Who Is James Holzhauer? 'Jeopardy' Champion Takes Home Record Single-Game Winnings

Back in 2010, Roger Craig made headlines by setting the "Jeopardy!" single-game record when he won $77,000 but his record is now gone. Sports gambler James Holzhauer on Tuesday shattered Craig's record, earning a record $110,914 in cash winnings on the famed game show.

In total, Holzhauer has won $244,365 in his four appearances on "Jeopardy!" thus far. Holzhauer has dominated his opponents, correctly answered 129 of his first 133 attempts."

With his big win, Holzhauer, 35, now joins Craig, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter as "Jeopardy!" champions who have people talking.

Born and raised in the Chicago suburb of Naperville, Holzhauer was a standout in math and science in high school, winning a statewide competition in the Worldwide Youth in Science and Engineering Team.

He later graduated from the University of Illinois with a bachelor’s degree in math in 2005.

Following his graduation, Holzhauer began betting on sports in Las Vegas, with several sportsbooks telling ESPN that he was a respected bettor. He’s been betting on sports since 2006, starting with baseball futures and then expanding to football, basketball and hockey.

"Now, I focus largely on in-game betting, where the oddsmaker often struggles to put an accurate line with only few seconds to think about it. I think my work is similar to an investment bank, except that I'm the analyst, trader, fund manager and day trader all into one," he told ESPN in an email.

In 2012, Holzhauer married Melissa, who also has a history on game shows. She appeared in a 2012 episode of "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" and winning $28,800.

Holzhauer has also appeared on games shows in the past, appearing on a 2014 episode of the U.S. version of "The Chase." The show has a team of three contestants trying to answer as many questions as they can within 60 seconds to amass as much money as possible. His team was able to win $175,000.

He also appeared on the game show "500 Questions" in 2015, but was unable to defeat trivia whiz Steve Bahnaman.

A press release from "Jeopardy!" explained that the $110,914 total has a special place for Holzhauer since "his daughter was born November 9, 2014 (11/09/14)." In his first victory on "Jeopardy!" he wagered $3,268 as a birthday greeting to his 11-year-old nephew, who was born on March 26, 2008.

On Wednesday, Holzhauer will face Jeff Henderson, a retail manager in Calgary, and Laura Hertzfeld, a journalist in Los Angeles.