'Jeopardy!' champ James Holzhauer wins 18th game by $18

April 30 (UPI) -- Reigning Jeopardy! champion James Holzhauer won his 18th game in a row in a close contest that saw the professional sports gambler winning by only $18.

Holzhauer, 34, brought his 18-day total to $1,329,604 after defeating 46-year-old sports information director Adam Levin on Monday.

Holzhauer finished the night with $54,017 with Levin trailing behind with $53,999 after both men gave the correct answer during the Final Jeopardy! round.

Holzhauer is now closing in on former contestant Julia Collins' 20-win streak. He is only the second contestant in the game show's 35-year history to reach $1 million in regular-season play behind Ken Jennings, who earned $2,520,700 over the course of his 74-game win streak.

Holzhauer's first 12 days time on Jeopardy! has given the show a 6.3 Nielsen rating, which translates to 10.3 million viewers, Ad Age reports. The rating is up 9 percent versus the 5.8 rating the program earned three weeks before Holzhauer's April 4 debut.

Holzhauer's run has not broken any ratings records for Jeopardy!, however, with the series enjoying a higher 6.9 rating during the week of March 4-8.