Every time Jeopardy! Powerhouse beginner James Holzhauer hits a Daily Double or makes a large Final Jeopardy wager; audiences can’t assist, however, marvel two things: Is this dude unstoppable? And will he catch as much as Jeopardy! Legend Ken Jennings?
In terms of earning extreme dough, Holzhauer has surely reached make-it-rain territory. The expert sports gambler from Las Vegas has racked up $1,691,008 over 22 video games with his aggressive fashion of play, which focuses on the huge-money questions first. (What’s more, Holzhauer is on Jeopardy! To satisfy a youth promise that he made to his grandmother. Cue the collective awww!)
Though new to sport-show stardom, Holzhauer’s excessive-hazard gameplay and large winnings already rank him some of the maximum-earning Jeopardy! Contestants ever. But permit’s get all the way down to business: How does the rookie examine to Jeopardy!’s Head Brainiac in Charge Ken Jennings, who famously racked up greater than $2.Five million for the duration of his record-breaking run in 2004? The new man has a protracted way to go; however, he has a valid hazard to topple the king.
Jennings won seventy-four consecutive games — which, if you can’t inform how big that is, Holzhauer has the display’s 2d-longest run — with a median every day winnings of $33,660. Holzhauer just gained his 22nd consecutive sport, and his common every day take home is a huge $76,864, greater than double what Jennings generally pulled. Holzhauer’s largest win thus far is $131,127 — the highest single-recreation payout in Jeopardy! History — and he holds the pinnacle ten spots at the all-time list of maximum one-day winnings. Jennings himself stated that he’s “just gobsmacked” by way of what Holzhauer is doing.
How, exactly, is he pulling this off? His average Daily Double guess is $nine,259, more than double Jennings’s common guess of $3,810. The higher risk has supposed higher praise for Holzhauer, who, of the path, couldn’t dominate the sport without the mental energy to back up his big bets. Aggressive making a bet is par for the direction for Holzhauer, who advised Vulture, “I realize life is going on in case you make a huge bet, and also you lose. But in case you don’t provide your self the excellent hazard of prevailing, you’re going to kick your self day after today.” Jennings could rack up $2,520,seven-hundred over seventy-four video games, and Holzhauer is more than midway there in 22 episodes. If he can preserve this up, it’ll take him 11 greater games to beat Jennings’s file.
However lengthy Holzhauer’s incredible run lasts, he’s already cemented himself inside the Jeopardy! Record books. Below, we’re retaining music of wherein he currently ranks a few of the show’s legends.