What is James Holzhauer's net worth? How 'The Chase' star earned nickname 'Jeopardy James'
Taking on a trivia game show is a different kind of high. Seeing that oftentimes, you're out there alone with only your wit to save you. One wrong answer and you could stand to lose it all.
But for seasoned pros like James Holzhauer, the thrill of the game is what keeps them going. Having built quite the fortune of 'Jeopardy!' Houzhauer is back, with Ken Jennings, Brad Rutter and Mark Andrew Labbett, to give contestants a run for their money on ABC's 'The Chase'.
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Who is James Holzhauer?
James Holzhauer was born and raised in Naperville, Illinois. His grandmother was Japanese and didn't speak much English, but Holzhauer promised her that he would appear on 'Jeopardy!' before she died. He was gifted when it came to math and at the age of four, his teacher developed advanced classwork just for him. Holzhauer was a member of the Worldwide Youth in Science and Engineering Team. They won the state competition with Holzhauer bagging first place in physics and second in math. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in mathematics in 2005.
While studying at the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign, Holzhauer played hearts and spades at a card club, which eventually lead to him playing poker and then to sports betting. After college, Holzhauer moved to Las Vegas in 2008 to bet professionally on sports. He claimed that he built predictive models for baseball, NFL and college basketball.
Holzhauer even played at the World Series of Poker in 2019. In his first event, he finished 454th out of approximately 1,800 contestants. His second event was a tag team match in which he partnered with Mike Sexton. He was later knocked out as a solo contestant in round 17 of the tournament, by then he made $600 profit for finishing 92nd out of 1,867 on a No-Limit Hold'em Super Turbo Bounty game.
The third highest earning game show contestant of all time, Holzhauer has a winning streak of 32 games on 'Jeopardy'. Over his 33 appearances on the show, Holzhauer has won $2,464,216. During the 'Tournament of Champions', he won $250,000 and during the 'Greatest of All Time Tournament' he bagged the runner-up prize of $250,000. Holzhauer also set the single-game winnings record, having won $131,127. It's these outstanding wins and numbers that led him to be known as 'Jeopardy James', seeing that he became synonymous with the show itself.
Holzhauer's net worth
Holzhauer currently has a net worth of $2 million, as reported by Celebrity Net Worth. He is also known for his philanthropy, seeing that he donated $10,000 to a Las Vegas organization for displaced teens in 2019.
In mid-2019, Holzhauer donated $1,109.14 to the 2019 Naperville Pancreatic Cancer Reach Walk in Illinois, in Alex Trebek's name. When he began playing in the World Series of Poker events, he intended on donating half his winnings to Las Vegas nonprofit Project 150, which helps homeless, displaced and disadvantaged high school students.
The newest season of 'The Chase' premieres on Sunday, June 6 at 9 pm ET on ABC.