'Jeopardy's' latest champ James Holzhauer talks big money strategy, buzzer practice and staying focused

ByDavid Ono KABC logo
Friday, April 26, 2019
'Jeopardy!' champ James Holzhauer talks strategy, practice, staying grounded
'Jeopardy!' champ James Holzhauer talks strategy, practice, staying grounded"Jeopardy!" champ James Holzhauer talks about his big money strategy, at-home buzzer practice and staying focused on his trek to become the show's all-time champ.

CULVER CITY, LOS ANGELES -- "Jeopardy's" latest champ James Holzhauer talked about his big money strategy, at-home buzzer practice and staying focused on his trek to become the show's all-time champ.

Holzhauer read a book by a former champion who gave some insight into the best practices using the buzzer. Then he came up with his own practice method.

"At home, I actually took an old mechanical pencil and I wrapped a little bit of masking tape around it to kind of simulate the heft of this thing," revealed Holzhauer.

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Of course, being in your own living room is one thing. Being on the "Jeopardy!" set with Alek Trebek, two competitors and a live studio audience is something else! Holzhauer has his own method for staying focused.

"You know, what I do is I close my eyes and I picture me and my daughter going down a nice slide or something together, and it keeps me grounded," said Holzhauer. "It reminds me what this is for."

And while being a million-dollar winner has been great, there has been one other part of the "Jeopardy!" experience that this tough competitor will never forget.

"I got to hear Alex Trebek curse!" laughed Holzhauer.

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