Chicago woman crushed by ‘Jeopardy!’ champ praises his ‘focus,’ buzzer technique

Anna Hautzinger remembers walking away from a Chicago audition for “Jeopardy!” in 2017 where she first met the now record-breaking game show champion James Holzhauer.

“We were all hoping we would never have to compete against that guy,” said Hautzinger, 55, a veterinarian who lives in Norwood Park.

But as it turns out, Hautzinger did have to face him — and she became one of his first two victims in his 18-episode, history-making winning streak that continued with his close victory Monday. He has now won more than $1.3 million.

“Even at [the audition], we knew he was a competitor,” she said. “He was polite enough and nice enough, but you could just see there was this extra degree and focus.”

Hautzinger has been a diligent fan of “Jeopardy!” for years. Being a contestant on the show was a life goal — she saw it as a way to challenge her intellect and “keep the brain fresh.”

Getting on “Jeopardy!” was a painstaking process that involved passing an online test, going to auditions, waiting in a contestant pool of about 4,000 people for two years before finally getting to pursue her dream of being on the show.

In February, she and her husband were flown to Sony Picture’s studios in Culver City, California for the show’s taping, where contestants were “sequestered” through the process to ensure the game’s integrity. Hautzinger was not allowed contact with family or staff during that time. Although she was able to take a photo with Alex Trebek, the TV host does not interact with contestants throughout the day as five different shows are taped, she said.

But when she got a glimpse of Holzhauer, a Naperville native who is now a professional gambler in Las Vegas, she was worried, even though it was his very first time on the show.

“I told my husband as soon as I saw [James] again I knew I was in trouble,” she recalled. “I thought ‘I’ll be lucky if I don’t have negative money at the end of Double Jeopardy.’”

Hautzinger remembers that Holzhauer seemed nervous before the taping.

“I had lunch with him and he didn’t eat that day. Now I’ve read that he eats pizza every day,” Hautzinger said, referring to a contestant profile on the Jeopardy! website in which Holzhauer said his daily lunch ritual is a slice of cheese pizza, a candy bar and a bag of chips.

Hautzinger also faced off against Alex Koral, a researcher from Colorado who had just defeated five-time champion Steven Grade. Hautzinger said she was “creamed” by Holzhauer and Koral, who went head to head in both rounds of the game.

Though Hautzinger said she knew many of the answers (or questions) during the taping, she had difficulties with the buzzer, which is a huge factor in being successful at the classic quiz show. Contestants must wait until Trebek completes the question and a light signals; if contestants buzz in too soon, they are locked out for a fraction of a second — enough time for experts like Holzhauer to nab the money.

“I tried my best. They were just excellent competitors,” Hautzinger said.

She ended up getting one question right and one wrong. She finished the game after Final Jeopardy with $0, but as a third place contestant took home $1,000.

But Hautzinger is not a sore loser.

“I figure if I was there to lose, I might as well lose to the best,” she said.

And Holzhauer could end up being just that. He is the first and only player to win more than $100,000 in a single episode, a feat he has accomplished four times. Holzhauer, a University of Illinois graduate, has also amassed the second-highest total in regular (non-tournament) games and is the second “Jeopardy!” millionaire in those games, behind only Ken Jennings, who won more than $2.5 million in a 75-episode run in 2004.

On Monday, he went up against another Chicagoan, Jasmine Leonas, a social media specialist for the Chicago Botanic Garden. She, too, ended up losing out to Holzhauer, who edged out another contestant by just $18 to continue his incredible run.