A typical Jeopardy champion takes home a few thousand dollars per game, on average, and rarely lasts more than two or three more episodes.īut James Holzhauer is anything but typical. Hardcore Jeopardy fans and scholars advise that players not risk their entire pool at the very end of the game, lest a potential winner sacrifice their lead by betting too big. Then they have 30 seconds to read the clue and answer in the form of a question. They must lock in their wager before the clue is revealed, based only on the category it falls within. This plays out over two rounds, as contestants aim to win as much money as possible before the game-ending Final Jeopardy round.ĭuring Final Jeopardy, contestants bet some or all of their earnings on one last clue. The game’s most well-known quirk is that players must offer their answers in the form of a question - Jeopardy is famous for its “Who is?”/“What is?” response structure. The rules of Jeopardy are mostly straightforward: Three contestants choose from a variety of categories that each contain five clues, with each clue worth a progressively higher amount of money. In many ways, Holzhauer is a model Jeopardy contestant: smart, strategic, and fast on the buzzer In other words, depending on whom you ask, he’s either a welcome shot of energy for a formulaic trivia show or a threat to the reputation and legacy of an American institution. Many Jeopardy fans have said they’ve never seen anything like it.īut while his calculated style of gameplay has made Holzhauer far more interesting to watch than most typical Jeopardy contestants, it has also drawn harsh criticism from viewers who say his data-driven approach is undermining - and maybe even ruining - the game. Is he a boon for the long-running game show, adding excitement and tension with each additional win? Or is his winning streak “breaking” the game - by undermining the “spirit” of Jeopardy and making it seem impossible for anyone to beat him?Ī professional gambler by day, Holzhauer is leveraging his experience in the sports-betting scene and using game theory - in combination with his impressive knowledge - to dominate the game. He’s expected to stick around for a while, considering his performance thus far if Jeopardy’s format is charmingly predictable, so too is Holzhauer’s success each night, thanks to a highly strategic and calculated style of play that consistently nets him an early - and huge - lead over his fellow contestants.īut Holzhauer isn’t just the latest Jeopardy success story he’s also a polarizing one. The next night, May 21, brought his 24th win, and a new record: the highest per-game average winnings in Jeopardy history. But when he returned to the game on May 20, he picked up where he left off to win his 23rd game. He’s also racking up an unprecedented amount of money with each victory in less than a month’s worth of episodes, he’s amassed the second-highest total earnings in Jeopardy history, with $1,867,142.įollowing Holzhauer’s May 3 win, Jeopardy took a two-week break from regular competition for its annual Teachers Tournament. The 34-year-old contestant has gone undefeated for 24 consecutive games, Jeopardy’s second-longest winning streak ever. James Holzhauer is seemingly unstoppable. But the long-running, venerated game show is currently experiencing one of the most exciting hot streaks of its more than three decades on the air, all riding on the success of a single contestant who just won’t. That only two other people have done this is just hard to wrap my mind around.Of all the must-see pop culture out right now - including behemoths like Avengers: Endgame and Game of Thrones - Jeopardy may sound like the odd man out. “I have said I did start to think about this number a while ago, but it was really, I didn’t really think so. “I’m just blown away,” she said in an exclusive interview with the show. Earlier in the current 39th season, Jeopardy! champion Matt knocked him down from second place to third for the most consecutive games won on the show.Īfter claiming the historic victory, Amy admitted that she didn’t believe it was possible to accomplish it. Technicalities aside, Amy is the second person to beat James’ record, which was originally set in June 2019. But that’s perfectly fine with Ken, because he took the consulting gig knowing he would have to retire from the game. So, if the special event Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time got a round two, Ken wouldn’t be able to participate. After Ken became a consulting producer on Jeopardy! in September 2020, he no longer qualified to compete on the quiz show. As it turns out, while there are now technically four Jeopardy! millionaire club members - Ken ($2,520,700), James ($2,462,216), Matt Amodio ($1,518,601) and Amy - one of them doesn’t count anymore.
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