‘Jeopardy!’: Neilesh Vinjamuri Gets Candid About Stress in Nailbiting TOC Finals Game

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[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for the February 11 episode of Jeopardy!]

Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions 2025 is moving along quickly as a contestant gained another win. When fans were left on Monday, Adriana Harmeyer, an archivist from West Lafayette, Indiana, and Neilesh Vinjamuri, a software engineer from Lionville, Pennsylvania, were both tied with one win. Isaac Hirsch, a customer support team lead from Burbank, California, still has no wins under his belt. However, Vinjamuri quickly took the lead in game three, upping his total to two wins.

Vinjamuri also bet all of his money during his first Daily Double, which he has been doing throughout the competition. On Reddit, fans said how they are “loving these huge DD wagers.”

When Final Jeopardy! rolled around, Hirsch was still in third with $1,600, Harmeyer was next with $14,000, and Vinjamuri took a huge lead with $30,000. The category was “Contemporary Authors” and the question read, “Asked by a student about the Loch Ness Monster, she said a time portal below could allow a prehistoric creature to pass through.”

Hirsch was on the right track with “Who is the Outlander Lady?” However, host Ken Jennings told him that it wasn’t quite right. He wagered $300, bringing his final total to $1,300. Harmeyer answered correctly with “Who is Gabaldon?” but didn’t gain any more money because her wager was $0. Vinjamuri was unsure, but didn’t lose any money as he also bet $0, making him the winner with $30,000.

Despite having a wide lead, Vinjamuri admitted to Jennings earlier on in the episode that he was stressed. He admitted that there are three different ways to see Jeopardy! The first one was on the couch where there was no stress at all. The second was in the green room, when the contestants are getting onto the stage, which he admitted is the most stressful, and then final one was on the stage, where the stress level is in the middle.

“What I’m trying to do is lower the level of stress, so it feels like I’m on the couch, even though I’m in front of a national audience,” Vinjamuri chuckled.

Jennings suggested bringing in snacks that he would eat at home while watching. However, Vinjamuri asked if they could bring in a couch and put it behind the contestants.

“Yeah! Why not?” Jennings exclaimed.

All three contestants will rematch again on Wednesday, February 12. The first player to score three wins is the champion. After the Tournament of Champions ends, the Invitational Tournament will begin.

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