June 04, 2019
Jeopardy!/YouTube
After a 32-game winning streak, James Holzhauer lost "Jeopardy!" Monday night, just shy of beating the all-time champion, Ken Jennings.
James Holzhauer lost on "Jeopardy!" on Monday night, ending his 32-game winning streak and falling just shy of surpassing the winnings collected by the gameshow's longest-running champion, Ken Jennings – and a lot of people were upset, to say the least.
In his 33rd game, Holzhauer lost to Emma Boettcher, a Chester County-native who now lives in Illinois. Boettcher would win Monday night's game with a total of $46,801 after betting big on the Final Jeopardy question.
Boettcher grew up in Tredyffrin, Chester County and attended Conestoga High School, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports. She previously tried out for "Jeopardy!" when she was in high school, and while a grad student at the University of North Carolina, Boettcher wrote a 70-page paper studying the revealing characteristics within how "Jeopardy!" questions are written.
Boetcher currently works as a librarian at the University of Chicago.
Holzhauer's 32-game winnings topped out at $2,462,216, just $58,484 short of beating Jennings, who won $2.52 million over 74 games in 2004. Holzhauer may not have become the all-time "Jeopardy!" champion, but he did break the record for highest single-day winnings in "Jeopardy!" history, netting $131,127 in one of his victories. His daily winnings averaged around $77,000, while Jennings' daily average was around $33,000.
Jennings was impressed with Holzhauer's performance, tweeting out a picture of Thanos from "Avengers" with the note, "Actual photo of James Holzhauer walking off stage at Jeopardy, his reign of destruction completed."
Actual photo of James Holzhauer walking off stage at Jeopardy, his reign of destruction completed. pic.twitter.com/Xdf5PFR3QD
— Ken Jennings (@KenJennings) June 4, 2019
But as to why Holzhauer lost in his 33rd game? Well, he blames one person – Canadian rapper Drake. (The "Drake curse" at sporting events is real. The Italian soccer team, Roma, even banned their players from taking photos with the former "Degrassi" star till the end of the season.)
Knew I shouldn’t have invited @Drake to the @Jeopardy taping.
— James Holzhauer (@James_Holzhauer) June 3, 2019
His loss was not taken as lightly by the viewers, however. Some compared it to the Red Wedding in "Game of Thrones" while others simply announced their post-loss depression.
Are grief counselors going to be made available?
— Rena (@Rena33167162) June 3, 2019
My household is taking the news of James' loss well. #Jeopardy pic.twitter.com/sP4HW99m0A
— Entirely Too Much. (@KendraJames_) June 4, 2019
I’m calling this my “what do you MEAN I’m not handling James Holzhauer’s Jeopardy loss well?” mix pic.twitter.com/eFSvfJhl9J
— Riane Konc (@theillustrious) June 4, 2019
Me watching James Holzhauer lose on Jeopardy the night he could’ve passed Ken Jennings for most winnings all time. Please do not contact me for the next 2-3 business days as I mourn. pic.twitter.com/AQULNDQqvL
— Robert Towey (@BobTowey5) June 3, 2019
When James Holzhauer gets eliminated from Jeopardy and now you have nothing to watch on tv again... #Jeopardy pic.twitter.com/9mvvpvZLui
— ⁶𓅓 October’s finest 💭 (@ovotellie) June 4, 2019
Maybe Holzhauer didn't win it all, but at least he took it in stride, high-fiving Boettcher when she answered the Final Jeopardy question correctly with a significantly higher wager.
We have a new champion! Congratulations, Emma Boettcher!
— Jeopardy! (@Jeopardy) June 4, 2019
Stream the final episode of James Holzhauer's incredible streak here, available now through Friday: https://t.co/hUk4MCbBVo pic.twitter.com/9dTwuOnZLr
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