'%20x='0'%20y='0'%20height='100%25'%20width='100%25'%20%0A%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20%20xlink%3Ahref='data:image/jpg;base64,/9j/2wBDAAYEBQYFBAYGBQYHBwYIChAKCgkJChQODwwQFxQYGBcUFhYaHSUfGhsjHBYWICwgIyYnKSopGR8tMC0oMCUoKSj/2wBDAQcHBwoIChMKChMoGhYaKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCgoKCj/wgARCAAHAAoDASIAAhEBAxEB/8QAFgABAQEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUH/8QAFQEBAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAQP/2gAMAwEAAhADEAAAANgvhT//xAAdEAABBAIDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACAQMEEQASBiJC/9oACAEBAAE/AJj4McsKTvJJoYyRnGkPohbWhIN16xQS8//EABQRAQAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAD/2gAIAQIBAT8Af//EABcRAQADAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAEAAiH/2gAIAQMBAT8AuYT/2Q=='%3E%3C/image%3E%3C/svg%3E)
The Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions finals concluded on February 13, crowning Neilesh Vinjamuri as the winner and awarding him the $200,000 grand prize. Meanwhile, runners-up Isaac Hirsch and Adriana Harmeyer each took home $75,000.
Isaac had an impressive run throughout the season and managed to beat four contestants to secure his spot on the final three. To win the finals, he had to secure three victories before his fellow finalist contestants. However, he struggled to perform as he had hoped during the five-day finale and was disappointed that he couldn't secure a single win in the first three days.
In the Jeopardy! discussion Reddit thread for the Day 3 episode, posted on February 11, Isaac expressed his disappointment, calling it the "worst game of Jeopardy!" he had ever played.
Trending
Isaac added that he felt a "greater sense of pressure" entering Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions in comparison to his previous original run where he didn't have a lot of expectations. Because of the "pressure to perform" up to the mark, he expressed that he wasn't able to shake the feeling that he disappointed his friends and family with his poor performance during his current run.
"I came into this Tournament as a top seed and felt a lot of pressure to perform up to that, and thus really couldn’t shake the feeling that ultimately I was disappointing my family, friends, and various well-wishers with how I had been playing. It’s a lot to emotionally process in a short time and I’m sorry if it makes me come off badly on television," he commented under the Reddit post.
Isaac went on to secure a win in the Day 4 episode, however, he finished as the tournament's runner-up after Neilesh Vinjamuri claimed his third victory on Day 5, securing the championship.
Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions runner-up Issac Hirsch reacts to Neilesh winning the show
Isaac Hirsch finished as the runner-up in the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions 2025. Reflecting on his final performance in the February 13 Jeopardy! discussion Reddit thread for Day 5, he shared that after his Day 4 win, he felt "locked in" and believed he could turn things around by securing two more victories to win the tournament.
However, things took a different turn when he returned for the Day 5 rounds and ultimately fell short.
"And thus ends the 2025 TOC. I remember being very “locked in” last game and thinking “okay, we can pull this off”… then we went to lunch and I came back with this clunker of a game. Obviously, I’m disappointed with the overall result here, but I am very relieved I did manage to win one game or I would’ve been pretty despondent after," he wrote.
Isaac further praised the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions 2025 winner, Neilesh Vinjamuri, saying that he was "absolutely ridiculous on the buzzer."
He added that Neilesh had "deep pockets of knowledge", was unafraid to make big wagers, and was "pretty good at the buzzer."
While he believed that he and the second runner-up Adriana Harmeyer were good at the buzzer timings, by the end of the competition Neilesh made him completely rethink his strategy.
"So that’s my praise for Neilesh as a player— he played a very complete finals and is an extremely deserving winner. I’d also like to shout out Adriana— while you witnessed me visibly losing my mind that I couldn’t ring in, she stayed cool the whole time. She’s unflappable, a great player, and also a very nice person," he added.
Regardless of the outcome, The Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions 2025 runner-up shared that he was satisfied with the experience, had a fun time, met a lot of great folks, and won more money than he ever made doing customer support.
"It has been one of the greatest experiences of my life, and I feel blessed to have gotten to do it. I’d be remiss if I didn’t thank my family and my girlfriend, who have made sure I know that I’m still a winner to them. So that’s it! Now I just go back to watching Jeopardy like a regular person. I’m sure that won’t be weird," he concluded.
Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions 2025 episodes are available to watch on Hulu.
