“Jeopardy!” champion James Holzhauer’s 32-day winning streak came to an end in June, but fans are still debating whether he lost his 33rd match on purpose.
Holzhauer fanned the flames of speculation on Saturday when he tweeted about 29-year-old NFL star quarterback Andrew Luck, who suddenly (and shockingly) announced his retirement from the Indianapolis Colts on Saturday.
“I hope to be as brave as Andrew Luck one day,” wrote Holzhauer, who turned 35 in July. “Imagine reaching the pinnacle of the only job you’ve ever trained for, finding no joy in it and having the guts to do the right thing for yourself even though millions of fans will hate you for it.”
His followers responded with a barrage of tweets calling Holzhauer out for intentionally letting University of Chicago librarian Emma Boettcher win in his 33rd “Jeopardy!” game on June 3.
When Boettcher topped Holzhauer $46,801 to $24,799 on June 3, stunned fans dreamed up all kinds of conspiracy theories about Holzhauer — who, mind you, is a Las Vegas-based professional gambler — incorrectly betting during the Final Jeopardy round.
Many believed he missed his 4-year-old daughter Natasha, whose doodles appeared on air after she drew host Alex Trebek a get-well card. (Trebek turned 79 in July amid his battle with stage 4 pancreatic cancer.)
Betting experts, however, said Holzhauer didn’t throw the game.
The champ himself also openly defended his Final Jeopardy wager in an interview with the Action Network, explaining that, while he bet what he had to in order to lock out third-place finisher Jay Sexton, it wasn’t enough to beat Boettcher’s total.
Holzhauer’s Twitter account is full of witty, self-deprecating jabs about his inglorious loss, so it’s possible that Saturday’s tweet was yet another in the canon.
Either way, Holzhauer will return to the podium for the “Jeopardy!” Tournament of Champions, which runs from Nov. 4 to 15. Fifteen contestants from the last two seasons — including foe Boettcher — will battle it out for $250,000.
Holzhauer’s total earnings of $2,464,216 were just shy of “Jeopardy!” legend Ken Jennings’ all-time winnings record of $2,520,700. Jennings also holds the all-time record for number of consecutive games won: 74.
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