'Jeopardy!' Fans Think James Holzhauer Lost Final Game on Purpose Thanks to Cryptic Tweet

James Holzauer's latest tweet has raised new suspicion about the final game of his Jeopardy! [...]

By Michael Hein

James Holzauer's latest tweet has raised new suspicion about the final game of his Jeopardy! streak. Holzhauer made headlines back in June for an historic run on the quiz show, and now he has fans wondering whether he threw the game all over again.

Holzhauer came incredibly close to breaking the all-time record for highest winnings on Jeopardy! back in June. At the time, many conspiracy theorists speculated that he had thrown the game on purpose for some secret, higher payout, since Holzhauer was a professional gambler. This weekend, Holzhauer reignited those theories with a single tweet.

"I hope to be as brave as Andrew Luck one day," the 35-year-old wrote. "Imagine reaching the pinnacle of the only job you've ever trained for, finding no joy in it, and having the guts to do the right thing for yourself even though millions of fans will hate you for it."

Of course, this caused speculation to run wild. Andrew Luck retired from the Indianapolis Colts recently at the age of 29. The quarterback intimated that he did not love playing in the NFL enough to rehabilitate his injuries for next season. Some thought that Holzhauer was saying a lot by comparing himself to the player.

"Maybe you already were that brave?" one fan wrote.

"Wait is this why you lost jeopardy before passing Ken Jennings," asked another.

Holzhauer had a 32-game winning streak on Jeopardy!, and he won a total of $2,462,216. He was just under $60,000 shy of the total winnings record previously set by Ken Jennings, and he had done it in about half as many games.

Holzhauer ultimately lost to Emma Boettcher, who employed some of his own strategies against him. A professional sports gambler, Holzhauer brought a daring technique to Jeopardy!, going for the high-cost answers first and betting heavily on Daily Doubles and Final Jeopardy.

Holzhauer has previously shot down rumors that he had thrown the game before, and he did it again this time as well. Some fans assumed that he was trolling the conspiracy theorists by enticing them with the tweet, but Holzhauer seemed to deny that as well. As self-effacing as he generally is, he could not stand for insults against Boettcher.

"New game: imagine you pulled off the most dominant upset in @Jeopardy history and people won't shut up about how the 32x champ must have let you win," Holzhauer wrote, adding the hashtag "Jeopardy Emma" to make it clear who he was talking about.

Holzhauer will be back for the Jeopardy! Tornament of Champions this fall. The 10-day event begins on Nov. 4.

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