'Jeopardy' crowns winner of 2024 Tournament of Champions: What to know about Yogesh Raut

"Jeopardy!" has crowned this year's winner of the popular quizzing show's Tournament of Champions after Yogesh Raut of Vancouver, Washington won his third game in the best-of-seven finals.

Raut, who won three games in his initial appearances on the show, notched his third pivotal victory in the sixth match of the finals that aired Tuesday night. The win came down to the Final Jeopardy question with Raut, a social and personality psychologist, placing a savvy wager from second place despite answering the question incorrectly.

As this year's winner of the Tournament of Champions and the coveted $250,000 prize that comes with it, Raut will be invited to compete in the upcoming "Jeopardy!" Masters competition.

Here's what to know about Raut and his victory:

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Who is Yogesh Raut?

Raut punched his ticket to the best-of-seven finals of the Tournament of Champions – which features contestants from the past season of "Jeopardy!" – with a runaway win March 8 in the semi-finals.

During his original appearance on the game show last year, Raut accumulated $98,000 in winnings during his three victories and was part of a perfect game in January 2023 in which at least one of the contestants answered every question correctly.

Raut drew the ire of "Jeopardy!" fans after his defeat when in since-deleted Facebook posts, he criticized the format of the quiz show, saying it was far from the "Olympics of quizzing." He addressed that backlash himself in an article he penned for Indian American outlet American Kahani, lamenting that his "memories of the experience will always be dominated by the extreme and nonsensical hate directed at me by total strangers."

After his Tournament of Champions victory, Raut struck a much more celebratory tone in a post on "Jeopardy!'s" website. Growing up in Illinois as the child of immigrants with "a foreign-sounding name," Raut said he was drawn to trivia as a way to fit in.

"It took decades of hard work and dedication to put myself in a position to win the (tournament,) and it took a great deal of luck for me to triumph over equally skilled competitors," Raut said. "Our mutual web of love and support formed a protective cocoon that blocked out the rest of the world and allowed me to focus on the game at hand."

What fans are saying about Jeopardy 'TOC' winner and his buzzer method

Social media was filled with reactions to Raut's appearance in the tournament, as well as his decisive victory.

Many users made jokes about Raut's distinctive play style, which appeared to include an aggressive use of the buzzer.

“Am I the only one who found his frantic buzzer ringing obnoxious?” wrote one viewer on Instagram.

"I hope they’ve asked Yogesh for a security deposit on his buzzer," one user said on social media site X.

One user replied to a post with a screenshot of Raut's winning stats, saying of the victor's buzzer method: "I mean... if it works, it works."

Congrats were also in order for Raut, including from his fellow competitors.

Luigi de Guzman, a five-time "Jeopardy!" champion who competed in the tournament, was among those who issued a congratulations to Raut, saying on X, "the quality of his play throughout the tournament speaks for itself."

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Runners up: What to know about Ben Chan, Troy Meyer

Raut's victory came over two equally-skilled competitors: six-game champion Troy Meyer and nine-game champion Ben Chan.

When the match entered Final Jeopardy, Meyer was the front-runner with $19,800, trailed by Raut with $16,600 and Chan with $3,200.

While Chan became the only contestant to correctly respond to the clue, Meyer's large bet saw him fall to third, allowing Raut to win the tournament with $13,399.

The three made it to the finals amid a crowded field of 27 contestants, including actor and comedian Ike Barinholtz. Barinholtz, a "Celebrity Jeopardy!" champion, had a stunning upset victory in the Tournament of Champions to advance to a semifinal game, where he lost to Chan.

Chan, an assistant professor of philosophy at St. Norbert College in Wisconsin, placed second in the tournament, winning $100,000 and becoming a local celebrity in Green Bay.

Meyer, a music executive from Tampa, Florida, received $50,000 for his third-place finish.

Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at [email protected]