James Holzhauer entered Wednesday’s episode with a 24-game winning streak and $1,867,142 made during his unbelievable Jeopardy! streak.
He’s been unstoppable on his run, which has been somewhat controversial in the Jeopardy! community, both among fans of the show and former contestants. There are some that have felt what he’s doing is ruining the game, as he bludgeons his competitors with his hyper-aggressive style and in all but a couple of his wins he’s gone into Final Jeopardy with a monstrous lead that keeps anyone from having a chance at catching him — even as he wagers tens of thousands of dollars.
Others, like Ken Jennings, marvel at his approach and find what he’s doing admirable, as he’s revolutionized Jeopardy! strategy and does so with such confidence to wager so aggressively. Whatever your thought on what he’s doing, it’s been a ratings boom for the show as people can’t help but tune in to see how badly he’ll beat the competition.
On Wednesday, he closed ever closer to that $2 million mark with another winning total of just shy of $72,000 (which, incredibly, will bring down his daily average). In a rarity, Holzhauer only got two of the three Daily Doubles — one of the other contestants swiped the second one, only to miss it — which is part of what kept his total as “low” as it was, relative to the rest. Still, with the win he is likely to pass the $2 million mark on Thursday in his 26th game, putting him on pace to pass Ken Jennings’ all-time record in his 33rd game, provided he continues at his current clip averaging just above $77,000.
