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James Holzhauer poised to overtake Ken Jennings' 'Jeopardy!' winnings record any day

ByDanny Clemens WABC logo

Monday, June 3, 2019

Here's how Ken Jennings compares himself to James Holzhauer

Jeopardy's all-time great is speaking out about his most fierce competition yet.

CULVER CITY, Calif. -- Ken Jennings might not be able to call himself the highest-winning "Jeopardy!" player in history for much longer as reigning champ James Holzhauer barrels toward Jennings' regular-season winnings record.

Leading into the Monday, June 3 show, Jennings still holds that record, with $2,520,700 in regular-season winnings. Holzhauer, though, is a close second, with $2,382,583 in the bank and counting.

That leaves Holzhauer only $138,117 away from Jennings' record. While that might seem like a lot of ground to make up, Holzhauer's aggressive style of play has repeatedly earned him more than $100,000 in a single game.

Holzhauer, a professional sports gambler from Las Vegas, holds at least the top 10 records for single-game winnings, with his highest game netting a whopping $131,127.

Jennings still has a sizeable lead over Holzhauer in terms of consecutive games won. In 2004, Jennings won 74 straight games, while Holzhauer has only won 31 games heading into Monday's show.

Should Holzhauer overtake Jennings, there won't be any hard feelings. Writing in the Washington Post in May, Jennings said Holzhauer's streak is "something special," adding, "I'm the only person alive who knows firsthand how difficult it is to do what Holzhauer is doing, and that's why I'm rooting him on."

When tournament winnings are factored in, Brad Rutter is the winningest "Jeopardy!" contestant, with $4,688,436 in all-time winnings. Jennings is second with $3,370,700, and Holzhauer is presently third with $2,382,583.

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