Back in 2004, I tracked Ken Jennings’ statistics daily and updated a toteboard. With James Holzhauer dominating his Jeopardy! games in ways unseen in years, I’ve decided to track James’ daily statistics in many of the same categories, alongside Ken’s statistics at the same point in his streak from 2004. Links are also provided to help define any statistics that may not be readily familiar or intuitive to the casual viewer.
This page will be publicly updated daily between 8:00 and 9:00 PM Eastern. (If you are a member of the media wishing to see the comparison earlier in the day, you’re welcome to contact Andy privately.)
Last Updated: June 3, 2019 (through 33 games)
| James Holzhauer | Ken Jennings | |
| Games Played | 33 | 33 |
| Total Winnings | $2,462,216 | $1,100,460 |
| Correct Responses | 1186 | 1158 |
| Incorrect Responses | 36 | 109 |
| Unforced Errors (buzz in w/ incorrect response) | 31 | 88 |
| Correct Response % When Buzzing In | 97.21% | 92.45% |
| Times First In | 1077 | 1112 |
| First In %age | 57.81% | 59.31% |
| Rebounds | 33 | 43 |
| Rebound %age (of all rebound opportunities) | 48.53% | 40.19% |
| Categories With 5 Correct | 36 | 38 |
| Categories With 4 Correct | 95 | 95 |
| Categories With 3 Correct | 122 | 115 |
| % Of Categories With At Least 3 Correct | 63.89% | 62.63% |
| Categories With 0 Correct | 11 | 15 |
| % of Bottom-Row Clues Responded To Correctly | 58.59% | 53.16% |
| Daily Doubles Played | 76 | 69 |
| Daily Doubles Correct | 72 | 59 |
| Daily Double %age | 94.74% | 85.51% |
| Average Daily Double Wager | $8,984 | $3,265 |
| Total Net Gain On Daily Doubles | $654,416 | $159,299 |
| Average Net Gain On Daily Doubles | $8,611 | $2,309 |
| Average Score At End Of First Round | $12,564 | $9,327 |
| Average Lead At End Of First Round | $8,273 | $5,555 |
| Average Score At End Of Second Round | $47,655 | $30,015 |
| Average Lead At End Of Second Round | $36,750 | $20,730 |
| % Of Runaway Games | 87.88% | 84.85% |
| Final Jeopardy Clues Correct | 32 | 22 |
| Final Jeopardy %age | 96.97% | 66.67% |
| Average Final Jeopardy Wager | $27,891 | $7,292 |
| Average Final Score | $75,364 | $33,347 |
| Average Margin of Victory | $62,269 | $25,144 |
| Average Coryat Score | $30,576 | $27,552 |
| Average Opposition Player Coryat | $7,415 | $5,948 |
| Average Combined Coryat | $45,400 | $39,448 |
| Triple Stumpers Average | 3.39 | 5.36 |
| Unrevealed Clues Average | 0.55 | 0.18 |
Since Alex Trebek’s diagnosis of stage 4 pancreatic cancer, many community members have been raising money. The Jeopardy! Fan Online Store is as well! All proceeds from any “Keep The Faith And We’ll Win” shirt sold will be donated to the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network. To date, over $370 has been raised.)
If you are going to quote any statistics from this page or this website, attribution is required.
Not enjoying watching past weeks episodes as no doubt about who will win, hopefully someone will come along to beat him soon
Even Ken Jennings lost eventually. Someone will come along and beat James. As for me, I love watching the game being played to its utmost potential.
Michael Schwartz – his opponents watch him play before they play him. Contestants for all of the day’s shows watch the matches before theirs. I think this helps build an intimidation factor.
Thank you for this great web site!
And your speed is greatly appreciated.
This is the first place I visit after each game.
Keep up the great work!
What about adding in the only other person “Brad Rutter” to come near this much money won to this equation.
Brad’s winnings have been mostly accumulated as a result of tournaments. It would not be an apples-to-apples comparison.
Thank you Andy. I did not start watching until my mother got me hooked on it.
First, thanks for a fascinating website!
When Ken Jennings was competing, were the board dollar amounts the same as they are now? Someone told me she thinks they were half of what they are today.
Thanks!
The board values were the same in Ken Jennings’ day compared to today.
This is great stuff, thanks. I wonder if it would be useful to have data on how much a contestant bets on Double and Final Jeopardy clues in relation to their pre-bet total (the true Daily Double being 100%, for example). In addition to the bet in terms of raw numbers, the percentage can give an idea of how aggressive a player plays (because $4,000 may be aggressive when one has a score of $6,000 but conservative when one is at $20,000).
I’ll think about this. I do track “Daily Double Efficiency” already on the daily threads.
One small quibble with this otherwise fantastic collection of data.
“With a projected 83 regular-play games to go prior to the Tournament of Champions cutoff: James Holzhauer qualified 100.000% of the time.”
Should James still be the champion at the cutoff date, he will technically not qualify for this 2019 TOC. You might consider putting a second line for James, which includes the model projections that he’s actually still the champion at the cutoff date.
All the model cares about is whether James will qualify for any ToC, not necessarily the next one. If you’re curious as to the chance the he is still champion, you can look at Jonathan Dinerstein’s chances, as he is only in if James is still champion.
I dont get why this comparison keeps going because he’s clearly better than Ken Jennings in every category worth comparing.
James Holzhauer is a phenomenal player. Prodigious knowledge & rapid recall are matched by thorough mastery of wagering theory & quick calculation (he’s a professional gambler with a math degree). Ken Jennings played much more conservatively, knowing that his best chance of winning a lot of $ was to win a lot of games (which he did), not bet a lot in any one game. The styles are different, each appropriate to the player. One is not “clearly better” than the other.
The reason this comparison keeps going is that we enjoy thinking about such things. If you don’t…
Hi, can you show me where you got your info about him having a math degree? My mom and I have been trying to find out what his education level is, just for the heck of it.
BS Mathematics University of Illinois.
As far as I know that’s the extent of his formal academic education. He claims (in jest) to have majored in online poker at school, certainly played IRL poker, and moved to Las Vegas soon after graduating, so his informal education overlapped (one might even say “lapped”) his formal education. However, he’s clearly skilled at mathematical calculation, at least.
Thanks for the information and statistics. Really fascinating. I’ve been hooked on Jeopardy! for years but now it’s heart -stopping to watch. I’m rooting for that genius James. And he probably has a photographic memory.
How about his remark about studying children’s books for quick information!
I’ve been a Jeopardy fan since before Alex’s Day…..at 88, I can’t remember the previous host’s name. I loved the time when he was betting, threw a kiss to Heaven and said “this is for you Grammy.” I record it and watch with my son and two grandsons on Sunday….they call me “Grammy”. I told them to remember that when they’re on Jeopardy.
Love the stats. Thanks for creating and updating for all of us to enjoy!
One possible additional metric that would be interesting to see is “Total net gain on Final Jeopardy”
I believe at 21 games it is roughly 577k to 74k.