James Holzhauer is a professional sports gambler who has made a career out of placing wagers. He has recently been appearing on the popular gameshow, Jeopardy!, where he is dominating the competition.
The pro gambler is on a hot streak, making high-stakes decisions with his gameplay. During his stint on the show, Holzhauer set a new one-day win record.
Gambling and Jeopardy!
If you are familiar with the gameshow, then you know there is an element of gambling in Jeopardy!. Players choose a category when it is their turn to answer a question. If a Daily Double shows up, they can choose how much to wager on the question.
For Holzhauer, the Daily Doubles have continued to pop up and he keeps upping the ante with every question. The professional sports gambler used his wagering knowledge to continue to build his prize money on the show.
Over the course of four episodes, Holzhauer has earned $244,365 (€216,853) in total prize money. During the record-setting show, he hit his first Daily Double and decided to wager $14,600 (€12,956) on the answer. He was correct in answering the question, so he earned the extra cash.
The next Daily Double the gambler revealed on the screen, he upped his wager to $25,000 (€22,185). He also answered that question correctly.
He then upped the ante again, wagering $38,314 (€34,000) on a question and got the answer correct. This is what pushed him over the edge and helped the professional sports gambler to beat the current daily win record of $77,000 (€68,335). Holzhauer said:
“I think it was a huge advantage that I don’t blink at gambling large amounts of money when I think I have a big edge. I approach both sports betting and Jeopardy! with the same attitude: What can I do differently than the average person to give myself an edge?”
Rigorous training
Holzhauer trained heavily before appearing on the gameshow. He read children’s books to gain information via visuals. He also watched back-to-back Jeopardy! reruns on video. From the moment he received the call to be on the show, Holzhauer trained. He wanted to break the single-game record Roger Craig and wasn’t going to fail.
The training is certainly paying off for the gambler. Within one week, a total of 133 Jeopardy! questions have been asked of the gambler and he has missed only four of them. Holzhauer seemingly knows everything, from food served at ballparks to country music, Hollywood history and more.
As Holzhauer decided on his wagers for the Daily Doubles on the record-setting day, he made personal decisions. Every big wager was associated with a special date. He used his wedding anniversary and birthdays of family members.
The amount he won was even on purpose. Holzhauer somehow managed to earn $110,914 (€98,434) during his time on the record-breaking show, which falls in line with his young daughter’s birthday of November 9, 2014.