James Holzhauer just won the Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions, but you havent seen the last of him.
Holzhauer and the long-running quiz shows two other biggest winners, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter, will face off in a prime-time Greatest of All Time tournament on ABC in January, marking the first network airing of the original Jeopardy! in 30 years. (Jeopardy is syndicated to local stations, but airs on ABC outlets in many top markets.)
When James had his run last year, a lot of people were wondering, well how would he do against Ken Jennings? How would he do against Brad Rutter? (Theyre) our two most successful players in "Jeopardy!" history, says host Alex Trebek in an exclusive interview. These three players have won close to $10 million in Jeopardy! prize money and over 100 games among them, so it was logical.
But the GOAT tournament will be anything but typical: It consists of a series of two back-to-back games, airing weeknights (8 EST/PST) beginning Jan. 7. The player with the most combined winnings from the two games wins the match, and the play continues on successive nights (except Monday) until one of them has won three matches and takes home a $1 million prize. (The other finishers get $250,000 apiece). That means the tournament can last anywhere from three to seven days.
Trebek, whos bravely battling Stage 4 pancreatic cancer, wont predict the outcome of the new tournament, scheduled to be taped early next month. But you have to realize, I think, that Ken and Brad are going to be at a slight disadvantage, he says. They won the majority of their monies 10, 15 years ago, so theyve aged a bit. And are their reflexes going to be as good as James Holzhauers? Who knows? But were going to find out in this tournament. Its going to be a blast, were all excited about it.
One lasting change and a key to Holzhauers success is his penchant for picking the highest-value clues first, a tactic mimicked by many other players since. Ken and Brad are familiar with James strategy of picking the bottom clues first and picking up some funds to capitalize on the Daily Double if he hits it. Knowing thats his strategy, they might preempt it by doing it themselves, Trebek says. But "you have to be confident in your knowledge."
The last time "Jeopardy!" aired on a major network in prime time? "Super Jeopardy!," a special edition of the show that featured four players, aired on Saturday nights in the summer of 1990.