James Holzhauer

James Holzhauer (born August 6, 1984) is an American game show contestant and professional sports gambler. He is the fourth-highest-earning American game show contestant of all time. Holzhauer is best known for his 32-game winning streak as champion on the quiz show Jeopardy! from April to June 2019, during which he set multiple single-game records for winnings, and for winning the following Tournament of Champions that November.

Holzhauer won $2,464,216 in his 33 appearances, making him the second-highest winner in Jeopardy! regular-play (non-tournament) winnings (behind only Ken Jennings, who won $2,520,700 in 2004) and, at the time, second in number of games won (again behind only Jennings) although he has since been surpassed by Matt Amodio (38 games) and Amy Schneider (40). His $250,000 top prize in the Tournament of Champions, $250,000 runner-up prize in the Greatest of All Time Tournament and $500,000 first prize in the inaugural Masters tournament brought his total to $3,464,216, making him still the third-highest winning Jeopardy! contestant, behind Jennings and Brad Rutter. Holzhauer also set the single-game winnings record with $131,127 and holds all top 10 single-game winning records. Based on his success on Jeopardy!, Holzhauer has been nicknamed "Jeopardy James".

Early life Born on August 6, 1984, Holzhauer was raised in Naperville, Illinois. His father was a German immigrant. In 1989, when Holzhauer was four, his teacher was astounded by his mathematical abilities and developed advanced classwork just for him. At age seven, Holzhauer was moved up to a fifth-grade math class, and skipped second grade at his mother's urging. Holzhauer consistently got A's on math tests and competed on the Naperville North High School math team.

Despite high marks on individual tests, Holzhauer was a C student overall, as he often shunned his classes on the grounds that he could use the time more "productively", such as playing online poker. Holzhauer memorized obscure baseball and professional wrestling statistics, prompting his parents to reprimand him for "wasting his life" learning about sports. Holzhauer graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics in 2005.

Career Game show appearances The Chase

Holzhauer appeared on the American version of the quiz show The Chase on September 2, 2014. In his first round, a one-minute round called the Cash Builder, Holzhauer correctly answered 12 questions out of 13 posed by host Brooke Burns; the last question was asked just before time expired and was quickly passed on by Holzhauer. His score set a record for the Cash Builder that was never surpassed during the show's run.

In his second round, Holzhauer faced Mark Labbett to determine whether he would advance to the final round and add money to the team prize pool. Holzhauer had a choice of three amounts to play for: $60,000 based on his score in the Cash Builder, $30,000 to reduce the difficulty of the round; and $120,000, which would increase the difficulty. He chose to play for $60,000; after the show, Holzhauer said that the odds did not favor playing for the maximum amount and that it was not worth the gamble.

In the Final Chase round (as team leader with two other contestants also participating), Holzhauer's team defeated Labbett by a score of 26 to 9, earning him a $58,333.33 share of the $175,000 team prize pool. By answering 19 questions correctly for his team, he set a Final Chase record, which was also never surpassed. In July 2020, Holzhauer and several other famous game show contestants were said to be in negotiations to become chasers for a potential reboot of The Chase, which would be produced for ABC. The reboot starring Holzhauer, Ken Jennings, and Brad Rutter premiered January 7, 2021, on ABC.

500 Questions Holzhauer appeared on the American quiz show 500 Questions on May 22, 2015. This show did not allow the challenger to replace the champion unless the champion answered three questions wrong in a row. The incumbent champion, Steve Bahnaman, prevailed over Holzhauer, who did not receive any winnings.

Jeopardy!

Holzhauer appeared on 33 episodes of Season 35 of the American quiz show Jeopardy!, from April 4 to June 3, 2019.

During his first game, Holzhauer won $43,680, the second largest single-game total to that point in Season 35, behind fellow Tournament of Champions competitor Eric R. Backes' $48,001 on February 11, 2019. In his fourth game, which aired on April 9, Holzhauer broke the previous single-game Jeopardy! winnings record with a one-day score of $110,914, which surpassed the 45-year old record of Robert H. Smith, Jr., whose $3,900 from September 14, 1973, when adjusted to clue values since November 26, 2001, was $78,000. That also surpassed the gross winnings record of $77,000, set by Roger Craig in 2010.

