Former Poker Pro Alex Jacob the Reigning Champ on "Jeopardy"

Alex Jacob, a former professional poker player best known for his victory in the 2006 U.S. Poker Championship, is currently the reigning champion on the popular TV game show "Jeopardy."

Jacob won $23,200 on Friday, April 10 as a challenger on the show and then successfully defended his title for at least another day when he won $26,400 on Monday, April 13. Jacob will compete again versus a pair of new challengers on Tuesday, April 14, hoping to build upon his current bankroll of $49,600.

On Friday's show, host Alex Trebek introduced Jacob as a currency trader from Chicago "who used to be a professional poker player." During the time alloted for viewers at home to learn about the backgrounds of Jeopardy players when Trebek typically asks each a question or two, the popular game show host was curious whether there were similarities to playing poker professionally and trading currencies for a living.

"Well, they're both businesses you can come home from a long day's work with less money," Jacob said, obviously recalling the many tournaments played in which he failed to cash.

However, there were also many poker events that Jacob did earn lucrative paydays, the best among them the $878,500 won in Atlantic City nine years ago in the U.S. Poker Championship. Jacob's poker career includes almost three dozen cashes and total live tournament winnings of $2,603,701, according to the Hendon Mob.

His last cash was in 2012 at the WSOP in Las Vegas where 182nd place in $1,000 NLHE was good for $2,217. Jacob's last six-figure payday was a 4th place finish at the 2009 WSOP for $190,857.

In a recent 2 + 2 post, Allen Kessler revealed that Jacob "cut back his (poker) schedule but still plays several events every year at the wsop."

Both days in which Jacob competed on the game show, he was well ahead of his opponents by the time the Final Jeopardy round came into play. He chose not to wager either day, content with his runaway victory and current cash total.

Good luck on Tuesday, Alex!