Correct.

Exactly, protect second and hope he misses. She didn’t. Good for her

Exactly. He's a professional sports better, which may seem like a fun, leisurely activity and potentially lucrative, but I can assure you (them) it's not. Very few succeed at sports better (as a living). This man knows calculation, risk management, odds, etc. and was hedging his bet.

Raise your hand if you don’t like Emma

His wager was absolute perfection. Exactly what he had to do in that scenario. People who think he gave up are so stupid it’s unbelievable. By wagering $1,399 he locks out the third place guy if he misses. He needs Emma to miss regardless, so why let the third place guy back in?

Thank you for explaining this for everyone, I cannot listen to another person say he threw the game by betting so little... It was a smart bet by him.

Woah you copied the exact comment from reddit word for word. Nice.

He's a pro gambler, obviously he's going to wager correctly....ppl are dumb as f.

I don’t think he wanted to beat Ken Jenning’s record and wanted to go back to his house and kids. He knew it was his last day so he gave Alex a “Get Well Soon” card.

exactly. people just don’t understand wagering strategy’s

Nah it seemed like he was overcompensating a bit.

@@47imagine he overcompensates alot He's incredibly insecure. Great champ and a beautiful mind nonetheless

He totally lost on purpose. He said the first and last name and only wagered that much? Didn’t want to do it anymore.

@@nitrofreak1992 - He wanted to win. He wagered a small amount because he plays by the odds. James knew that Emma would want to protect her lead by betting the maximum she could to ensure a win if he also got the answer right. The best that he could hope was that Emma would miss the final question. If she did, the he wanted to bet the smallest amount it would take to overcome her score.

ChristophProbst That makes sense. I was wondering why he wagered so low. I still feel he should’ve bet it all, she was ahead and was on a roll. I was hoping he would set a record. Well, we will see him at Tournament of Champions. Can’t wait to see him vs Austin Rogers!

True dat. I'm kind of glad I grew up in an era when they didn't hand out participation trophies or sugarcoat the fact you were going to lose a lot during the course of your life, no matter how much you tried not to. It may have sucked to hear at the time, but it was an incredibly valuable life-lesson to learn. It ranks right up there with Kirk saying "damn it Bones, you're a doctor. You know that pain and guilt can't be taken away with the wave of a magic wand. They're the things we carry with us; the things that make us who we are. I don't want my pain taken away. I need my pain," for profound life-lessons summed up in a single quote.

Lol. That's what I told my dad. Ratings are gonna go way down now

BIG facts

Jeopardy has always had very high ratings. This definitely pushed it to #1 but I'm pretty sure they've been number 2 or 3 for a very long time.

I think a lot of people will continue watching to see how Emma does.

Henry Black naw they werent even in top 10 overall recently until james started winning a lot

Sounds more like he was sick...which we know he was.

It was not the final megachampion during Trebek's run as host. Jason Z. won 19 games spanning from the end of the season to the start of the next! I call that a megachamp!!

@@christophercarrigg3775 Even if he bet everything it wouldn’t have mattered. The highest James could have won this game is $46,800 if he bet everything he had, and Emma bet just enough where James can’t catch her if she’s correct, which she was. She finished with $46,801.

He played it the only way that made sense...

Possible! I think part of him was annoyed how James wasn't an orthodox player, i.e. going bottom top instead of top bottom, but he didn't grate on his nerves like Buzzy or Austin, that's for damn sure lol.

@@lancasterII true but I kinda liked his bulldoze style win large quick bet it all on daily doubles gotta love it

Really? I got the exact opposite impression.

katsinthe cradle how when he lost¿

I've always been a fan of the show, but he actually kept me coming back on a daily basis (and I'd imagine I'm not the only one).

@@daffyduckfan4478 i mean the dude is rich now and could stomp any of us in the game easy

@@RealTeX1 Speak for yourself.

@@daffyduckfan4478 oh like you could top him?

Or a *week* ago, that perfect Lucky Seven playing.

Someone said it happened once in Bob's era. I am still searching for *that* one.

to this day, I don't know why Holtzhauer lost. The man would STILL be champion had he kept going. James was SLAUGHTERING the competition. A shame

JENNY KIM it was on pourpouse, he didn’t want to beat his idols record and felt he had won enough, he is humble.

@@Baconator1368 or maybe, he did it on purpose, in the end he only play 1000 dollars, he would normally place around 20000 dollars

J4Prezident that’s what I’m saying, I just don’t think it’s a coincidence that the night he would have beat the record is the first night he doesn’t go all out on his bet

@@j4prezident275 He only played $1300 because he was in 2nd place going into final jeopardy. In order to give himself the highest chance at winning, he had to bet the amount that would still let him win if Emma got it wrong, the middle guy got it right, and James also got it wrong. Betting $1300 gave him the highest chance of winning, because he would still win if if the middle guy gets it wrong, James gets it wrong, james gets it right, or they both get it wrong. The scenario that happened when James lost was the only scenario in which James could've lost, as opposed to the many scenarios where James could've won with the $1300 bet. It was a very calculated bet from James.

