James Holzhauer has blown past the million-dollar mark in just 14 episodes of "Jeopardy!" and shows no signs of slowing down as he continues his quest to become the greatest player in the game's history.
The professional gambler already has the four single-highest totals in the show's history and now has racked up $1,061,554 through Tuesday's episode.
Holzhauer has become such a sensation that "Jeopardy!" has introduced an official James Holzhauer Tracker, so fans can keep up with his winning streak.
"He's thinking about the game in a whole different way, and I never would've had the stomach to make some of those bets he's making,'' Ken Jennings, a "Jeopardy!" legend, told Natalie Morales on TODAY last week.
Holzhauer, 34, needed less than two weeks to move into second place all-time in earnings during a regular season behind Jennings, who amassed $2.5 million in 2004 with his 74-game winning streak.
He is winning so big that he may even be outearning legendary "Jeopardy!" host Alex Trebek on a per-episode basis.
Holzhauer is averaging $75,825 per game through 14 episodes, while Trebek, who reportedly makes about $10 million a year, or $43,000 per episode given that there were 230 episodes between regular-season contests and all-star tournaments in the most recent full season of the show.
In addition to the crucial skill of being lightning quick with the buzzer, Holzhauer has employed unorthodox strategies like fully doubling down whenever he finds a Daily Double and starting from the bottom of the board to hunt the big money first.
In one game, he doubled down by risking more than $48,000 in winnings. But it's no shock he has an appetite for risk, considering he is a professional sports gambler in Las Vegas.
He also makes Daily Double and Final Jeopardy wagers with personal meaning. He wagered $9,812 because he got married on Sept. 8, 2012, and bet $11,914 because it corresponds with his daughter's birthday.
Family is important to Holzhauer, who has made sure to shout out his late "Granny" during Final Jeopardy, because he first grew to love the show as a kid by watching it with her.
It also helps that he has a head full of trivia knowledge, as he showed in last week's record-setting episode. Holzhauer turned in the "Jeopardy!" version of a perfect game by giving the correct questions as answers to all 41 responses he fielded.
He won $131,127 to set a single-game "Jeopardy!" record, beating his own previous record of $110,914 set last week. The single-game high prior to his current run was $77,000 set by contestant Roger Craig in 2010 before Holzhauer obliterated it. Though, he still has a good amount of work in front of him before he tops the show's record for all-time winnings, including tournaments, which is held by Brad Rutter, who won nearly $4.7 million over 14 years.
Holzhauer also worked hard for his chance to shine. He told The Ringer that he took the online tryout test 13 times and had two in-person auditions before making it onto the show.
He added that he practiced his skills on the buzzer by making a practice buzzer of masking tape wrapped around a mechanical pencil.
All that knowledge didn't come from a formal education either.
"Oh, no, I hated school,'' Holzhauer told Trebek on the show. "I just studied things I wasn't good at before, tried to shore up the weak points."
His dazzling run has invigorated the iconic show, which just wrapped its 35th season. It also comes as Trebek, 78, is battling stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
Trebek said in a video last week that he expects to be back for the show's 36th year.
"Despite what you may have heard, I'm feeling good,'' he said. "I'm continuing with my therapy, and we — by we, the staff — is already working on our next season, the 36th year of 'Jeopardy!'"
"I think (Trebek) appreciates the fact that all the attention is gonna be on James' run now, which is where it should be,'' Jennings said.
Holzhauer and his wife plan to travel around the world with his winnings whenever his run ends, visiting a favorite city every month.
Jennings has only one tip for Holzhauer as he tries to take down his career earnings record.
"I'd give James the same advice I give everybody on 'Jeopardy!''' he said. "Don't wear a sweater. You'll look like a dork."