Pro sports bettor extends 'Jeopardy!' streak, wins by just $18 on Monday
James Holzhauer’s historic run on “Jeopardy!” is alive and well, though just barely.
Holzhauer — a professional sports bettor from Las Vegas — picked up his 18th consecutive victory on the show on Monday night in a close match that came down to Final Jeopardy! and less than $20.
Holzhauer was up against Adam Levin, a sports information director at Brandeis University in Massachusetts, who brought the show into Final Jeopardy! for just the second time during Holzhauer’s streak. Both Holzhauer and Levin answered the final question correctly — writing down “Chamber of Commerce” to the question, “The oldest of these business booster groups, formed in Marseille in 1599, uses ‘de’ instead of ‘of’ in the name.”
Holzhauer held a $6,517 lead heading into the final question, and escaped with just an $18 win to keep his streak alive.
Levin’s final total came to $53,999, which marked the highest non-winning total in the show’s history, according to thejeopardyfan.com.
“I work with student-athletes all the time and I see them win games and lose games and whichever it is, they are putting it all out there all the time,” Levin told the Boston Globe about his experience on the show, which was filmed in February. “Sometimes they win and sometimes they lose. As long as they put everything out there and gave it their best effort, they come away happy, and that’s how I felt.
“I did everything I could possibly do and the best I could, and I was a few dollars short, but I wouldn’t trade it. I had a huge smile on my face for as much of the time I could, because I was living the dream.”
How close is Holzhauer to Ken Jennings’ ‘Jeopardy!’ record?
Holzhauer won $54,017 on Monday, bringing his total winnings to $1,329,604.
Ken Jennings currently holds the all-time regular-play winnings record on the show, having won $2,520,700 over 74 games in 2004. As of Monday night, Holzhauer trails Jennings by nearly $1.2 million. He is on track to pass Jennings in 34 games, according to ESPN.
Holzhauer already has a different show record in the bag, however. He currently holds the top eight spots on the single-game winnings record list, setting the current record at $131,127. He has won more than $100,000 in a single show four different times. The previous record, which was set at $77,000, stood for nearly nine years.
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