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James Holzhauer takes playful jab at ‘Jeopardy!’ champ Matt Amodio

Updated September 21, 2021 - 2:39 pm

James Holzhauer has been too busy betting on football and wrapping up the second season of ABC’s quiz show “The Chase” to pay close attention to Matt Amodio’s win streak on “Jeopardy!”

“I haven’t been watching the show at all — too busy seeing just how much the Vikings kicker can cost me — so I can’t offer commentary on Matt’s play,” Holzhauer, a Las Vegas-based professional sports bettor, said in an email. “I hear he is crushing it, and I’m sure he’ll be a formidable opponent if we ever get to face off.”

Amodio, a Yale Ph.D. student and Medina, Ohio, native, entered Tuesday’s episode of “Jeopardy!”on a 24-game winning streak with $857,001 in winnings.

That’s the third-longest win streak in the show’s 38-year history behind Holzhauer, who had a 32-game run in 2019, and Ken Jennings, who won 74 consecutive games in 2004.

Amodio, 30, also is third in all-time “Jeopardy!” winnings (regular play only) behind Holzhauer ($2.46 million) and Jennings ($2.52 million).

While Holzhauer said he hasn’t followed Amodio’s hot streak closely, he did poke fun at him Monday on Twitter (@James_Holzhauer), posting side-by-side images of them on the show with the caption, “When you order something online vs. when it arrives.”

The images showed Holzhauer’s 23-day total winnings of $1,780,237 next to Amodio’s 23-day total of $825,801.

Amodio, who was shown on the right, replied to the tweet by posting, “I thought these memes were supposed to have the most attractive person on the left.”

Holzhauer, who describes himself on his Twitter account as the “Breaker of dreams on The Chase,” appeared Sunday night on the season finale of the show, which also features Jennings and former “Jeopardy!” champion Brad Rutter.

Holzhauer told the Review-Journal that the show has taped eight more episodes that will air in early 2022.

He also weighed in on Jennings and “The Big Bang Theory” star Mayim Bialik being named “Jeopardy!” co-hosts at least through the end of the year.

“It’s hard for me to be impartial about Ken, but I hope he won’t be too busy for ‘The Chase,’” Holzhauer said. “He’s doing some great work on that show this season.”

Contact reporter Todd Dewey at tdewey@reviewjournal.com. Follow @tdewey33 on Twitter.

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