James Holzhauer

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James Holzhauer
Born	1984/1985 (age 39–40) Naperville, Illinois
🏫 Education	University of Illinois (BA)
💼 Occupation
Known for	Jeopardy! champion

James Holzhauer is a professional sports gambler from Las Vegas and Jeopardy! champion with the five highest single-game scores in the show's history, including the all-time record of $131,127. He consistently amassed enormous scores—never finishing below $27,000 and averaging over $70,000—through his aggressive wagers on Daily Doubles.

Jeopardy! appearances

Single-game record

In his fourth game, Holzhauer won $110,914, surpassing the previous Jeopardy! single-game record of $77,000 (set by Roger Craig in 2010). He finished the Jeopardy! round with $13,000—more than triple the sum of his two competitors. On the third question of "Double Jeopardy!", Holzhauer found the first of two Daily Doubles, and risked all of his $14,600. Late in the round, he found the second Daily Double and risked $25,000 of his $46,800. Holzhauer finished "Double Jeopardy!" with $72,600—more than ten times what either of his competitors had—having correctly answered 42 of the game's 60 questions while missing only once. In "Final Jeopardy", Holzhauer wagered exactly enough—$38,314—to finish with a total that represented his daughter's November 9, 2014 birthday. He has said that finishing an episode with that number was his only specific goal when he became a contestant. After the taping of the record-breaking episode, Holzhauer said, "[Host Alex Trebek] pointed to the audience, where the next two contestants were sitting. We were going to tape the next show in about 15 minutes. And he just looks over at me and whispers, "Look at them, they're thinking, Oh shit. We have to face James next."

Holzhauer surpassed the $77,000 mark two more times in his next five games, with scores of $89,158 and $106,181.

In his tenth game, Holzhauer broke his own record, finishing with $131,127 after answering 40 questions correctly and missing none. He finished "Double Jeopardy" with $71,114, so far ahead of his competitors (who had $5,400 and $5,000) that he could safely risk $60,013 in "Final Jeopardy!".

In his twelfth game, he again broke the $77,000 barrier, winning $80,006 despite finishing the "Jeopardy!" round with only $5,400. It marked the sixth consecutive game in which Holzhauer had found all three Daily Doubles.

Playing style

When selecting questions from the board, Holzhauer employed a variation of the "Forrest Bounce", typically starting on the bottom row with $1,000 and $2,000 questions, then working his way up, one level at a time, until only the top row of questions remained. When finding a Daily Double, he usually either wagered everything he had (saying "all in" and pretending to shove stacks of poker chips forward), or a large, seemingly random amount (that reflected a significant date in the life of a loved one). He said, "My approach isn't complicated [...] Get some money, hit the Daily Doubles, bet big, and hope I run hot".

Holzhauer credited his background in sports gambling with giving him an advantage in gameplay. He said, "Players need to be playing more aggressively when they get Daily Doubles... I know life goes on if you make a big bet and you lose. But if you don't give yourself the best chance of winning, you're going to kick yourself tomorrow. I'm used to gambling. To me, these are just points on the scoreboard and not actual dollars. That mind-set was very helpful for me."

Public Reaction

It did not take long for Holzhauer's massive victories to gain notice. Wired published a piece titled "How a Professional Gambler Broke Jeopardy!" after his first record-setting episode, detailing his hyper-aggressive approach to gameplay. After his eleventh game, Vulture called him "Truly Unstoppable." ESPN.com ran a profiled entitled "Inside the Jeopardy! James juggernaut." Publications such as USA Today, the Washington Post, and Sports Illustrated profiled Holzhauer and his aggressive style.

Ken Jennings Comparison

Comparisons to former Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings were inevitable. After James's fourth win (in which he won $110,914), Trebek asked the audience, "Is it too soon to start thinking about Ken Jennings comparisons?" Holzhauer needed only eight games to move into second place on the all-time Jeopardy! money list, behind only Jennings. Longtime owner of the Jeopardy! records for longest winning streak (74 games) and prize winnings ($2,520,700), Jennings himself was in awe of Holzhauer, saying, "I’m just gobsmacked by James. It's absolutely insane what he's doing." While the two had nearly identical Coryat Scores (in which all wagers are deducted from a player's final score) of just over $29,000, Holzhauer's actual winnings were more than double Jennings's ($70,994 to $34,180 after 12 games). The difference was due to Holzhauer's fearless wagering on Daily Doubles; through 12 games, Holzhauer's average wager on a Daily Double was $9,822 (compared to $2,583 for Jennings). Said Jennings, "I would never have had the stomach for those kinds of bets. You’re going to have to be comfortable with losing the average American income on a single trivia question a lot of the time... Psychologically, my peace of mind was built on just playing my game—a lot lower stakes, fun game, let’s pretend we’re all here to have fun. James is under no such illusion." When asked on "The Dan Patrick Show" if he would welcome a one-on-one game against Jennings, Holzhauer replied, "I would love the chance to have a head-to-head death match with him... There’s an offshore site actually that started taking bets on it, a potential matchup between me and him, and they made me the favorite.”

Jeopardy! records held

• Highest single-game score ($131,127)
• Most winnings in first five games ($298,687)
• Largest Daily Double wager ($25,000)
• Largest Final Jeopardy wager ($60,013)
• Highest score at end of Jeopardy round ($22,012)
• Highest score at end of Double Jeopardy round ($72,600)
• Highest average winning score ($70,994)

Personal Background

Holzhauer has a degree of Bachelor of Science in Liberal Arts & Sciences Major in Mathematics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign granted in 2005. Prior to his performance on Jeopardy!, he was on two other television game shows: The Chase on September 2, 2014 and 500 Questions on May 22, 2015. Of the two shows, he had the greater success on The Chase. In The Final Chase round (as team leader with two other contestants participating), he defeated Mark Labbett ("The Beast") with a score of 26-9, splitting a prize of $175,000 with his team.

List of appearances

Game	Date	After Jeopardy!	After Double Jeopardy!	Final Score	Cumulative Total	Correct	Incorrect	Daily Doubles
1	April 4, 2019	$13,800	$40,412	$43,680	$43,680	31	2	2
2	April 5, 2019	$5,200	$29,114	$38,926	$82,606	22	1	1
3	April 8, 2019	$7,600	$43,815	$50,845	$133,451	30	1	2
4	April 9, 2019	$13,000	$72,600	$110,914	$244,365	42	1	3
5	April 10, 2019	$6,400	$33,200	$54,322	$298,687	31	2	2
6	April 11, 2019	$6,600	$30,200	$27,190	$325,877	25	2	2
7	April 12, 2019	$22,012	$58,148	$89,158	$415,035	32	0	3
8	April 15, 2019	$2,800	$35,415	$45,444	$460,479	37	2	3
9	April 16, 2019	$19,400	$66,181	$106,181	$566,660	42	2	3
10	April 17, 2019	$11,400	$71,114	$131,127	$697,787	40	0	3
11	April 18, 2019	$13,200	$47, 825	$74,133	$771,920	39	0	3
12	April 19, 2019	$5,400	$45,000	$80,006	$851,926	35	4	3

See also

• List of Jeopardy! contestants

References

Category:Jeopardy! contestants Category:People from Naperville, Illinois

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