News

Actions

James Holzhauer explains his winning ‘Jeopardy!’ strategy

Posted at 2:48 PM, Apr 23, 2019
and last updated 2019-04-23 14:48:00-04

James Holzhauer is killing it on “Jeopardy!” but it’s all in a day’s work for the Las Vegas professional sports bettor.

He has been on a winning streak on the game show, which has entranced viewers and even drawn praise from “Jeopardy’s” most famous contestant.

Just last week, Holzhauer broke the single-day record when he won $131,127, smashing his own record of $110,914 set the previous week.

‘Jeopardy!’ contestant James Holzhauer breaks record again

Part of his success has come from his use of a controversial method known as the “Forrest Bounce,” in which the contestant jumps around from category to category, choosing tiles out of order to throw off his or her opponents, as well as his willingness to go after the Daily Doubles and bet big.

How James Holzhauer is gaming the board and breaking records on ‘Jeopardy!’

Holzhauer told NPR that “All good professional gamblers are selectively aggressive.”

“You need to pick your spots and bet big when you identify them,” the contestant told NPR via email. “That’s basically my ‘Jeopardy!’ strategy in a nutshell.”

And of course, you need money to make money.

“You need a decent-sized bankroll to bet for profit, which is why I start at the bottom of the board,” Holzhauer said.

Record-holder Ken Jennings earned more than $2.5 million during his 2004 run on the show and has tweeted about Holzhauer’s success on “Jeopardy!”

Jennings also told Wiredhe’s “just gobsmacked by James” and excited for him to possibly surpass him.

“As a fan of the show, I’m actually rooting for James or anybody who can take a swing at that record,” Jennings said. “It’s bizarre to me that it’s still a one-off.”