Alex Jacob Through To Semis Of Jeopardy Tournament of Champions

In April, Alex Jacob, a poker pro turned currency trader, went on a six game winning streak on the TV game show Jeopardy, eventually walking away richer by an impressive $151,802. A few months later, and the 31-year old is back competing in Jeopardy’s Tournament of Champions, with $250,000 awaiting the tournament’s ultimate victor, and $100,000 going to the show’s runner-up.
Alex Jacob has managed to get off to a great start, too, and after defeating Maryland math graduate Vaughn Winchell, and Massachusetts software developer Brennan Bushee in the quarter-finals, has now advanced through to the semi-final round. Given his solid performance thus far, Jacob is also emerging as a clear favorite to eventually win the competition.
While Alex Jacob’s background naturally makes him a favorite with the poker community, his support amongst Jeopardy fans seems evenly divided between those who appreciate his style of play, and those who do not. One twitter poster by the handle Jgurnari, for instance, seems to believe that Alex Jacob thinks “he’s smarter than he really is,” while RedHeadedScot describes herself as yet “another less than impressed spectator”.
In spite of an expected level of love and loathing, however, most poker players believe Alex Jacob has portrayed his former industry in a positive light, and he continues to receive overwhelming support from poker fans across the country.
Before becoming a currency trader for the Gelber Group, Alex Jacob was a successfully poker pro who amassed $2,603,701 in wining between 2005 and 2012. Included amongst his many accolades is victory at the 2006 United States Poker Championship for $878,500, and a runner-up finish at the 2006 Foxwoods Poker Classic for $655,507. Throughout his poker career, Jacob has also managed to cash 25 times at World Series of Poker (WSOP), earning a further $832,559 in winnings along the way.