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<p>NEW YORK &#8212; Here&#8217;s one thing &#8220;Jeopardy!&#8221; fans can bet on after a gripping &#8220;Greatest of All Time&#8221; tournament: there won&#8217;t be a rematch.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m out,&#8221; said Ken Jennings, the veteran who beat young hotshot James Holzhauer and Brad Rutter to take a $1 million prize in the tournament that stretched out over four entertaining nights on ABC&#8217;s prime-time schedule.</p><p>Jennings was the first to win three matches, while Holzhauer won one and Rutter none. Jennings won Tuesday&#8217;s broadcast when, with the game on the line, Holzhauer whiffed on a question about Shakespearean dramas.</p><p>Jennings, who established himself in &#8220;Jeopardy!&#8221; lore by winning a still-record 74 games in a row in 2004, said in an interview with The Associated Press on Wednesday that he&#8217;s starting to feel his 45 years when it comes to high-stakes competition.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m really happy to get one last hurrah,&#8221; he said, &#8220;but I don&#8217;t think I can top this. At some point (host) Alex (Trebek) is going to retire and I can&#8217;t ever see playing with a different host, quite honestly. It wouldn&#8217;t be the same.&#8221;</p><p>That has to be bad news for ABC, which saw the tournament become a hit. The first three matches all reached around 15 million viewers last week before Tuesday&#8217;s match slipped to 13.5 million, the Nielsen company said. A four-day break may have slowed momentum.</p><p>A series of second-place finishes in &#8220;Jeopardy!&#8221; tournaments through the past few years motivated Jennings this time around.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s a sports cliche, but I almost wonder if I wanted it more than the other two did,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I got a lot of breaks. I ended up playing better than I thought I would, but honestly, I just wanted to win.&#8221;</p><p>To beat Holzhauer, a 36-year-old professional sports bettor, he had to play Holzhauer&#8217;s style.</p><p>&#8220;I had looked at so much tape of James trying to figure the guy out and the only way to beat James is to become James,&#8221; he said. &#8220;You have to not be intimidated by his shock and awe approach to the game and you&#8217;re going to have to do it, too: hop around for the Daily Doubles, bet big at every opportunity. It just shows what a dominant player he is.&#8221;</p><p>It was admittedly stressful, and he was uncomfortable at first making the type of wagers Holzhauer would traditionally make to pummel his competitors into submission.</p><p>&#8220;As it went on, you can see the dark side seducing you,&#8221; he said. &#8220;It gets easier and easier every time to become a James Holzhauer-style Las Vegas gambler. I&#8217;m glad the tournament ended when it did before I totally split into Vegas-style depravity.&#8221;</p><p>Twice in Tuesday&#8217;s first game, he bet everything on Daily Doubles and won. Finally, with 32,800 points on the line in Final Jeopardy, he also put all his chips on the table for a question about Grecian geography. When he answered correctly, Holzhauer made a bowing motion in his direction.</p><p>Holzhauer picked up steam in the second game, and had a lead going into the Final Jeopardy question, about which non-title character in a Shakespeare drama had the most speeches.</p><p>Second-place Jennings answered correctly (Iago), but strategically bet nothing because he knew Holzhauer would wager a large amount. He did, but answered incorrectly.</p><p>&#8220;I think James had swung the momentum in that last game and if he had gotten that Final Jeopardy (clue) and forced a (fifth match), I think he would have had a very good chance. I was very lucky to be able to finish when I did.&#8221;</p><p>Trebek watched admiringly from the podium.</p><p>&#8220;As I said at the end of the competition, it&#8217;s taken 15 years to get people to stop wondering how good Ken Jennings really is,&#8221; he said. &#8220;In the &#8216;GOAT&#8217; tournament, he showed everyone that he had developed a calm style, delivered with knowledge, and change in betting tactics and an improved signaling-in capability. It was fun to watch and be a part of.&#8221;</p>

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<div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/web1_124338526-362d15f252b14503b8c6846fb25b50f9.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">This image released by ABS shows contestant Ken Jennings with a trophy on &quot;JEOPARDY! The Greatest of All Time.&quot; Jennings, the veteran who beat young hotshot James Holzhauer and Brad Rutter, won the $1 million prize in the tournament that stretched out over four entertaining nights on ABC's prime-time schedule. (Eric McCandless/ABC via AP)</div></div><div class="metaInfo">https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/web1_124338526-362d15f252b14503b8c6846fb25b50f9.jpgThis image released by ABS shows contestant Ken Jennings with a trophy on &quot;JEOPARDY! The Greatest of All Time.&quot; Jennings, the veteran who beat young hotshot James Holzhauer and Brad Rutter, won the $1 million prize in the tournament that stretched out over four entertaining nights on ABC's prime-time schedule. (Eric McCandless/ABC via AP)</div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/web1_124338526-105355330a8e476480a622825771d513.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">This image released by ABC shows host Alex Trebec, left, joining hands with contestant Ken Jennings after he won &quot;JEOPARDY! The Greatest of All Time,&quot; as fellow contestants Brad Rutter and James Holzhauer look on.  Jennings won the $1 million prize in the tournament that stretched out over four entertaining nights on ABC's prime-time schedule. (Eric McCandless/ABC via AP)</div></div><div class="metaInfo">https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/web1_124338526-105355330a8e476480a622825771d513.jpgThis image released by ABC shows host Alex Trebec, left, joining hands with contestant Ken Jennings after he won &quot;JEOPARDY! The Greatest of All Time,&quot; as fellow contestants Brad Rutter and James Holzhauer look on.  Jennings won the $1 million prize in the tournament that stretched out over four entertaining nights on ABC's prime-time schedule. (Eric McCandless/ABC via AP)</div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><p>By David Bauder</p><p>AP Media Writer</p></div>

No rematch for ‘Jeopardy’ mega-champion Ken Jennings