| Host | |
| Alex Trebek | |
| Announcer | |
| Johnny Gilbert | |
| Broadcast | |
 | |
| Packager | |
| Sony Pictures Television | |
The Million Dollar Masters Tournament was the modern Jeopardy's third best-of reunion tournament, and second to take place during episodes of the syndicated version. Featuring the same two-week, three-round format as the traditional tournaments on Jeopardy!, it was held in honor of the modern show's 4,000th episode, and offered a $1,000,000 top prize, the largest in the show's history to that point. Held at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, the event's first round ran from May 1st to May 7th, and ended with the champions of all five games, as well as four "wild card" non-winners with the highest scores, moving on to the semi-finals. The three semifinal matches were televised from May 8th–10th, with the finals airing from May 13th-14th.
Contestants[]
| Rank | Player | TW | Results | WC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Robin Carroll | $214,100 | ||
| 2 | Bob Verini | $196,802 | ★ | |
| 3 | Chuck Forrest | $177,800 | ★ | |
| 4 | Brad Rutter | $155,102 | ★ | |
| 5 | Frank Spangenberg | $154,397 | ||
| 6 | Rachael Schwartz | $137,499 | ||
| 7 | Eric Newhouse | $93,100 | ★ | 
|
| 8 | Babu Srinivasan | $80,100 | ||
| 9 | Eddie Timanus | $74,700 | ||
| 10 | India Cooper | $73,400 | ★ | |
| 11 | Leslie Shannon | $69,300 |
| |
| 12 | Leslie Frates | $68,599 | ||
| 13 | Bob Harris | $68,000 | ||
| 14 | Kate Waits | $59,804 | ||
| 15 | Claudia Perry | $50,303 | ★ |
|
Game Summary[]
| Game | Air Date | Name | Score | Name | Score | Name | Score | Detail |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QF #1 | May 1, 2002 | Bob Harris | $20,000 ($15,800) |
Rachael Schwartz | $12,401 | Frank Spangenberg | $6,799 | # |
| QF #2 | May 2, 2002 | Claudia Perry | $17,400 | Brad Rutter | $24,801 | Kate Waits | $0 ($4,200) |
# |
| QF #3 | May 3, 2002 | Chuck Forrest | $32,000 | Leslie Frates | $22,000 | Eric Newhouse | $20,000 ($10,000) ($1,000) |
# |
| QF #4 | May 6, 2002 | Leslie Shannon | $20,000 ($10,000) ($4,400) |
Eddie Timanus | $0 ($800) |
Bob Verini | $21,000 | # |
| QF #5 | May 7, 2002 | Robin Carroll | $5,600 | India Cooper | $18,100 | Babu Srinivasan | $12,000 | # |
| SF #1 | May 8, 2002 | Bob Harris | $29,600 | Leslie Shannon | $0 | Eric Newhouse | $29,601 | # |
| SF #2 | May 9, 2002 | Brad Rutter | $39,200 | Leslie Frates | $20,400 | India Cooper | $3,800 | # |
| SF #3 | May 10, 2002 | Chuck Forrest | $21,200 | Bob Verini | $21,201 | Claudia Perry | $0 | # |
| Final | May 13, 2002 | Brad Rutter | $11,800 | Eric Newhouse | $0 | Bob Verini | $6,800 | # |
| May 14, 2002 | $13,801 | $25,600 | $800 | # | ||||
| Total | $25,601 | $25,600 | $7,600 |
Later reunion tournament appearances[]
With the exception of Claudia Perry, Leslie Shannon, and Kate Waits, all contestants in the Million Dollar Masters tournament returned to Jeopardy! for 2005's Ultimate Tournament of Champions, where Brad Rutter outlasted 144 other Jeopardy! greats including 74-time Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings to take home the $2,000,000 top prize to become the biggest game show money winner on television surpassing Ken Jennings. Frank Spangenberg advanced to the semifinals but lost to Jerome Vered. Rutter, Spangenberg, Eric Newhouse, Bob Verini, Chuck Forrest, and Robin Carroll all received byes to the second round by virtue of their past successes on the show, but only Rutter & Spangenberg advanced further. Bob Harris & India Cooper also advanced to the second round after winning their opening games.
With the exception of Eric Newhouse & Kate Waits, all Million Dollar Masters contestants competed in 2014's Battle of the Decades tournament, where Brad Rutter defeated Jennings again to win the $1,000,000 top prize for his unprecedented fourth Jeopardy! tournament win and regained the all time game show winnings record as well, Chuck Forrest advanced to the semifinals, and both Robin Carroll & Rachael Schwartz advanced to the quarterfinals, with the rest losing their opening game.
Winnings[]
| Quarterfinalists | Semifinalists | Finalists (minimum guarantees) | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2nd runner-up | 1st runner-up | Winner | ||
| $10,000 | $25,000 | $50,000 | $100,000 | $1,000,000 |
Trivia[]
- 2000 ToC 1st runner-up Jeremy Bate served as the alternate for the Million Dollar Masters, in the event of contestant in availability.
- The absence of people are Jerome Vered (1992 ToC 2nd runner-up, biggest winner of Season 8, and biggest one-day total of the pre-doubled money era), Bob Blake (1990 ToC winner and second biggest winner of Season 6), Bruce Seymour (1990 SJ! winner), Tom Nosek (1993 ToC winner and 10th Anniversary Tournament 1st runner-up), Tom Cubbage (1989 College Championship winner and 1989 ToC winner), Michael Daunt (1997 ToC 2nd runner-up and 1997 International Tournament winner), Dan Melia (1998 ToC winner and biggest winner of Season 14), Leszek Pawlowicz (1992 ToC winner), Mark Lowenthal (1988 ToC winner), Michael Dupée (1996 ToC winner), Ryan Holznagel (1995 ToC winner), Jim Scott (1991 ToC winner), Dave Abbott (1998 ToC winner), David Siegel (1995 ToC 1st runner-up and biggest winner of Season 11), Doug Lach (biggest winner of Season 16), Dave Traini (SJ! 2nd runner-up), Phoebe Juel (1993 College Championship winner), Pam Mueller (2000-B College Championship winner), Richard Cordray (5-time champion), Elise Beraru (first 5-time champion), and Juliet Wiley (1999 ToC 2nd runner-up)