Ken Jennings Stole James Holzhauer’s Signature ‘Jeopardy!’ Move
But Holzhauer got the last laugh.
One of the under-discussed pleasures of Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time is the camaraderie. Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter have known each other for years, James Holzhauer is fitting in nicely, and it goes without saying that everyone loves Alex Trebek.
A side effect of their bond is that they aren’t afraid to poke fun at each other, as Jennings showed on last night’s episode when he borrowed Holzhauer’s signature move: the all-in push.
Holzhauer always mimes pushing in all of the poker chips when he wagers it all on a Daily Double, a nod to his background as a professional gambler. The gesture has become something of a trademark for him.
So when Jennings hit a Daily Double in the category “The Greatest of All Minds” in last night’s first game, he said “I gotta do it, and I can do it with a clear conscience.” before wagering all of his 8,400 points.
“But can you do it?” Trebek asked, doing the pushing in poker chips movement himself.
Ken obliged him and asked “Has James copyrighted this?”
“Yeah, go ahead!” Holzahuer replied with a smile. “One-time use only. You’re good.”
“He now owns ten percent of whatever you get,” Rutter chimed in to laughter from the audience.
Jennings had the correct question—Who is Leibniz?—for the answer “This German developed Calculus independent of another wise guy.”
“It works!” he exclaimed as his score doubled to 16,800.
But it was Holzhauer who had the last laugh on night two. After Jennings dominated on night one, the new kid in town stormed back, with a cumulative score of 82,414 easily besting Jennings’s 57,400. Rutter continued his mediocre performance from the first night, placing third in both matches, with a cumulative score of just 10,800.
And while we hope Brad is able to come back—and counting out a guy who has won more on the show than anyone else seems pretty foolish—if it’s a two-man race from here on out we can only hope Jennings and Holzhauer keep competing as fiercely and amusingly as they have been so far.
The third episode of Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time airs tonight on ABC at 8 p.m. eastern time; here’s how you can stream it.
This article was originally published on
