On April 4, Alex Trebek kicked off “Jeopardy!” with some practical advice for the contestants: “You have to be bright. You have to be…
On April 4, Alex Trebek kicked off “Jeopardy!” with some practical advice for the contestants: “You have to be bright. You have to be fast. And you have to feel comfortable with the categories if you want to succeed.” He nodded toward the previous night’s winner, Alex Koral, who beamed. “All of those three worked for Alex yesterday. Who will they work for today?” Trebek asked.
The answer, unfortunately for Koral, was the guy to his left: James Holzhauer, the frighteningly talented “Jeopardy!” player who has dominated the past 13 games and racked up $942,738, second only to Ken Jennings. In its 35th season, the dinnertime show is suddenly appointment television as Holzhauer has shattered the idea of a typical “Jeopardy!” strategy. He has broken his record for single-game winnings three times; his highest total is $131,137, which he won last week. Holzhauer plays, as Slate put it, “like a cyborg constructed for the express purpose of winning at this ever-popular game.”
“Unless you have been living under a rock for the past two weeks, you know about our current champion, James,” Trebek said Monday evening, as Holzhauer crushed his fellow competitors by tens of thousands of dollars. “Now, it is worth noting that when Ken Jennings had his amazing run of 74 wins in a row, he was averaging $34,000 per victory. James is averaging $71,000 per victory.”
As a professional sports gambler from Las Vegas, Holzhauer appears to have absolutely no fear of making huge bets during the Daily Double or Final Jeopardy. He hunts around the board to find the Daily Double before anyone else has a shot.
