The librarian who put an end to James Holzhauer’s historic “Jeopardy!” win streak might have the chance to defeat him again.
Emma Boettcher, a 27-year-old from Chicago, won the first semifinal round of the iconic game show’s Tournament of Champions Monday night.
Holzhauer, a 35-year-old professional gambler from Las Vegas, plays in the second semifinal on Tuesday. Since he’s won the second-most consecutive regular-season games in “Jeopardy!” history (32) — and amassed the second-highest earnings ever ($2,462,216) — he’s the favorite to come out on top Tuesday, too.
(Ken Jennings has holds the streak record with 74 wins, while Brad Rutter has won the most money total, with $4.6 million between regular-season and tournament play.)
If Holzhauer wins Tuesday, he, Boettcher and the winner of Wednesday night’s semifinal will face off on Thursday and Friday, with the winner of that two-part game taking home the $250,000 Tournament of Champions grand prize.
Boettcher — billed in a dramatic video on the official “Jeopardy!” Twitter account as “the only player to ever beat James Holzahuer” — finished Final Jeopardy Monday night with $29,601 in winnings, besting Kyle Jones, a music teacher from Aurora, Colo., and Dhruv Gaur, a Brown University student from Gainesville, Ga.
Legendary host Alex Trebek called Boettcher “the giant killer” in July, when she emerged victorious over Holzhauer in July during his 33rd run at the podium. She went on to win two more games and a total of $98,002 in the regular season.
On Tuesday night, Holzhauer will vie for a spot in the Tournament of Champions two-game final against Steven Grade from Atlanta, Ga., and Rachel Lindgren from Bend, Ore.
