Jeopardy! champion James Holzhauer wins his 23rd straight show - pushing his total winnings to $1.78M - as all-time record holder Ken Jennings says he is now ROOTING for him
- Las Vegas gambler James Holzhauer, 34, won his 23rd consecutive Jeopardy!
- On Monday, he banked $89,229 on the popular quiz show
- Holzhauer has won a total of $1,780,237 in his 23 Jeopardy! appearances
- He is closing on the all-time cash record holder, Ken Jennings, who won $2.5M
- Jennings won 74 consecutive Jeopardy! shows back in 2004
- Holzhauer, who is averaging $77,000 per game, needs just 10 more victories at the same pace to break Jennings' record
- On Sunday, Jennings wrote an op-ed saying he is rooting for Holzhauer
James Holzhauer simply cannot be stopped.
The professional gambler from Las Vegas on Monday notched his 23rd consecutive victory on Jeopardy! - bringing his total winnings from the popular quiz show to a whopping $1,780,237.
Holzhauer, 34, finished in first place again on Monday by banking $89,229.
With his victory on Monday, Holzhauer has moved one step closer to the all-time cash record of $2.5million.
That record was set by Ken Jennings, who dominated the quiz show back in 2004.
James Holzhauer, 34, has won nearly $1.8million, which he amassed over 23 consecutive appearances on the hit quiz show Jeopardy!
Jennings won 74 consecutive contests that year.
But what makes Holzhauer’s winning streak all the more impressive is the fact that he is on pace to win just as much money as Jennings in less than half the number of games.
In fact, if Holzhauer maintains his current pace, he will beat Jennings’ all-time record for cumulative winnings after his 33rd game, according to FiveThirtyEight.
That’s because Holzhauer has averaged $77,000 per game, more than double the roughly $34,000 that Jennings earned.
Holzhauer now has the top eight single-game totals in the show's history.
Jennings has said that he is rooting for Holzhauer to smash his all-time cash record.
‘We are seeing history made in front of our eyes, the “Jeopardy!” equivalent of a basketball player notching 70-point games for an entire season or a baseball player hitting for the cycle in every game,’ Jennings wrote in an op-ed for The Washington Post on Sunday.
Holzhauer, 34, finished in first place again on Monday by banking $89,229. With his victory on Monday, Holzhauer has moved one step closer to the all-time cash record of $2.5million
‘Even casual fans of the show have probably heard by now how Holzhauer is doing it: He’s a sports bettor who feels supremely comfortable wagering aggressively, and he cannily plays the game board from the bottom up, starting with the highest dollar values and amassing cash before the Daily Doubles have been found and while his poor opponents are still finding their feet.’
Share this article
Jeopardy! returned to its regular contestants after a two-week hiatus in which teachers competed on the show.
Earlier this month, Holzhauer gave an interview to a middle school newspaper in which he revealed the secret to his Jeopardy! success.
‘I was an undisciplined student, but I set a goal for Jeopardy and really focused on achieving it,’ he told the Sams Salmon Exclusive.
‘No one has ever played Jeopardy like I do, but I didn't let that stop me from approaching the game the way I thought I should.’
Holzhauer said that he first started taking the online test to get on Jeopardy! in 2006, but it wasn’t until 2012 that he seriously began to prepare.
His strategy was simple: read as many children’s book as possible.
That record was set by Ken Jennings, who dominated the quiz show back in 2004
‘I dedicated myself to learning at least the basics of every subject I could imagine popping up on the show,’ he said.
‘For me, that meant reading a lot of children's books, since they are specifically designed to get the reader interested in a new subject.’
Holzhauer says that he has used a strategy of answering the most expensive questions first.
When he hits a ‘Daily Double,’ he bets large sums of money.
Holzhauer says he was driven to make it on Jeopardy! because of his grandmother.
‘I had wanted to be on the show since childhood, when I watched with my beloved Granny,’ he said.
‘I promised her I would be on the show one day, so I always felt I owed it to her.’
