Who watches Jeopardy?

[David Lockmiller]

An answer to James Holzhauer's "strange" bet, "straight from the horse's mouth":

Here’s how the final episode went down:

Holzhauer went into Final Jeopardy with $23,400, which was $3,200 behind leader Emma Boettcher. Holzhauer got the question right, at first glance, strangely wagering just $1,399. That would have taken him to $24,799, which was $1,801 behind Boettcher.

But Holzhauer explained to The Action Network that he first was concerned with the contestant in third place, who had $11,000 heading into a Final Jeopardy. Doubling down would have gotten that contestant to $22,000, which would have been $1 less than if James would have missed. If James doubled down, he would have been at $46,800, but Boettcher seemed to have done the math perfectly as well. She got the question right and wagered $20,201, which gave her $46,801, a dollar more than what Holzhauer would’ve earned with a double-down bet.

“I knew I could only win if Emma missed Final Jeopardy, as there was no way she wouldn’t bet to cover my all-in bet,” Holzhauer told The Action Network. “So my only concern was getting overtaken by third place, and I bet just enough to make sure of locking him out. Betting big would have looked good for the cameras, but now I turn my straight bet (Emma misses) into a parlay (Emma misses and I get it right).”