Jeopardy! superchamp Adriana Harmeyer crushes opponents in brutal defeat as fans say she’s ‘big frontrunner’ to win ToC
Both Neilesh and Adriana have each snagged a win and the first to score three will be crowned the 2025 Tournament of Champions victor.

Neilesh made it clear he was not going to play it safe when he went all-in after finding the second Daily Double wagers.

The contestant, who has admitted in the past to being confident in the science categories, bet it all on a true Daily Double in “Under the Microscope.”

“Some mini cnidarians that can regenerate parts of their bodies have this mythic name, like a creature fought by Hercules,” Ken read as Neilesh bet over $14,000.

Jeopardy! Set Secrets

Jeopardy! fans don’t see everything behind the scenes from watching on TV. These hidden set features make the show run smoothly:

• Each podium has a hidden riser so that all contestants appear to be the same height.
• After each clue is read, signal lights go off around the game board, indicating players can buzz in and respond.
• Buzz in too early, and you’re locked out for .25 seconds.
• The podiums have a small white light in the lower left corner, which tells Ken Jennings who goes next.
• Contrary to popular belief, the player with control doesn’t have a buzzer advantage on the next clue.
• To the game board’s left is a scoreboard so the players can see their opponents’ scores.
• All contestants must bring three outfits to the studio, but only the host and returning champion change for the next episode.
• There are wardrobe rules, including restrictions on busy patterns, solid white, purple (like the background), and logos.
• Five episodes are taped in a single day, and sometimes more.
• The categories, players (aside from the returning champion), and Final Jeopardy! for a tape day are all drawn randomly to ensure fairness.
• Female contestants are asked not to wear makeup, which is applied backstage, and don’t wear mascara because of sweat.
• Contestants fill out a questionnaire, and producers select five Q&A topics for the host.
• Host Ken isn’t allowed to interact with the contestants until after the game.
• Players can request to sit in a chair while competing without question.

“What is Hydra,” Neilesh responded – which was correct and doubled his score to $29,200.

Going into the final round, Neilesh was set up for a runaway win with $30,000 while Adriana was far behind in second with $14,000.

Isaac remained in third most of the game and went into the last round with just $1,600.

The only person to accurately answer Final Jeopardy! was Adriana – confirming that Neilesh’s massive Daily Double wager was the difference between him winning or losing today’s game.

Despite getting the answer wrong, it didn’t impact the score as Neilesh bet $0 – winning the game with $30,000.

Fans were impressed by his bold choice, with one saying: “You have to respect Neilesh Vinjamuri’s willingness to go all-in on Daily Doubles!”

“This is a perfect demonstration of why Neilesh’s all-ins on DD2 or DD3 are strategically the right move for him in the finals: he’s much better at DDs (91% correct, wowza) than FJs (41%), and he’s much worse at FJs than his two opponents (Adriana 76%, Isaac 70%) so his best chance at winning is putting the game out of reach before FJ.

“If he’d wagered ‘only’ 10,000-12,000 on DD2–still a huge amount–that wouldn’t have been enough for the runaway, and Adriana would have caught him with her correct response on FJ. Great game,” another viewer pointed out.

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