Jeopardy contestant surpasses $1 million mark in record time
The Wall Street Journal sports columnist Jason Gay weighs in on the skills and strategies used by James Holzhauer to surpass the $1 million mark on Jeopardy.
Another day, another win for Jeopardy! savant James Holzhauer, as the professional sports gambler is now just $58,484 away from the game show’s record for earnings.
Holzhauer won again on Friday, adding $79,663 to his winnings in a run that has captivated the nation. He now has won $2,462,216 and has victories in 32 straight games, leaving him just $58,484 shy of the overall record for earnings.
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Given that he’s averaging in the high 70s for his winnings, he may top Ken Jennings record on Monday. Jennings earned $2,520,700 in 2004, winning 74 straight games.
Despite the threat of losing his record, Jennings has been all-in on Holzhauer.
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“For 15 years, I have thought somebody was going to make a run at this record, because I always knew it could be done,” Jennings said on Good Morning America. “I was there. I saw it happen. What I did not expect was somebody could make a run at the cash record in, like, a third the time.”
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Holzhauer has employed a unique game strategy on Jeopardy: he has gone for the highest-value questions first, and aggressively bets on the Daily Doubles.
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