Gambling & Risk Taking: Holzhauer credits sports wagering instincts for ‘Jeopardy!’ success

June 3, 2019 4:05 AM
  • Howard Stutz, CDC Gaming Reports
June 3, 2019 4:05 AM
  • Howard Stutz, CDC Gaming Reports

At a three-day gambling conference that brought to Las Vegas an international audience of researchers, academics, and gaming leaders to discuss a plethora of industry-related topics, the biggest draw was a person dubbed by the Washington Post as giving “a face to the American professional sports bettor.”

Story continues below

Chalk up another chip in the attention-grabbing run on “Jeopardy!” by James Holzhauer.

Andy Bloch (left) and James Holzhauer discuss gambling. (Josh Hawkins/UNLV Creative Services)

His appearance at the 17th International Conference on Gambling & Risk Taking was moved from a small break-out meeting room at Caesars Palace to the large Roman Ballroom to accommodate the interest of more than 100 attendees.

Holzhauer, 35, a soft-spoken Illinois-native and now Las Vegas resident before rising to international fame on “Jeopardy!,” said the instincts learned from sports wagering and poker contributed to his run. He is just $58,485 shy of breaking Ken Jennings’ non-tournament record of $2,520,700 going into Monday’s show. 

Holzhauer’s aggressive strategy in seeking the highest paying questions early-on while placing larger-than-expected wagers on the Daily Double and Final Jeopardy rounds have paid off. He set a single-day record for the show on April 17, winning $131,127. Holzhauer took just 32 games to amass his current winnings of $2,462,216. It took Jennings 74 games to accrue his total.

Holzhauer’s tactics led to numerous questions from the conference’s audience – many of whom study and research problem gambling issues – about any stigma associated with being a professional gambler.

“My perception of being a professional gambler is a positive one,” said Holzhauer, adding that he’ll pick-up a brochure on problem gambling treatment offered by Las Vegas casinos “at least once a year.” He added that professional gamblers can’t be worried about bad beats, such as a last second score in a game that blows the point spread.

“If a bad beat makes you upset for more than an hour, then you have a problem,” Holzhauer said.

Even Holzhauer’s fellow speaker in the session – poker standout Andy Bloch, a member of the card-counting MIT blackjack team made famous in the book “Bringing Down the House” that was basis for the film “21” – also had a few questions for Holzhauer.

“A lot of people don’t have discipline,” said Bloch, who has won more $3 million at the World Series of Poker. “If you’re playing the same game over-and-over, and you continue to lose. You have to have discipline to make changes.”

Brett Abarbanel of the UNLV IGI poses a question to Andy Bloch and James Holzhauer. (Josh Hawkins/UNLV Creative Services)

Gambling tips

The appearance of Holzhauer and Bloch for the nearly 90-minute talk that promised “fascinating stories for the intellectually curious” was announced a week before the conference opened but was highly anticipated because of Holzhauer’s gambling background.

While admitting “luck” has played in role in his “Jeopardy!” success, Holzhauer said his betting background also helped. He doesn’t view his totals during a game as money, but more as chips used in a poker game.

Bloch agreed, calling the lack of value in chips a “brilliant casino invention” to make people think they are betting plastic instead of betting money.

“You have to get rid of the emotion,” Bloch said, adding the only advice he would offer for someone wanting to make gambling a profession was, “don’t go broke. The failure rate is spectacular.”

Holzhauer, looking relaxed in shorts and wearing a jersey from the Japanese Baseball League’s Nippon Ham Fighters, was asked by Bloch how many times he tried out for “Jeopardy!” He told his fellow gambler every year since 2006, but he was much better prepared for show when the call came in early this February.

However, Holzhauer didn’t have much time to practice for the show as he was busy researching his wagers for the upcoming Super Bowl between the New England Patriots and Los Angeles Rams.

He told the conference audience he had a “tremendous” Super Bowl making numerous successful proposition wagers on his belief the game would be “the most boring Super Bowl ever.”

When asked by an audience member who he favored in the NBA championship series, Holzhauer hinted he was leaning toward the Toronto Raptors, which brought out a large cheer from a portion of the room.

“We have a lot of Canadian gambling researchers here,” said Brett Abarbanel, director of research at the UNLV International Gaming Institute, who moderated the discussion. “We knew this session would have some interest.”

James Holzhauer answers a question from Brett Abarbanel. (Josh Hawkins/UNLV Creative Services)

The ‘Jeopardy!’ experience

Holzhauer holds a math degree from the University of Illinois and has gained more fame than he ever imagined from the show.

He was honored by the Clark County Commission with a key to the Las Vegas Strip during a ceremony at the “Welcome to Fabulous Las Vegas” sign, he’s spun the siren to fire up the crowd at a Vegas Golden Knights game, and he has given thousands of dollars to Las Vegas charities.

Much has been made Holzhauer’s wagering habits on the show, including bets of $11,914, because his daughter was born on Nov. 9, 2014, and $10,617 to signify the Golden Knights first-ever game on Oct. 6, 2017. He also made a $10,117 wager in honor of “Vegas Strong” and the Oct. 1, 2017 shootings on the Las Vegas Strip.

The other theory for the bets comes from a gambler’s instinct.

“It’s an important time for sports gambling because it’s spreading to a lot more states now,” Holzhauer said. “If I can be a positive face for it, that would be really good.”

Howard Stutz is the executive editor of CDC Gaming Reports. He can be reached at hstutz@cdcgamingreports.com. Follow @howardstutz on Twitter.