GUYS HE DID NOT DO THIS ON PURPOSE HE WOULD STILL LOST BY A DOLLAR I DONT WAnT TO HEAR THIS

Daniel McCauley agreed. He sounded a little choked up.

He looked and sounded as though he didn't feel well and was trying to keep it together long enough to get the show finished.

He is in constant pain from the cancer treatments he is going through. I think it was a lot of that.

Alex is probably not going to live much longer in reality

I watched an interview with Alex Trebek and 7 news and he said that the cancer treatments are bringing out a lot of emotional things and then he said he cries a lot easier now

But overall I’m happy for his winnings :)

@@BenjaminGoodman same

Just $55,484 shy, but hey, he was PHE. NO. MEN. AL.

He still had a lot more to win to match Ken's inflation-adjusted winnings.

HTM Productions how about the number of games played

OrtonFan WWE did he not

Kens record was 2 million 520 thousand 700 he was close with 2 million 464 thousand@@chongook4893

OrtonFan WWE Nobody will beat the official Jeopardy GOAT, Ken Jennings

@@ortonfanwwe5741 but he did set like 21 records in the process

THANK you. lol. Everyone saying he lost on purpose, no, no, no.

I agree with y’all the people who said he lost on purpose should be quiet at this second now

Brilliant bet, actually. His only chance was to stay ahead of Jay and hope Emma got it wrong.

Isn't the fact that he had 23k and she had 27k how you knew he didn't have enough to win?

he had the game won hands down IF she got it wrong

Yeah I agree. I think he wanted James to keep winning for a while because he really liked him.

Yeah, because Film Theory is never wrong ..

Exactly...and if the guy in the middle won and bet everything, he would have had 22,000. What people don't seem to get is that the math behind wagering when you are in SECOND place (or even last) is totally different from first place. Second place has to try and win, while protecting his flank from a third place victory.

very interesting...

I'm definitely excited to see him in the Tournament of Champions! Let's hope he brings home $250,000

Lord Jadus when is the tournament of champions?

@@danielosores4132 It's where former Jeopardy winners compete against one another.

@@danielosores4132 I don't know when it is.

It'll be interesting to see how he does vs Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter.

He would beat all of them, even Matt. I really do not understand how he lost, here. I mean come on......

Ken Jennings paid him off?

@@flone9872 LOL!

@@flone9872 maybe so lol

If James bet everything, he still would have lost by a dollar and he knew this. He played the best possible strategy here. Betting low gave him the best odds of winning because he knew if she got the answer wrong, his wager would have been enough. He didn't throw it. Another words, James wasn't betting on her wager, James was betting on her incorrect response.

It sure looked like he took a dive.

I think it would be hard not to be that way after winning 2 million dollars.

yeah, something is up with this loss. Did not even bet...say, 5k. Something was up with Holtzhauer in this episode....something. Not his nature at all. He lost.....but my question is....."WHY?" Not how.......WHY?

@@MrMaddox57 you don't understand the strategy behind his bet. He knew Emma was gonna bet 20201, so that if he bet all of his own money he would still lose to her. He bet just enough to beat the middle contestant, by one dollar even if he got it wrong himself, and steal the game in case of a wrong answer by Emma.

the fact is, he SHOULD have won. He was DESTROYING his competitors, some of them more intelligent than the average citizen. Wiping them out. I don't know what happened with this game, he did not even wager in Final Jeopardy a very large sum at all. Totally contrary to his usual spunk. I can only say, I hope Matt continues his streak. I hope tonight will be win 37 for him. He is truly a GOAT in Jeopardy, even though he would deny it, lol. But, yes, James was just epic. Don't know how he lost this game, was really disappointed when it happened.

Yeah at the end it sounded like he was holding back tears

😂😂😂

😂😂😂

What reference am I missing? Do people that meet Drake lose?

@@techcommenter it's a joke in sports that whatever teams drake supports loses, especially if he wears their merch. the joke here is that drake probably showed his support to james

@@ouchiehampton hahahaha. Thanks for explaining the joke!

@@techcommenter no problem!

It was the perfect bet! She HAD to go all-in facing him and he knew that, that's why he got here you play the %,

He would have had $1 more than the middle guy if he missed his question. If she got it wrong and he gets it wrong, he wins with her trying to top his doubled score.

I disagree. Why would a guy who has gotten 95% of his final jeopardy questions correct over the last month's worth of games employ a strategy based on the assumption that he's going to miss the answer??

James is a smarter better than I thought. I would've expected him to go all in on FJ. Usually, he does bet big on FJ (which is why he averaged about 76K a game). He realized his ONLY hope was for Emma to miss FJ (but she didn't) so he had to bet strategically.

