Ben Yu Weighs in on Personal Friend James Holzhauer's Epic Jeopardy Run
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While many have gathered in Las Vegas over the past few months to watch and cheer on their favorite teams in the Stanley Cup and the NBA Finals, a group of Vegas sharps was gathering on most week nights to cheer on one of their own in another sort of competition. Among those sweating James Holzhauer's recent run on Jeopardy! was three-time WSOP bracelet winner Ben Yu.
"I've been so excited," Yu said. "I mean I don't really care about sports at all anymore; when I was a kid I used to root for the Lakers and the Dodgers and stuff, but gambling has kind of washed that off some, but this was like being a kid again, like rooting really hard."
"This was like being a kid again, like rooting really hard."
Holzhauer's incredible 32-game winning streak came to an end on Monday with his final winnings tallied at $2,462,216 - just $58,484 shy of the all-time money record still held by Ken Jennings. As a professional sports bettor, Holzhauer's aggressive and smart betting strategies during the run made it possible for him to near the record in less than half as many games as Jennings, who won 74 in a row.
"It has been pretty great," said Yu. "Like all of our friend circle in Vegas, it's been an excuse to get together almost every day, no matter what else has been going on in my life, we just watch the episode."
A Great Gambling Mind
Yu and Holzhauer are in the same friend circle and go back more than 12 years, so we caught up with Yu at the WSOP to ask about the recent sweat.
"[Holzhauer]'s definitely right up there with the smartest people I've ever met," said Yu. "I've met a lot of smart people between poker, college, Magic The Gathering and other gaming. In poker, the smartest people are probably like Scott Seiver, Isaac Haxton - he's right up there with them for sure." He continued: "He has a phenomenal gambling mind. We do a lot of sports betting work together, share a lot of information."
"He has a phenomenal gambling mind. We do a lot of sports betting work together, share a lot of information."
Holzhauer has put a new face on the world of gambling for the common person and mainstream media that may otherwise still perceive gambling as a strictly seedy industry. Here at the World Series of Poker, players can relate to misconceptions about their industry and the characters within it.
"I really have avoided having gambling heroes I would say - I think it's not something worthwhile to look up to necessarily, or necessary to have a hero for. But he's definitely someone I look up to," Yu told PokerNews. "Like when I was getting my start in sports betting, he gave me a lot of really great advice and still, if I need to bounce something off him, if I need the answer to something obscure or random in sports, I pretty much just ask him and he always gives me an answer that demonstrates a really deep understanding of sports gambling."
Ben Yu Talks Jeopardy Sweat
Much like some avid sports fans have watch parties for big games, Holzhauer's run on Jeopardy has drawn his friends together to root for him - even though the shows were all pre-taped, with the results posted on the mornings of the broadcasts.
"There were episodes where he was close to losing," Yu recalled. "I understand what it's like being a partner or a friend watching someone at the final table and you don't have any control over it and you're just scared to death and you're just waiting for the runout. And I felt that a couple times, even though I knew he won that day already; I was still pretty stunned and scared for him."
Throughout Holzhauer's run, Yu has been firing tournaments in Las Vegas and also at the Seminole Hard Rock Series back in April.
"I really have avoided having gambling heroes I would say...But he's definitely someone I look up to."
"I flew [to Florida] and every day I would just punt a tournament and come home and watch him crush Jeopardy. And then I got back here and there were a few tournaments at the Aria and again, I would bust tournaments and I just didn't care because I would watch my buddy crush at Jeopardy. Then we had a couple weeks off. I wasn't even playing any poker, I was losing money sports betting, I was busting Magic tournaments but I got to watch my buddy win at Jeopardy."
Since the WSOP started, Yu has had to miss out on the watch parties, but for the first few days of it, he still got to sweat his friend's Jeopardy journey after "punting" more tournaments.
"It's been a great ride," Yu said of the weeks sweating Holzhauer's run. "I've made sure to enjoy it as much as possible. Everyone I've watched an episode with or discussed the episodes with at the poker table here - it's been really great."
Yu's Turn for a Deep Run
Now that Yu has no more Jeopardy to sweat, he seems to be taking a break from punting tournaments. He has made it to the final four in the $10,000 Heads-Up No-Limit Hold'em Championship event after defeating Kristen Bicknell today in the Round of 8. If all goes well for Yu or another of their friends, maybe it will be Jeopardy James' turn to rail.
And if we're all really lucky, perhaps the Jeopardy and sports betting legend will return to the WSOP to try to parlay some of those earnings into a bracelet. If you find yourself playing against him, be ready for some savvy and savage bet sizing as he goes for a big stack and plays for the win. Watch Holzhauer's post-Jeopardy interview with CBS This Morning below:
You can follow Yu's run in the $10k Heads-Up Championship here, and keep an eye on the PokerNews live updates throughout the rest of the World Series of Poker.
