‘Jeopardy!’: Paolo Pasco Sends Message After Jaw-Dropping TOC Result

[Warning: The following contains MAJOR spoilers for the Wednesday, February 4, episode of Jeopardy!]

The third finals game of the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions ended with a jaw-dropping result. Paolo Pasco, who already has two wins under his belt, left a message for his contestant at the end of the game.

The finals of the TOC come down to which contestant wins three games first. It can go up to seven, depending on how many games each contestant wins and when. So, one champion coul sweep in three games, or the finals could go on until next week.

The winner takes home $250,000 and an invitation to play in Jeopardy! Masters. The second-place contestant receives $100,000, while the third-place contestant takes home $50,000.

Pasco, a puzzle writer from San Diego, California, has been playing against Scott Riccardi, an engineer from Somerville, New Jersey, and TJ Fisher, a marketing specialist from San Francisco, California.

On February 4, Riccardi found the Daily Double on clue two. He had $1,000 and wagered all of his money in “Peninsulas.” The clue read, “Rennes is the capital of this region protruding as a peninsula into the Atlantic Ocean with the English Channel to the north.”

“What is Brittany?” he answered correctly. This gave him $2,000 and the lead. Riccardi kept the lead throughout the first 15 clues.

Riccardi ended with $5,000 by the end of the round. Pasco had $4,200. Fisher was in third place with $2,200.

In Double Jeopardy, Pasco took the lead quickly. He found the first DD on clue nine. He had $9,400 and wagered $7,400. In “Get a Load of This Pair,” the clue was “Lewis & Clark met during these ‘directional’ military campaigns in the i790s (a direction they’d later travel).”

After some prompting from host Ken Jennings, Pasco answered, “What is the Northwest Wars?” That was correct, and he improved to $16,800. Riccardi had $6,600.

Pasco immediately found the second DD on clue 10. He wagered $6,000 in “What a Concept.” The clue read, “In a 1968 speech, MLK said he’d ‘been to’ this location ‘…& I’ve looked over, & I’ve seen the promised land.'” “What is the mountaintop?” he answered correctly. This gave him $22,800.

“No more Daily Doubles, Paolo, some good news for your competitors,” Jennings said.

From there, Pasco continued to dominate the round and ended with $33,200. Riccardi was in second place with $7,400. Fisher had $5,800.

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The category for Final Jeopardy was “Island Names.” The clue was “This archipelago got its name in 1493 in honor of St. Ursula & her followers.” The correct response was “What are the Virgin Islands?” which none of the game show contestants had.

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Fisher wrote, “What am I going to with my time now that studying’s done?” He wagered $1,601, ending him with $4,199. Riccardi’s response was “What is Congrats Paolo!” He wagered $4,600, giving him a final total of $2,800.

Pasco also wrote a message. He said, “What an incredible ride with the best TOC group I could ask for. <3 you all!” The winner wagered $143, giving him $33,057.

Pasco became the 2026 Tournament of Champions winner in only three games. Fisher took home the second-place prize, which meant Riccardi went home with $50,000.

Pasco will return in Jeopardy! Masters, but first, fans will get to see the Jeopardy! Invitational Tournament, which begins on February 5.

Reddit fans commented on Pasco’s win and the game. “The FJ replies were wholesome. 3 kings sharing a stage,” one fan said.

“My thoughts too,” replied a fan.

“Well…I thought for sure we were going 5 games. Props to Paolo, probably the best TOC performance since Alex Jacob,” a third added.

“THAT WAS QUICK. ,”  a shocked fan wrote.

“Incredible 3 games. Congrats,” another commented.

“Three runaways! An amazing feat,” one last fan said. A handful of Reddit users believe Pasco could win Masters.

What do you think of the TOC results? Let us know in the comments.

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