Jason Zuffranieri, a math teacher from Albuquerque, New Mexico, just won his 15th straight Jeopardy! game. That puts him at #5 on both the all-time earnings list (he's netted $418,343 so far) and the all-time consecutive games list.
Jeopardy! GOAT Ken Jennings obviously tops those lists, with $2,520,700 earned over a mind-boggling 74 games.
All in all, Zuffranieri seems pretty humble about his rise.
The Jeopardy! profile also reveals a whole category's worth of fun facts, including that Zuffranieri "was featured in a local magazine as one of the region's hottest singles."
Holzhauer Donated to a Cancer Walk in Trebek's Name
During what would be the contestant's final episode, Trebek praised Holzhauer's daughter for a handmade card. "I want to express my thanks to your beautiful little daughter, Natasha, for having made this get-well card for me," Trebek said in the beginning of the show. "That was very sweet of her.""At the end of the day, I had nothing to lose," said Zediker. "My heart told me it was the right thing to do."
“Pancreatic cancer is one of the worst cancers out there,” she said. “Most people aren’t diagnosed until the latter stages.”
Holzhauer told her he would be unable to participate in the event. However, he sent her a donation for $1,109.14. Holzhauer wrote the message, "For Alex Trebek and all the other survivors."
At first, Zediker was confused by the dollar amount. But then it dawned on her—the number represented his daughter Natasha's birthday.
"There was no expectation on my end," she told CNN. "I was just thrilled that he responded. I knew that Alex's story had an impact on him, just like it has an impact on anyone who's working with a family member who's going through pancreatic cancer."
The walk was organized by the Lustgarten Foundation, which is the largest private funder of pancreatic cancer research. Pancreatic cancer has one of the lowest survival rates, and is an extremely difficult disease to overcome.