Meet the professional gambler from Las Vegas who's shattering 'Jeopardy!' records and has taken home $1.3 million in an 18-day winning streak

• James Holzhauer, current reigning "Jeopardy!" champion, is on an 18-day winning streak with $1.3 million in winnings.
• Holzhauer has broken nearly every "Jeopardy!" record, including the most money a player has ever won in a single game on the show.
• Here's what we know about Holzhauer, from his professional gambling background to his lifelong preparation for his run on "Jeopardy!". 
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Current reigning "Jeopardy!" champion James Holzhauer knows how to play the odds — the 34-year-old professional sports gambler is on an 18-day winning streak, raking in $1.3 million so far. In the process, he's broken nearly every "Jeopardy!" record.

Holzhauer currently sits in second place for all-time regular-season earnings to Ken Jennings, who won 74 games in a row to take home $2.5 million in 2004, reported Business Insider's Aylin Woodward. Holzhauer won $850,000 of his "Jeopardy!" earnings in just over a dozen episodes — at that rate, he'll earn $2.5 million in less than half the time Jennings did, according to The Atlantic's Joe Pinsker.

Slate even dubbed Holzhauer the Serena Williams of "Jeopardy!". On Tuesday, he'll take to the buzzer for the 19th time.

Here's what we know about Holzhauer and his plan of attack.

James Holzhauer, age 34, is a professional sports gambler.

"As a gambler, I know you can do everything right and still have to wait a long time to see positive results if luck is not on your side," Holzhauer told The Ringer.

He told The New York Times that his sports betting used to be focused primarily on baseball, but that he has started to focus more on basketball and football.

Holzhauer hails from Naperville, Illinois, a Chicago suburb.

Holzhauer lives in Las Vegas with his daughter and wife Melissa, a tutor and linguistics expert.

According to Heavy, she was also a game show contestant, winning $28,800 on "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?".

Holzhauer has used family birthdays and anniversaries as "Jeopardy!" wagers several times. According to The Washington Post, his winnings of exactly $110,914 on one night during his winning streak was far from an accident — it correlates to his daughter's November 9, 2014 birthday.

Prior to Holzhauer's winning stint on "Jeopardy!", the most money a player had ever won in a single game was, according to Insider, $77,000.

The $77,000 record was set by Robert Craig in 2010, according to Insider.

Throughout Holzhauer's 18-day winning streak, he broke this record several times. On April 9, he earned the highest one-day total ever: $131,127.