Alex Jacob

Alex Jacob (born October 27, 1984) is a former professional poker player and game show contestant.

Alex Jacob
Nickname(s)Fro-Poker
BornOctober 27, 1984 (1984-10-27) (age 36)
Houston, Texas, U.S.
World Series of Poker
Bracelet(s)None
Money finish(es)25
Highest ITM
Main Event finish		390th, 2010
World Poker Tour
Title(s)None
Final table(s)1
Money finish(es)3

Jacob is perhaps best known in poker for winning the 2006 main event at the United States Poker Championship, a no-limit Texas hold 'em event televised by ESPN. He has also appeared at televised final tables at the World Series of Poker and the World Poker Tour. In 2015, after leaving professional poker, Jacob became a contestant on Jeopardy!, where he won six games and the show's Tournament of Champions.

Education

In 2002, Jacob was the valedictorian of Deerfield Beach High School, where he was in the International Baccalaureate (IB) program.

In May 2006, he graduated from Yale University with a degree in economics and mathematics.[1]

Poker career

Among Jacob's biggest poker accomplishments are winning the Peter A. Fabrizio Memorial Poker Classic in 2003 and finishing runner-up at the 2006 World Poker Tour (WPT) tournament in Foxwoods Resort Casino on April 9, 2006, winning $655,507. Jacob secured his biggest paycheck to date by winning the 2006 U.S. Poker Championship with a first-place prize of $878,500. Jacob has 4 WSOP Final Tables, including a 3rd in Event 3 in No-Limit hold'em at the 2007 World Series of Poker.

At Yale, Jacob's poker talent was spotted by James McManus as early as 2004, when McManus sat down one night to play with Jacob. Months later, McManus mentioned Jacob in an article about the experience.[2]

As of 2012, Jacob's total live tournament winnings exceed $2,600,000.[3] His 25 cashes at the WSOP account for $832,559 of those winnings.[4] He is known for his graciousness and sportsmanship in tournament play.[5]

Jeopardy!

Jacob has also appeared on the game show Jeopardy![6] He won in his first appearance on the show on April 10, 2015, and went on to win five more games before losing on April 20, 2015. Jacob won a grand total of $151,802 in seven appearances.[7] His victories qualified him for the 2015 Tournament of Champions, which he won, collecting the grand prize of $250,000.[8] In addition to using the "Forrest Bounce" originated by Chuck Forrest, Jacob also pioneered the strategy of aggressive Daily Double wagers that was used with even greater success by James Holzhauer in 2019.[9]

Jacob later appeared in the All-Star Games with team captain Buzzy Cohen and 2015 Teachers' Tournament champion Jennifer Giles. His team went home with $75,000 after losing the wild card match.

Endorsements

Jacob is a frequent player on the trivia app FleetWit, especially in the high-stakes races where top prizes are in the hundreds of dollars. He has won over $24,000 to date.[10] He was also noted for winning a $20,000 prize on the HQ Trivia app in June 2019,[11] which HQ Trivia had failed to pay a month after his win.[12] (Jacob received his payout in August.)[13]

References
  1. "WPT – Players". worldpokertour.com. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  2. Lane Moore. "Lifestyle". Esquire. Archived from the original on March 19, 2012. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  3. "Alex Jacob". The Hendon Mob Poker Database. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  4. World Series of Poker Earnings Archived July 12, 2009, at the Wayback Machine, worldseriesofpoker.com
  5. "World Series of Poker". worldseriesofpoker.com. Retrieved April 10, 2015.
  6. "Show #7045 – Friday, April 10, 2015". J!Archive. Retrieved April 11, 2015.
  7. "Show #7050 – Friday, April 17, 2015". J! Archive. Retrieved April 19, 2015.
  8. Swartz, Tracy (November 18, 2015). "Chicago trader wins 'Jeopardy' tournament round despite joke answer". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 18, 2015.
  9. Jackson, Gita (July 9, 2019). "Provocative Jeopardy Champ Says HQ Trivia Owes Him $20,000 In Winnings". Kotaku.com. Retrieved July 9, 2019. During his run on Jeopardy, where Jacob both thrilled and frustrated fans by jumping around categories looking for Daily Doubles and then betting so much money that no one could overtake him(...)
  10. FleetWit. "FleetWit - Brain Games for Cash". www.fleetwit.com. Retrieved March 13, 2018.
  11. Burton, Earl (June 16, 2019). "Semi-Pro Poker Player Alex Jacob Demonstrates Prowess on Quiz Show HQ". Retrieved June 21, 2019.
  12. "HQ Trivia player wins $20,000, doesn't receive payout". Comicbook.com. July 8, 2019. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
  13. Jacob, Alex [@whoisalexjacob] (August 8, 2019). "To follow up on my post about @hqtrivia, the team at HQ has resolved my issues. They took some time to ensure everyone is following the rules, which is always good. I look forward to continuing to play for the big jackpots and am sure you'll join me" (Tweet). Retrieved September 26, 2019 – via Twitter.
Preceded by
Ben Ingram		 Jeopardy! Tournament of Champions winner
2015		 Succeeded by
Buzzy Cohen
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