During his appearances, Holzhauer exceeded Smith's single-day total 16 times (see table below), including a new all-time record set on April 17, when he won $131,127. Holzhauer is also the first and only player to win $100,000 or more in a single episode, a feat that he accomplished six times. His $298,687 total winnings across his first five days surpassed the five-day record set by Frank Spangenberg in 1990 before the changes in the values of the clues. Holzhauer is the only contestant to date to do so. He won a total of $2,464,216, averaging $75,362 per episode—a 33-day average that nearly equaled the previous all-time single-day record. Fellow Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings has likened this feat to "a basketball player notching 70-point games for an entire season or a baseball player hitting for the cycle in every game".

Holzhauer was defeated in his 33rd game, which aired on June 3, 2019, and was watched by 14.5 million people. The winner, Emma Boettcher, used many of the same strategies as Holzhauer.

In July 2019, Jeopardy! confirmed that Holzhauer would return for the Tournament of Champions in November. Holzhauer won both his quarterfinal and semifinal games to advance to the final round, which featured a rematch against Boettcher, who was invited separately and also won her first two tournament games. Holzhauer won the two-day final, winning the first game by a larger margin than Boettcher won the second and claiming the $250,000 grand prize. Holzhauer won one match in the tournament, but lost to Jennings in the others, and received the runner-up prize of $250,000.

Jeopardy! Masters On May 8, 2023, Holzhauer placed second in the first round of Jeopardy! Masters; despite knowing the Final Jeopardy! question, he wrote in an "answer" challenging Ken Jennings to a tournament. In spite of this, he won his bracket as he was far ahead of (over 20,000 points) the other competitors. He entered Final Jeopardy! with a lead (40,800 points). Earlier in the day, he had teased that he would be the "villain" of the tournament. On May 24, 2023, Holzhauer won the Masters tournament, edging out Mattea Roach and Matt Amodio to earn the $500,000 grand prize.

Regular play winnings

Game no.Air dateFinal scoreCumulative winningsNotes 1 $43,680 $43,680 2 $82,606 3 $50,845 $133,451 4 $110,914† $244,365 First breaks record of Robert H. Smith, Jr., whose $3,900 from 1973 , when adjusted to decupled clue values when the 1984 version premiered was adjusted to $39,000, then further doubled in 2001, was adjusted to $78,000 and surpassed the gross winnings record of $77,000, set by Roger Craig in 2010. Also breaks first five days winnings record. (previously $205,194 held by Frank Spangenberg wafter adjusting for clue values) 7 $89,158 $415,035 8 $45,444 $460,479 Reached second-place on all-time Jeopardy! regular play winnings list. 9 $106,181† $566,660 10 $131,127† $697,787 Broke his own single-day winnings record. 11 $74,133 $771,920 12 $80,006 $851,926 13 $90,812† $942,738 14 $118,816† $1,061,554 Became second Jeopardy! contestant to win $1 million in regular gameplay winnings and the fastest contestant to hit the milestone. 15 $73,621 $1,135,175 Moved into #10 on American game show winnings list, including $58,333 he won in 2014 on The Chase. 16 $90,812† $1,225,987 Moved up to #9 on American game show winnings list 17 $49,600 $1,275,587 18 $1,329,604 Narrowest margin of victory, winning by $18. Challenger Adam Levin's final total of $53,999 is the highest second place regular play total in Jeopardy! history. 19 $96,726† $1,426,330 20 $101,682† $1,528,012 Moved up to #8 on American game show winnings list. 21 $80,615 $1,608,627 Passes Julia Collins for second-longest winning streak in regular play. 22 $82,381 $1,691,008 Holzhauer's run went on a two-week hiatus after this broadcast while Jeopardy! aired the Teachers Tournament following this episode. 23 $89,229† $1,780,237 Moved up to #6 on American game show winnings list 24 $86,905 $1,867,142 Moved up to #5 on American game show winnings list 25 $71,885 $1,939,027 26 $1,991,135 27 $74,400 $2,065,535 Became second Jeopardy! contestant to win $2 million in regular gameplay winnings and the fastest contestant to do so. 28 $130,022† $2,195,557 Moved to #4 on American game show winnings list 29 $59,381 $2,254,938 30 $69,033 $2,323,971 31 $58,612 $2,382,583 32 $79,633 $2,462,216 33 $2,464,216 Defeated by challenger Emma Boettcher, who finished the game with $46,801.

