Holzhauer's 'Jeopardy' win sets up rematch with Chicago librarian who beat him
Even before the Final Jeopardy round in Tuesday's semifinals of the popular game show's Tournament of Champions, Naperville native James Holzhauer had scored a "runaway" win, host Alex Trebek said during the broadcast.
So even after failing to answer the Final Jeopardy question correctly, Holzhauer tallied $30,156 and secured a spot in the tournament's finals, which begin Thursday.
Holzhauer's win over fellow contestants Steven Grade and Rachel Lindgren means he will get a rematch with Emma Boettcher, the Chicago librarian who ended his near-historic run this June after he had won 32 games and nearly $2.5 million.
The Holzhauer-Boettcher rematch is set to begin Thursday, when the Tournament of Champions moves to its final round after one more semifinal today.
Holzhauer and Boettcher will be joined by the winner of a match among Francis Barcomb, Gilbert Collins and Lindsey Shultz, which is set to air at 3:30 p.m. today on WLS-TV Channel 7.
During the interview portion of Tuesday's show, Trebek asked Holzhauer, a professional sports gambler now living in Las Vegas, how he handled the fame he accrued this spring as he challenged "Jeopardy" records.
Holzhauer said he took to wearing a baseball cap in public, at his wife's suggestion.
But he said his daughter spoiled it by saying, "Papa is wearing his disguise so people won't recognize him."
"Did not have the intended effect," he said.