James Holzhauer Biography
James Holzhauer is a professional sports gambler and a game show contestant from the United States. He is the third-highest-earning American game show contestant of all time, best known for his 32-game winning streak as champion on Jeopardy! from April to June 2019, during which he set multiple single-game winnings records, and for winning the subsequent Tournament of Champions that November.
How old is James Holzhauer? – Age
He is 38 years old as of July 2022. He was born in 1984 in Naperville, Illinois, United States.
James Holzhauer Family – Education
His father was an immigrant from Germany. His grandmother was Japanese and spoke little English; he had promised her that he would appear on Jeopardy! before she passed away. When he was four years old, his teacher was astounded by his arithmetic abilities and created advanced classwork specifically for him. In 2005, he received his Bachelor of Science in mathematics. He was promoted to a fifth-grade math class when he was seven years old. He received A’s on all of his math tests and was a member of the Naperville North High School math team.
James Holzhauer Wife – Children
Holzhauer married Melissa Sassin, a tutor from Seattle, Washington, on September 8, 2012. Sassin has also competed on a game show, appearing on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in 2014 and winning $28,800. Natasha, their daughter, was born on November 9, 2014.
What is James from Jeopardy net worth?
He has an estimated net worth of $1.3 million.
James Holzhauer Winnings
He won $43,680 in his first game, the highest single-game total in Season 35 up to that point. In his fourth game, which aired on April 9, he won $110,914, shattering the previous single-game Jeopardy! winnings record ($77,000, set by Roger Craig in 2010).
During his 33 appearances, Holzhauer broke Craig’s single-day total 16 times (see table below), including a new all-time high of $131,127 on April 17. He is also the first and only player in history to win $100,000 or more in a single episode six times. His total winnings of $298,687 over his first five days surpassed Frank Spangenberg’s five-day record set in 1990 before the clue values changed.
Holzhauer is the only contestant to have done so thus far. He won a total of $2,464,216, averaging $75,362 per episode over the course of 33 days, nearly matching the previous all-time single-day record. Fellow Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings has likened this feat to “a basketball player notching 70-point games for an entire season or a baseball player hitting for the cycle in every game”. Holzhauer’s average winnings exceeded the estimated $43,000 per episode earned by host Alex Trebek.
James Holzhauer The Chase
On September 2, 2014, Holzhauer appeared on the American version of the quiz show The Chase, which was produced internationally by ITV Studios. In his first round, the Cash Builder, he correctly answered 12 of the 13 questions posed by host Brooke Burns; the final question was asked just before time expired and was quickly passed on by Holzhauer. His score set a Cash Builder record that was never broken during the show’s run.
He faced Mark Labbett in his second round to determine whether he would advance to the final round and contribute to the team prize pool. Holzhauer could play for one of three prizes: $60,000 based on his Cash Builder score, $30,000 to reduce the difficulty of the round, or $120,000 to increase the difficulty. He chose to play for $60,000; after the show, he stated that the odds were not in his favor and that it was not worth the risk.
The Chase was played head-to-head, with players selecting multiple-choice answers using hidden buttons. With a score of five correct and one incorrect, Holzhauer advanced to the finals and contributed to the prize pool. Labbett received a perfect five, but his final answer was withheld because Holzhauer had already earned the necessary points to win the round.
Holzhauer’s team defeated Labbett’s team by a score of 26 to 9, earning him a $58,333.33 share of the $175,000 team prize pool. By correctly answering 19 questions for his team, he set a Final Chase record that has never been broken.
The Chase’s producer, Bob Boden, was impressed with his performance and had Holzhauer audition to join the show as Labbett’s colleague. Holzhauer and several other famous game show contestants were said to be in talks to become chasers for a potential reboot of The Chase for ABC in July 2020. The reboot, starring Holzhauer, Ken Jennings, and Brad Rutter, will premiere on ABC on January 7, 2021.
James Holzhauer Streak
Excluding wagers on Daily Doubles and Final Jeopardy!, Holzhauer averaged $30,800 during his 32-episode winning streak (57% of the $54,000 available in each game), which is higher than Jennings’ average of $28,786. Holzhauer thought it was more logical to place big bets that will typically pay off because, during the first 25 episodes of his winning streak, he averaged 35.5 correct and only 1.04 incorrect answers per game. He didn’t misjudge any clues on the episode where he lost.
He attributed his ability to learn vast amounts of information in an easily digestible manner to reading fact books written for children, which make extensive use of infographics. He took a year off from his sports betting job to study for Jeopardy!.
James Holzhauer Jeopardy
From April 4 to June 3, 2019, Holzhauer appeared on 33 episodes of the American game show Jeopardy! Season 35. He won $43,680 in his first game, the highest single-game total in Season 35 up to that point. In his fourth game, which aired on April 9, he won $110,914, shattering the previous single-game Jeopardy! winnings record ($77,000, set by Roger Craig in 2010).
During his 33 appearances, Holzhauer broke Craig’s single-day total 16 times (see table below), including a new all-time high of $131,127 on April 17. He is also the first and only player in history to win $100,000 or more in a single episode six times.
His total winnings of $298,687 over his first five days surpassed Frank Spangenberg’s five-day record set in 1990 before the clue values changed. Holzhauer is the only contestant to have done so thus far. He won a total of $2,464,216, averaging $75,362 per episode over the course of 33 days, nearly matching the previous all-time single-day record. Fellow Jeopardy! champion Ken Jennings has likened this feat to “a basketball player notching 70-point games for an entire season or a baseball player hitting for the cycle in every game”. Holzhauer’s average winnings were higher than host Alex Trebek’s estimated $43,000 per episode.
Holzhauer was defeated in his 33rd game, which was viewed by 14.5 million people on June 3, 2019. Emma Boettcher, the winner, employed many of the same strategies as Holzhauer. Jeopardy! announced in July 2019 that Holzhauer would return for the Tournament of Champions in November. Holzhauer won both his quarterfinal and semifinal games to advance to the final round, which included a rematch against Boettcher, who was invited separately and won her first two tournament games as well.
Holzhauer won the two-day final, winning the first game by a larger margin than Boettcher did in the second, and taking home the $250,000 grand prize. The following week, Jeopardy! announced that Holzhauer would compete in prime-time specials against Jennings and Rutter for a million dollars in Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time, which will air in January 2020. Holzhauer won one match in the tournament but lost the others to Jennings, earning him the runner-up prize of $250,000.