James Holzhauer wins his 1st game in ‘Jeopardy!’ Tournament of Champions
James Holzhauer is back to his winning ways.
The Las Vegas-based “Jeopardy!” sensation won his first game in the show’s Tournament of Champions after building up a commanding lead of nearly $20,000 going into Final Jeopardy.
Because each episode’s totals are considered as points in the tournament format and not cash the contestants get to keep, there was no reason for Holzhauer to employ the brazen betting style that helped make him famous.
The sports bettor finished Wednesday’s episode with $30,635 — including the payoff for his meager $326 Final Jeopardy wager. That’s still considerably more than the tournament’s first two winners, Gilbert Collins ($16,801) and Dhruv Gaur ($20,001).
Holzhauer’s history-making “Jeopardy!” run ended June 3 with accumulated winnings of $2,462,216.
He’ll take the next step to adding the tournament’s $250,000 prize in the semifinals Monday, Tuesday or Wednesday. The show will announce that schedule Friday.
“Jeopardy!” airs at 7 p.m. weekdays on KLAS-TV, Channel 8.