@@frankcarlone5130 - Because he wasn't winning. He couldn't have possibly thrown the game his final bet hedged against his own incorrect answer insuring a win as long as she answered incorrectly so he bet just enough to cover the 3rd place guy by $1. He knew her smartest bet was wagering enough to cover him by $1. He gave himself MORE possible ways to win that's hardly throwing the game.

The fact that nobody but you has mentioned this factoid really proves that regular people don't understand Jeopardy

it’s rigged...

that's honestly what i think sealed his fate....but the fact Emma was hungry and trying to beat him or have him fight for his victory if he had it....didnt help either. He was am ambitious player and she knew she had to match him to beat him

@@SlimeDisease50 no it’s not weirdo

@@peanutbutter4435 watch it on youtube it’s proved

yeah , he also beaten Rodger craigs record to the ground *over and over* , still famous for that , getting the 2nd most highest regular season winnings total as well as getting to 32 games (most contestants dont get close to 20)

James did NOT lose on purpose. He had to be strategic in his betting. He was hoping Emma would get FJ wrong and end up with $6399. He probably should've bet $0 but be chose $1399 so that, if he missed, he would still have enough to beat the 3rd-place contestant by $1 if he had bet all his $11,000. James was betting carefully taking both of his opponents into consideration. The bottom line is that Emma had the lead going into FJ (the ONLY opponent against James to accomplish that) so she had to bet big. She had to assume that James would go all-in and get FJ correct. Fortunately, she got FJ correct so James' betting strategy didn't matter. If she had missed FJ, then James betting strategies would've made a difference.

@@PS-fr1zd Betting $0 is the same as betting $1399 when it comes to his odds of winning (since both give him the win if Emma misses the question and the guy in third place got it right and bet it all). By betting $1399, he maximizes the amount he wins if that scenario works out and he gets the question right. It ended up a moot point since Emma did get the question right.

emma was playing like james so hopefully she can replicate his gameplay more

@@mbdg6810 I also got by on sports betting for a living. i connected with him so much.. I don't give a fuck if some ugly looking lesbian now goes on a huge run....

porn?

@@mbdg6810 Not really how do I say that... Watch Film Theory's video which shows that the game was MADE EASY to beat James and even the Final Jeopardy was in favor of Emma

Exactly something was off about him

emma was playing like james so he did "get beat" by his own strategies but i agree he probably gave her the win

He lost because he had an off game which makes you realize how impressive not having an off game in 74 games is

He didn't lose on purpose, he didn't get his Daily Doubles, and his opponents were damn good. This wasn't a deliberate loss.

What is cool about it?

Why werent you crazy about him? Did you dislike something about him?

I don't know why he lost. It is now October 2021. Had he not lost this game, frankly, I would not be surprised at ALL if he was STILL Jeopardy champion. And, no, Matt could not stop him either. Too slow, too hesitant. But wow, James was awesome. I just hope he continues to be a gentleman to Matt, our current champ. James is starting to be nice to Matt, congratulating him on his recent wins.

and like James or not....the scores alone were stunning. Every competitor than came up against Holtzhauer was mowed down. Slaughtered. Every one of them, even the more intelligent competitors he faced. Again, don't know what happened here. Emma is awesome, but even she could not keep up. She beat James, but James completely went out of character. He even answered correctly, but his wager was not even two grand. Don't know what happened, but no one. NO Jeopardy fan, can deny his legacy. This guy was on FIRE. Don't know what happened here. I just hope Matt now keeps winning. He is one cool dude.

I liked Matt as well. He plays like James by picking the high amounts first. I was disappointed when he lost. I enjoyed watching Matt and James play.

Kevin Cook That’s exactly what I thought.😩

Kevin Cook with the wager the girl made it was mathematically impossible for James to win unless the girl got it wrong

Kevin Cook the girls final total was $1 more than if James were to bet all of his money

I don’t think he wanted to beat Ken, out of respect

He didn't lose on purpose, he didn't get his Daily Doubles, and his opponents were damn good. This wasn't a deliberate loss.

You know, is the first episode thing can be confirmed, that might actually be true then

Finding out that the host of the show you’ve been on for while has advanced cancer can throw your game off a little and he wasn’t his usual game playing self. I doubt that he threw the game because he wouldn’t when he was so close to breaking Ken Jennings’ record for most money won on regular Jeopardy!.

raza ahmed: Wow, that’s amazing.

They only do 2 tapings a week though, so yes it was 6.5 days, those days were over a 3.5 week period

No one in their right mind would purposefully pass up on more money just for some meaningless gesture lol

Kay DeFreese I’d imagine close to $6.25 Million; since it took him 27 games to get to $2 Million & if he kept going at the same pace, and double up to 54 games, that would supposedly be $4 Million, 71 would be $6 Million...that’s just my guess