James Holzhauer is one big “Jeopardy!” win away from becoming the game show’s newest million-dollar man — and his rapid-fire buzzer finger shows no signs of slowing down.
With his 13th consecutive victory Monday, Holzhauer, who took home $90,812 in winnings, now has $942,738 in total prize money, good enough for second all-time in non-tournament play, behind only Ken Jennings, who won $2.5 million while winning 74 straight games in 2004.
Holzhauer, an Illinois native who lives in Las Vegas, is now tied for fourth place for consecutive “Jeopardy!” wins and is just $57,262 away from cracking the million-dollar mark — a relatively modest haul for a trivia whiz who broke the single-game record last week with a $131,137 win.
Holzhauer, 34, provided the correct answer for Monday’s Final Jeopardy — “Who is Elgin? — in response to a clue about 19th Century Brits: “In a poem Lord Byron, a lover of a Greece, calls this diplomat & fellow lord a ‘plunderer.’” But that’s hardly new for Holzhauer, who has gotten 12 of 13 Final Jeopardy clues correct during his noteworthy run, according to a “Jeopardy!” fan website.
Holzhauer, who frequently jumps around the board in search of Daily Doubles, has also dominated earlier play in the game show’s 35th season, answering a total of 455 clues correctly, compared to just 17 incorrectly, according to The “Jeopardy!” Fan.
The website now gives Holzhauer a 10.4 percent chance to eclipse Jennings’ consecutive win mark and more than a 96 percent chance to win No. 14 on Tuesday.
Holzhauer’s lightning-quick buzzer finger has also been a key asset during his run, as he’s been first to answer host Alex Trebek nearly 56 percent of the time. He’s also answered 29 of 32 Daily Doubles correctly, racking up $281,150 in the process, according to The “Jeopardy!” Fan.
The professional sports gambler also employs an unusual betting style, often making wagers that might seem nonsensical to the uninformed. But Holzhauer told the Washington Post earlier this month that he makes those specific bets as a nod to family and friends. One of his victories — a $110,914 payday — was a reference to his daughter’s birthday on Nov. 9, 2014, he told the newspaper.
“Family and friends will always mean more to me than any amount of money or ‘Jeopardy!’ wins,” Holzhauer said. “I wanted to show them my love in an unconventional way.”
Holzhauer might need to expand his social circle a bit, as he mentioned during Monday’s win that he’s running out of relatives to acknowledge during Final Jeopardy. He instead said hello to friends “Zach, Emma & Lilly” during his latest victory.
If he keeps up his current pace of $71,000 per win, Holzhauer is poised to reach $2.5 million in less than half the time it took Jennings to reach that mark, according to The Atlantic. He’ll also likely be giving the show’s bean counters a headache during that stretch, one former game show honcho told the magazine.
“Every game show has a prize budget,” said Bob Borden, former head of programming at Game Show Network. “Typically, for a long-running show the prize budget is determined by way of averages of what has been won in the past. James’ performance, I’m sure, is causing grief for an accountant somewhere.”