Jeopardy Fans Freak Out!
For more than two weeks, a professional sports gambler from Las Vegas has been dominating “Jeopardy!” with a calculated strategy, an affinity for risk-taking and a deft buzzer hand. During Monday night’s game, he almost went home.
34 year old James Holzhauer surpassed $1 million in total earnings last week, becoming the second contestant to do so in “Jeopardy!” history, but on Monday night he almost went home. He beat 46 year old Adam Levin, a sports information directer at Brandeis College in Massachusetts by just 18 dollars.
Holzhauer finished with $54,017, edging Levin who had $53,999. The win brings Holzhauer’s 18-day total to $1,329,604. Both competitors came through with the correct response to, “The oldest of these business booster groups, formed in Marseille in 1599, uses ‘de’ instead of ‘of’ in the name.” Each wrote: “Chamber of Commerce.”
Holzhauer has been correct on 17 of his 18 Final Jeopardy! attempts.
He trails only past champion Ken Jennings on the show’s all-time, regular-play winnings list. Jennings won more than $2.5 million during a 74-game winning streak in 2004. Holzhauer is on pace to surpass Jennings in 34 games.
Here are some of the reactions from social media:
Close call, #JeopardyJames!! pic.twitter.com/fC8Jo2luf5
— Megan 🍓 (@meganparrott) April 30, 2019
We were holding our breath. Things got silent and tense. What a relief! Not ready to say goodbye to the swiftest mind to grace the jeopardy stage in a long time. #jeopardyjames
— Misfitto (@misfitto) April 30, 2019
Everybody’s freaking out about who’s gonna die in #AvengersEndgame and #GamefThrones, but I’m over here worrying up a storm because this @Jeopardy is too damn close. #teamjames #jeopardyjames @James_Holzhauer #jeopardy #jeopardynerd
— Kelly Burlingham (@KellyBurlingham) April 30, 2019
/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1123049892861997056&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fftw.usatoday.com%2F2019%2F04%2Fjeopardy-james-holzhauer-18-win-by-18-dollars-fans-reactWe got a game! #JeopardyJames pic.twitter.com/nydz1ej48l
— 🎗️TALENTDISPLAY.COM (@TalentDisplay) April 30, 2019
