Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions: James Holzhauer and More Winners Returning to Compete — Watch Video
Fifteen of the most successful winners from the past two seasons of Jeopardy! will convene this fall for the 2019 Tournament of Champions, the show announced via video Wednesday.
The biggest name, of course, is professional sports gambler James Holzhauer, who recently took home $2.4 million during his 32-game winning streak. The Las Vegas native donated a portion of his winnings to a Chicago-area pancreatic cancer walk in honor of host Alex Trebek, who personally revealed his own diagnosis to Jeopardy! fans in March. (During an interview in May, Trebek said he’s nearing remission.)
Holzhauer is certainly the one to beat, and here are the 14 other Jeopardy! veterans hoping to take him down:
* Josh Hill (North Little Rock, Ark.), whose 7-game winnings totaled $163,721
* Ryan Fenster (Seatac, Wash.), whose 7-game winnings totaled $156,497
* Kyle Jones (Aurora, Colo.), whose 7-game winnings totaled $145,403
* Rob Worman (Edina, Minn.), whose 6-game winnings totaled $133,900
* Alan Dunn (Johns Creek, Ga.), whose 5-game winnings totaled $120,802
* Steven Grade (Atlanta, Ga.), whose 5-game winnings totaled $115,501
* Eric R. Backes (Round Rock, Texas), whose 4-game winnings totaled $105,602
* Anneke Garcia (Salt Lake City, Utah), whose 4-game winnings totaled $104,497
* Lindsey Shultz (Pittsburgh, Penn.), whose 4-game winnings totaled $101,002
* Emma Boettcher (Chicago, Ill.), whose 3-game winnings totaled $97,002
* Gilbert Collins (Princeton, N.J.), whose 5-game winnings totaled $84,201
* Rachel Lindgren (Bend, Ore.), whose 5-game winnings totaled $75,999
* Dhruv Gaur (Gainesville, Ga.), the Season 34 College Champion
* Francis Barcomb (New Paltz, N.Y.), the Season 35 Teachers Champion
The 10-day event will air from Nov. 4 to 15. (Check your local listings for showtimes.) Hit PLAY on the video above to watch the big announcement, then drop a comment with your thoughts below: Who are you rooting for?
They’re missing out on what fans really want by limiting it to the past 2 seasons. James vs. Ken vs. Brad is where it’s at.
That’s not what the ‘tournament of champions’ is though – but I’m sure they’ll find a way to make that one happen at some point too.
Forget Brad. I’d rather have Arthur Chu in there. That way you have the one everyone likes in Ken Jennings, mixed feelings James and the villain Arthur.
ugh at least the maximum he’ll be in is four games.
Didn’t you use to have have to win 5 games plus to qualify for TOC?
For many years, 5 games were the maximum a champ could reign. You left with what you won and a new corvette. about 15 years ago, they changed it to unlimited wins.
Back then it was 5 time winners and the high winners of 4 or less games. Now it’s based on total money won and if you won the teachers/senior/College/teen tournament.
Though it’s not a rule, I think that Eric Backes, Anneke Garcia, and Lindsey Shultz should not be there, in my opinion. I watched their game episodes, they weren’t impressive or TOC quality. If they didn’t want to rush having James on again, they would have had more time for better players to qualify. In fact, Ryan Bilger would bumped Lindsey Shultz (since she was in last place of qualifiers) since he earned more than Lindsey, Anneke, and Eric.
Forget Emma Boettcher, the ONLY reason she is playing is because they want the hype of the rematch with James Holzhauer. If you looked at the TOC tracker, Lindsey was in last place to qualify so she never even earned a spot outright. I get that this is a show and they need to make money, and having Emma play in the same tournament as James will bring the ratings, but it will diminish the quality of the tournament imo.
Good luck James. Keep going
Why bother? Seems to me that the check already has James’ name written on it. it will be interesting to see all the other “champions” get humiliated by him with low scores compared to his.
My vote goes for James all the way!!!
Not surprising, but bleh.
How do they match up who goes against who?
Will we see a James and Emma rematch?
Of course.☺
Hoping to see Ken, and James sometimes in the near future.
Well, so much for a second “Ultimate Tournament of Champions”…
I’m pretty sure Holzhauer threw that final game when he bet almost nothing instead of going for broke.
Sure would be nice to quiet the suspicious naysayers on James Holzhauer ‘s loss. Head to head Emma Boettcher has nothing on Mr. H!
I thought that too. His reason for going so low in final didn’t even make sense to me. I was so disappointed when he lost. Can’t wait to watch him again. Love how he is paying it forward also. But I’m so sorry we’re not going to see him against Ken Jennings this go round. Maybe in the future.
I am definitely rooting for Jeopardy James! His incomparable breadth of knowledge is remarkable. He is the true Champion.