an invitation to the web-based, invitation-only global quiz league, LearnedLeague. Groce recalled thinking to herself, “Maybe I can relearn what I learned for Jeopardy to get on another game show.”
She continued to hone her craft, competing in the World Quizzing Championships and landing a spot as one of the Chasers on ABC’s The Chase. This would eventually lead to her invite to the 2024 Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament, which she won, earning her a place on the second annual Jeopardy! Masters Tournament, which she also won.
“The utterly insane things that have happened to me over the last three years—The Chase, getting an invitation to come back on Jeopardy!, Masters, everything—I never ever could have predicted when I got back into this hobby a decade ago,” Groce shared. “I don’t feel like I deserved them. I most certainly don’t feel like I was owed them.”
She continued, “I cannot express how grateful I am. Ten years ago I was fearful that I’d have to quit working because of my health and I’d be basically dependent the rest of my life. And now I’ve not only had such amazing experiences in JIT and Masters, but I’ve made the most wonderful friends and gotten the chance to write a book, which had been a dream of mine since I was a kid.”
Groce opened up about her health issues in a 2022 interview with the What It Takes to Know Everything podcast, revealing that after having her daughter at 23, she “spent most of [her] twenties really quite ill.” She explained how she suffers from “chronic migraine,” which she said “varied from being an annoyance to being pretty debilitating through most of my adult life.”
Expressing her gratitude for her Masters experience, Groce told fans on Reddit, “Thank you for watching, and thank you for enjoying this show. I’m acutely aware that I had all kinds of ways to not be here in tonight’s matches—they didn’t have to invite me; I had lots of routes to losses in JIT and Masters last year and this year—and I can honestly say I have felt nothing other than great about how things have gone.”
She also had high praise for her opponents, writing, “All my congratulations to Yogesh and Juveria, who played beautifully and deserved to win 🫶🏻🫶🏻🫶🏻.”
Fans jumped into the comments to react to Groce’s post and her loss in the Masters finals. “This was like watching the Giants beat the Patriots, jaw fully on the floor. Mad respect for your game,” wrote one commenter.
“We loved watching you the past two seasons in tournaments and Masters! Best wishes!” said another.
“I loved watching you on Jeopardy!—especially during the 2024 JIT and the 2024 and 2025 Masters! You’re so entertaining and inspiring. Thanks for sharing your journey!” another added.
Another wrote, “You’re the best! i loved rooting for all three of you – can’t wait to see you come back!”
“It was so much fun to watch you in this year and last year’s Masters!! I hope they have you back next year!” added one commenter.
Did you watch the Masters finals? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
Jeopardy! Masters, now streaming on Hulu