Alex Jacob Won 6 Days of Jeopardy and Collected a Little Under $150,000
Alex Jacob, a former professional player on the poker circuit best known for his successes at the World Series of Poker in 2006 and 2007, is showing his skills at the long running game show Jeopardy. Mr. Jacob has won six episodes of Jeopardy to this point, and continues as the defending champion as of this posting.
Alex Jacob collected $2.5 million in poker winnings during his time on the poker circuit. At a point, Jacob decided to take a partial break from poker to focus on other things. While he still shows up on a part-time basis at the major American tournaments, he pursues other goals at the present. One of those goals is proving his knowledge of trivia and his skills as Jeopardy.
About Alex Jacob
Alex Jacob was born in Houston, Texas, but he made a career as a currency trader in Chicago, Illinois. While continuing that career, he began to play in poker tournaments, making enough money to become a professional. These days, he lives in Parkland, Florida.
To win his first match of Jeopardy, Alex Jacob devised innovative tactics. Despite his strategy decisions, he also makes it clear that the breadth of his “general knowledge” is a key factor in his recent game show wins.
Alex Jacob’s Tactics
Allen Kessler, a fellow poker pro and friend of Jacob’s, posted in a forum that Jacob won his Friday match due to “well played daily double questions.”
He also confirmed that Jacob used stalling tactics in the final rounds to run out the clock, so to speak. The professional said he devised the strategy after watching the format of the show.
One TV viewer tweeted their review of Alex Jacob’s performance, saying, “Felt like Alex Jacob was kind of stalling on Jeopardy today. Wonder if they tell him to knock it off between tapings.”
Fan Support
Despite using somewhat underhanded tactics, Jacob has received serious amounts of fan support from the poker playing community. Alex Jacob admittedly has an “average amount of trivia knowledge“, but poker fans seemed to relish his winning strategy.
Poker professional and training instructor Grayson Nichols said, “If you haven’t done so yet, follow @whoisalexjacob to watch him represent the poker world while dominating next week’s @Jeopardy. #Trebek.”
Jeopardy Viewer Criticism
Some Jeopardy fans have been livid at the tactics used by Alex Jacob, who is a student of game theory. These viewers, who may not be poker fans and are certainly purists when it come to the 30+ year old trivia game show, expressed dismay at the stalling tactics used by Mr. Jacob.
For example, Cocorette Daydream tweeted, “Alex on Friday’s episode of Jeopardy is a human shell containing the spirit of a marginally intelligent sloth.”
Despite the criticism, Alex Jacob continues his winning ways. Viewers can see him try for his third win in a row on the Friday broadcasts of the popular game show.
Alex Jacob Loses on 7th Episode
In an update of the Alex Jacob Jeopardy! story, the poker professional lost on his 7th episode of the show. Mr. Jacob won $149,802 combined in his six victories on the show. While 6 wins is nowhere near the 74 straight victories by Ken Jennings some years ago, winning a touch trivia contest like Jeopardy six times in a row is no mean feat. Back in the old days, contestants were retired when they won 5 times in a row. Congratulations to Alex Jacob.
Jeopardy! History
Jeopardy! is on its fourth run on television, though this version of the show is by far the most successful and lasting. When the game was devised by Merv Griffin in 1964, it was his wife who suggested that the answers by put in question form, providing the game show with its distinctive flair.
Art Fleming hosted two versions of Jeopardy, which ran from 1964-1975 (January) and from September 1974 to September 1975. John Harlan hosted a brief run in 1978 and 1979. Don Pardo was the game’s announced in the first run.
In 1984, the modern version of Jeopardy! was launched. This version was hosted by Alex Trebek and announced by Johnny Gilbert. Jeopardy has won 31 Daytime Emmy Awards and is the only game show to be awarded a Peabody Award. The syndicated show has had over 6,000 broadcasts and now has regional versions around the globe.
Jeopardy’s Impact on Pop Culture
Jeopardy is now a part of the American pop culture. The show has been referenced or portrayed on a number of U.S. television programs, including Cheers, Golden Girls, Mama’s Family, The Simpsons, Family Guy, and Saturday Night Live. The show was depicted in movies like Men in Black, Die Hard, Rain Man, Charlie’s Angels, Groundhog Day, White Men Can’t Jump, and The ‘Burbs. It was a part of the plot of “Little Expressionless Animals”, a short story by David Foster Wallace.
Also, “Weird Al” Yankovic did a parody song of Greg Kihn’s 1983 hit song “Jeopardy” with a tune called “I Lost on Jeopardy“. The song had a music video. Ironically, Weird Al’s song was a reference to the earlier versions of the program, because the Alex Trebek series did not start until months after the video was shown on MTV.
