Alex Jacob Wins $250k Top Prize On Jeopardy

In one of the most one-sided displays ever seen on “Jeopardy”, former poker pro Alex Jacob successfully managed to dominate his opponents over two days on the popular TV quiz show to claim this year Tournament of Champions title, and walk away with its top prize worth $250,000. Talking to Variety magazine following his impressive performance, the 31 year-old commented:
“The most challenging aspect was probably just dealing mentally with the high stakes and the knowledge that I could win the tournament if I played well. The one thing I had going for me is that I’ve played for a lot of money on national TV before. The thing that makes ‘Jeopardy’ different than poker, though, is that there’s always another poker tournament, but you only get one Tournament of Champions.”
Back in April, Alex Jacob appeared for the first time on “Jeopardy”, before going on a six match winning streak which eventually came to an end after he missed a Final Jeopardy! question. He subsequently earned $149,802 for his efforts, the third highest total of the year, for which he also received an invite to the Tournament of Champions as one of the fifteen biggest money winners of 2015.
After navigating himself with ease through the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds, Alex Jacob reached the finals, where he faced two other tough opponents, including Kerry Greene, who won six games and more than $140,000 earlier this year, and Matt Jackson, who racked up 13 consecutive wins, and $411,612 in winnings, ranking him fourth on the all-time winner’s board.
This time around, however, they could not contain Alex Jacob, who enjoyed a runaway victory, while Matt Jackson had to be satisfied with a runner-up finish worth $100,000, and Kerry Greene a third place finish for $50,000. Heaping praise on his fellow competitors after winning the Tournament of Champions, Jacob commented:
“Matt and Kerry are great; both really nice, funny people, and of course, excellent players. I especially was happy for Kerry when she made the finals. She was the returning champion on my first taping day, so she was one of the few players I had met before.”