Juveria Zaheer is a psychiatrist from Whitby, Ontario, Canada.
Jeopardy! Run[]
First Game[]
Juveria made her debut on May 8, 2023, against 3-day champion Hannah Wilson. Hannah held the immediate advantage for much of the game, but Juveria found the third Daily Double of the game and added $7,000 to bring herself very close to Hannah by Final Jeopardy. Unfortunately, Juveria’s incorrect response and Hannah’s correct response in Final meant Juveria was sent home after her first game, while Hannah won out of the rest of the week before being beaten by a returning Ben Chan the following Monday.
Second Chance[]
Because of her performance against Hannah, Juveria returned to the show in December 2023 for that year’s Second Chance Competition. Her semifinal, against Sam Claussen and Jake Garrett, was widely considered one of the best games of all time - all three players combined for $68,300 before Final Jeopardy, with Juveria taking advantage of a $15,200 True Daily Double early in Double Jeopardy to have a commanding lead ($32,400 to $18,000 to $17,900) going into Final. All three players were correct, and while Sam and Jake both went all-in, Juveria wagered just enough to cover both and advanced to the final; Jake’s final total of $35,800 is the highest third-place score of all time.
The first day of the finals, against Jason Carpenter and Iris Masucci, was a complete bloodbath. Juveria picked up 32 correct responses, plus a pair of $10,000 Daily Doubles, to amass $45,600 before Final Jeopardy was even played; she got Final correct to give herself $51,200 before the second day could even be played. Unfortunately for Jason, he needed to find all three Daily Doubles on Day 2 to give himself a chance, and he only found one; while Juveria’s bets on the two she found were decidedly more tempered, her score from Day 1 mathematically guaranteed her victory and advancement to Champions Wildcard. (Jason could only get up to $47,800, less than Juveria’s Day 1 total of $51,200.
Champions Wildcard[]
Juveria’s win in Second Chance meant she advanced to Champions Wildcard, a tournament for Season 39 champions who didn’t quite earn enough to auto-qualify for the Tournament of Champions. Against Devin Lohman and Patti Palmer, Juveria led for essentially the entire game, and the game effectively ended after a successful $11,600 True Daily Double midway through Double Jeopardy.
In her semifinal, she led for most of the game again; unfortunately for her, Robbi Ramirez managed to beat her to the two Daily Doubles in Double Jeopardy, and he picked up a combined $13,000 to hold the lead going into Final. Luckily for Juveria, Robbi was the only player that day to miss Final Jeopardy, giving Juveria a come-from-behind win and a spot in the finals.
In the finals, against Andy Tirrell and Michael Menkhus, Juveria did manage to find both Daily Doubles in Double Jeopardy, going all-in both times en route to $34,000 going into Final; unfortunately, her incorrect response in Final, coupled with Andy’s successful all-in bet, meant that her lead was only $5,200 going into the second day of the finals. On the second day, Andy and Michael both successfully converted True Daily Doubles in Double Jeopardy; however, nine incorrect responses between the two of them meant neither was able to get a lot of money from their Daily Doubles, giving Juveria a runaway. In spite of nobody getting Day 2’s Final correct, Juveria’s runaway meant she advanced to the Tournament of Champions, with Andy taking second and Michael third.
Trivia[]
- Juveria is notably extremely aggressive on Daily Doubles - her $15,200 bet is the highest Daily Double wager ever by a Canadian, and her average gain of $9,700 is the highest of the entire 2024 ToC field.
- Her brother, Omar Zaheer, was a contestant on Survivor 42.