Jeopardy! This Week (Aug. 31–Sept. 4, 2026): Masters Semifinal Results, the Three Finalists, and What Airs Monday
| Semifinal | Winner | Runner-up | Third | Final Jeopardy category |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Game 1 — Thu 9/3 | Victoria Groce | Yogesh Raut, Paolo Pasco | — | |
| Game 2 — Thu 9/3 | Victoria Groce $28,282 | Yogesh Raut $23,201 | Andrew He $15,600 | Novels of the 1960s |
| Game 3 — Fri 9/4 | Andrew He $5,684 | Victoria Groce $5,199 | Paolo Pasco $5,196 | Geographic Named People |
| Game 4 — Fri 9/4 | Andrew He $17,733 | Paolo Pasco $14,500 | Yogesh Raut $14,401 | Historic Americans |
Bottom line: the syndicated show sat still all week — every local episode was an encore — while the real games were on ABC. Four semifinals over Thursday and Friday cut the Masters field to three: Victoria Groce, Andrew He and Yogesh Raut. Paolo Pasco goes home.
Who is in Tuesday's Masters final?
Groce, He and Raut. The three of them play a two-game final on Tuesday, September 8, at 8 p.m. ET / 7 p.m. CT on ABC, with $500,000 and the Trebek Trophy going to the winner, $250,000 to second and $150,000 to third.
Raut is defending. He beat Groce in last year's final, so Tuesday is a rematch with a third player in the room.
Pasco, the 2026 Tournament of Champions winner, is the one who fell short. He was in both of Friday's games and lost the first by three dollars.
How did the field go from six to three?
Masters started with six: Raut, Groce, He, Pasco, Juveria Zaheer and Long Nguyen. Twelve quarterfinal games over six nights — two half-hour games per broadcast hour — ranked them on match points, and the bottom two were done before Thursday. Zaheer and Nguyen went out there.
Zaheer's exit was the one that stung; she reached last year's final and did not make the semifinals this time. The semifinal round then reset the format: four games across two nights, each of the four players sitting out one game, three match points for a win and one for second.
That structure is why Friday mattered so much. Groce had banked two wins on Thursday, but the third spot was open to whoever performed on the last night, and He took it by winning twice.
What happened Thursday, September 3?
Groce won both games and effectively wrote her own ticket. In the second she finished on $28,282 to Raut's $23,201 and He's $15,600, and the Final — Novels of the 1960s — pointed to Thomas Pynchon's book about a strange stamp auction.
Two wins on the opening night is a strong position in a format where a semifinal win is worth three match points. Groce ended the round on top of the standings.
How did Andrew He get in?
By winning both of Friday's games, one of them by the narrowest margin of the whole round.
Game 3 finished He $5,684, Groce $5,199, Pasco $5,196. That is $488 covering all three players and $3 between second and third, on a Final that nobody solved — Giovanni Pisano, in a category about people with places in their names. Low scores, tiny wagers, and He came out ahead by holding a little more back.
👉 Watch that game if you only watch one. A triple stumper decided by wagering discipline is Masters in miniature.Game 4 was calmer: He on $17,733, Pasco $14,500, Raut $14,401, with Francis Marion the correct response in Historic Americans. Two wins in one night, and He was through.
Was any syndicated Jeopardy! episode new this week?
No. Stations ran Season 42 encores Monday through Friday, which is normal for the gap between seasons. Friday's was the Invitational Tournament semifinal from February 13, in which Roger Craig won with $28,001 on a Final about the patron saint of cobblers.
Our Friday results post has the scores and the wagering math, and the morning preview explains why the encores are running at all.
What is on Monday, September 7?
Labor Day, so nothing new anywhere. Your station has another encore in the usual slot — check the air-time guide if you are not sure what yours is.
ABC fills 8 p.m. with a Masters rebroadcast: Quarterfinals 11 and 12, originally aired September 2. Useful if you want to see how the four semifinalists got there before Tuesday.
When do new episodes start?
Monday, September 14. Season 43 opens with Matthew Riggle, who carries a two-game win streak in from the end of last season, and this site goes back to a nightly preview in the morning and results after the East Coast airing. Everything lands in the results archive as it happens.
Between now and then there is one live night: Tuesday. After that, six days of encores.
What should you expect from Season 43?
Riggle is the story on night one. He won two games in the final week of Season 42, which means he starts the new season as champion rather than as a challenger — a small thing that changes how the first week reads, since a streak carries over instead of restarting from scratch.
Ken Jennings hosts, as he does on Masters. The season runs into next spring, and we go back to a preview each weekday morning and scores after the East Coast airing.
FAQ
Who won Jeopardy! Masters 2026?
Not decided yet. The final is Tuesday, September 8, between Victoria Groce, Andrew He and Yogesh Raut.
Why is Jeopardy! showing reruns?
The syndicated show is between seasons. Season 42 wrapped in the summer and Season 43 premieres September 14.
Where can I watch Jeopardy! Masters?
ABC at 8 p.m. ET, streaming the next day on Hulu.
Sources
Jeopardy.com — 2026 Masters leaderboard · The Jeopardy! Fan — Sept. 4 recaps · ABC press release — Sept. 7 listing · TV Insider — Masters Season 4
More nightly coverage in the Jeopardy! section, and the Wheel of Fortune week in review has all five bonus puzzles.