Las Vegas Sports Bettor James Holzhauer Takes Down Jeopardy Tournament Of Champions

Las Vegas sports bettor James Holzhauer took down the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions Friday night, earning the $250,000 first-place prize for beating a group of game show’s best contestants from the season.

The 35-year-old professional gambler captured the public’s attention with a 32-game winning streak that ended in early June to Emma Boettcher. In order to get the victory, however, Holzhauer needed to get some revenge of Boettcher in the finals.

Holzhauer entered the second part of the two-day competition with a sizable lead. Although Boettcher was able to make up some ground, he ultimately finished ahead with a total of $76,923 to her $65,000. Boettcher picked up $100,000 for finishing runner-up, while Francois Barcomb earned $50,000 for taking third.

During Holzhauer’s initial run, he won $2.46 million, falling just short of all-time earnings mark leader Ken Jennings with $2.52 million. He did this despite winning less than half as many games, with 32 to Jennings’ 74.

Previously, the Jeopardy! record for most won in a single game was Roger Craig’s $77,000. Holzhauer averaged that much during his streak.

Holzhauer was able to run away with most of his wins by hunting down daily double questions and aggressively betting when he hit them. The Illinois-native would often have the games locked up before the final question was even asked.

This summer, he even appeared in a couple events at the World Series of Poker.

After his win aired, Holzhauer took to social media and hinted that he may not be done on the show, and even challenged both Jennings and former champion Brad Rutter.

The End…? https://t.co/5GySZb1ele

— James Holzhauer (@James_Holzhauer) November 16, 2019

Hey bradrutter</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/KenJennings?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">KenJennings pic.twitter.com/SvncSPhuhB

— James Holzhauer (@James_Holzhauer) November 16, 2019

Holzhauer isn’t the first gambler to appear on Jeopardy!, nor the first to win the Tournament of Champions. Poker pro turned currency trader Alex Jacob won $151,802 on the game show in 2015 during a week-long run, and added the $250,000 TOC prize later that year.

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