Tournaments

+ 2019 Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions Round Air date Final score Cumulative winnings Notes $30,635 $2,714,216 $30,156 30,000† 44,314† Finished in first place with an aggregate total for match two of 82,414. Holzhauer and Jennings were tied at one match apiece. 38,100† 27,200 Aggregate total for match 3 (33,692) was less than the 67,600 points by Jennings, who won the match. Jennings led the tournament, with two matches to Holzhauer's one. 6,492 34,181 Aggregate total for match 4 (34,181) was less than the 88,600 points by Jennings, who won the match and the tournament. Holzhauer earned the runner-up prize of $250,000. 0 Green background indicates a match won by Holzhauer. A † indicates Holzhauer won an individual game.Red background indicates matches Holzhauer lost an individual game.

Strategies Holzhauer took a two-pronged approach to play. He selected the highest-value clues first in an attempt to maximize the money he had available to wager when he hit a Daily Double. This strategy does not always work, as a Daily Double is more likely to be behind a high-value clue, and often he hit the Daily Double before accumulating a large sum to wager. On Daily Doubles and during Final Jeopardy! clues, Holzhauer bet aggressively; his average wager on Daily Doubles was $9,000.

While aggressive betting is disadvantageous if a player responds incorrectly, Holzhauer was correct on 72 of the 76 Daily Doubles he hit (94.7%). This strategy was not entirely new; Alex Jacob, also a professional gambler, used a similar strategy in his six regular-play wins in April 2015 and the 2015 Tournament of Champions, which he won.

Excluding Daily Doubles and Final Jeopardy! wagers, Holzhauer's average score of $30,800 during his 32-episode winning streak (57% of the $54,000 available in each game) is higher than the $28,786 averaged by Jennings, who was far more conservative in his wagering; Holzhauer considered it more logical to make large bets that will usually pay off, On the episode he lost, Holzhauer did not respond to any clues incorrectly.

Response to game play Holzhauer's record-breaking winning streak attracted considerable reaction and media attention. When Holzhauer reached $1 million in 14 games and subsequently $2 million in 27 games, both of which being the fastest milestones, Craig, who held the single-game winnings record before Holzhauer, said, "To me, it's clear that he's one of the top players of all time already." Jennings said he was "just gobsmacked by James", adding, "It's absolutely insane what he's doing." Of Holzhauer's strategies, Jennings said, "he's got these incredibly confident wagers. He's maximizing money. He can make two or three times what any other player ever has with that same level of play, which again is top-shelf. He's as good as anybody." Jennings adopted Holzhauer's wagering strategy in the Greatest of All Time tournament, a factor in his victory. Labbett, meanwhile, recalled Holzhauer's The Chase appearance as "the worst beating I've ever had", adding, "I've got to give Jeopardy! immense credit, and The Chase U.S.A. In Britain or Australia, James would not have made it onto television, because he's just too damn good. They would never have him on." and as much as 50% in select local markets, with a continuing upward trend over the course of his streak; by the fourth week of his run, ratings were up 30% nationwide and had doubled in select markets. Former Game Show Network executive Bob Boden said the ratings would help compensate for any short-term financial losses Holzhauer's run caused, and that the show's profitability up to this point (Jeopardy! and sister program Wheel of Fortune combined generate approximately $125 million in profit) would allow them to absorb the increased payouts. It was also noted that the improved ratings would not immediately allow the show to increase advertising rates, since those are set on a season-by-season basis as part of long-term ad buys.

The record ratings came despite the fact that the episode had been spoiled several hours before it aired on most affiliate stations. Production staff notified interested media organizations in advance that Holzhauer would lose on June 3, but asked them to agree to an embargo until the show aired. The New York Times then hired a freelance journalist based in Montgomery, Alabama, to watch the show's first airing on any station – at 9:30 a.m. Central Time (10:30 a.m. Eastern Time). Upon confirming Holzhauer had in fact lost, the paper immediately published its story on the result and a profile of Boettcher to some controversy, as the episode would not air in the rest of Central Time or anywhere in other time zones for at least several hours. Sports Illustrated credited the spoilers with creating buzz, counteracting the conventional wisdom that people would not tune in without the element of surprise. Even if the result had not been spoiled, Holzhauer was on pace to break Jennings's regular-play record that day had he won, which might have also had a part in the increased ratings.

Other activities In February 2023, Holzhauer appeared as a Clue Giver in the category "Taking A Gamble With James Holzhauer" during the Triple Jeopardy! on the final episode of Celebrity Jeopardy! on ABC.

In January 2023, it was announced that Holzhauer would compete in the Jeopardy! Masters primetime tournament on ABC. The program premiered on May 8, 2023.

Gambling career While a student at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Holzhauer played hearts and spades at a card club. The twice-a-week club quickly turned into a five-day-a-week home poker game with a 10-cent ante and $2 maximum bets. The poker game is where Holzhauer began gambling but he grew his sports betting bankroll in the 2006 World Baseball Classic. Believing the round-robin format of the tournament and variance in baseball had skewed the odds, Holzhauer bet heavily on each team except the US and the Dominican Republic to win the tournament. After graduating from college, he moved to Las Vegas in 2008 to bet professionally on sports. Holzhauer says he has built predictive models for baseball, NFL, and college basketball, but now focuses largely on in-game betting. Holzhauer ultimately was knocked out as a solo contestant in round 17 of the tournament, with his most notable prize win being a $600 profit for finishing 92nd out of 1,867 on a No-Limit Hold'em Super Turbo Bounty game.

Personal life On September 8, 2012, Holzhauer married Melissa Sassin, a tutor from Seattle, Washington.

Holzhauer frequently made inside references to important dates in his life with his Jeopardy! wagers, including family members' birthdays, his anniversary, and the date of the 2017 Las Vegas shooting.

Holzhauer is a sports fan in his personal capacity and is a fan of the Vegas Golden Knights of the National Hockey League. He has incorporated Vegas' staple "V" logo into his signature on an episode of Jeopardy and in a separate episode once proclaimed 'go Knights go' before wagering $10,617 on a daily double question, intentionally corresponding with October 6, 2017, the date of the team's first win. On April 21, 2019, Holzhauer participated in the team's pre-game festivities before a playoff match. Holzhauer has said that he was contractually obligated to a non-compete clause in an agreement with the Jeopardy! producers; it expired in January 2020.

Holzhauer is a fan of professional wrestling, in particular WWE, as seen in his numerous appearances for Jeopardy and The Chase. On both of those shows, he has notably used the taunts of Randy Orton, Scott Hall, Shawn Michaels and Chris Jericho. He also used a wrestling-like championship belt when on Jeopardy! Masters, and was referred to as a "self-described game show villain". To hype up Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time in November 2019, he made a public statement identical to Scott Steiner's famous "Maths" promo, replacing Kurt Angle with Brad Rutter, and Samoa Joe with Ken Jennings whilst stating he had a "% chance of winning" the event.

Philanthropy Holzhauer said that he intended to donate some of his Jeopardy! winnings to Las Vegas children's charities. On April 7, 2019, Holzhauer donated $10,000 to a Las Vegas organization for displaced teens. On May 2, he was awarded a key to the Las Vegas Strip for his success on Jeopardy! and for his donations to children's charity organizations and other nonprofit organizations in the Las Vegas area. In mid-2019, Holzhauer donated $1,109.14 (representing his daughter's birthday) to the 2019 Naperville Pancreatic Cancer Reach Walk in Illinois, in Alex Trebek's name. On June 24, Holzhauer began participating in World Series of Poker events in Las Vegas. He plans to donate half his winnings to the Las Vegas nonprofit Project 150, which helps homeless, displaced and disadvantaged high school students.

Awards and honors On September 29, 2022, at the first Jeopardy! Honors event, Holzhauer and his wife Melissa received the inaugural Alex Trebek Person of the Year award from Alex Trebek's widow, Jean, for their contributions to Project 150. In 2020, the rock band AVOID! sang "Song About James" in his honor. The song was featured in NASCAR Heat 5 and NASCAR Heat Ultimate Edition+.