‘Jeopardy’ champ Amy Schneider becomes No. 2 on all-time wins, behind only Ken Jennings
After extending her streak on Monday’s episode of “Jeopardy!,” Amy Schneider officially became the contestant with the second-most consecutive wins of all time.
Schneider, who is an engineering manager from Oakland, California, won her 39th game which means the only other contestant who has more first place finishes is “Jeopardy!” legend Ken Jennings.
He currently holds the top spot with a whopping 74 wins, a record he set in 2004. Jennings has had a front row seat to see Schneider chase after his title as he has also been hosting “Jeopardy!” during her time on the show.
Jeopardy! - Season 38 (Casey Durkin / Jeopardy Productions, Inc.)
Since first appearing on the show on Nov. 17, the engineering manager has now accumulated $1,319,800.
“It still feels unreal,” Schneider said in a press release following her notable win. “Knowing that I had this chance, I was definitely thinking about it. Then Ken said it, and I thought, ‘Alright, I just accomplished this huge thing’ and it was pretty great.”
Her 39th win means Schneider has surpassed Matt Amodio, another impressive competitor who earned his 38-game record earlier this season.
Amodio and Schneider will have an opportunity to face each other as they are both set to battle it out during the upcoming edition of the game show’s Tournament of Champions. In a press release, Schneider also included a special message for Amodio.
“It’s going to be an honor playing against you, and it’s going to be a tight competition,” she told him.
Schneider has been breaking multiple records throughout her historic reign on the game show.
After her 10th win in December, she became the first transgender contestant to qualify for the Tournament of Champions. She has worn a trans Pride flag during her stint on “Jeopardy!” and she tweeted about using her platform to raise awareness.
“I didn’t want to make too much about being trans, at least in the context of the show,” she explained in a Twitter thread. “I am a trans woman, and I’m proud of that fact, but I’m a lot of other things, too!”
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She added that she specifically wore a trans Pride pin on the “Jeopardy!” Thanksgiving episode because it is “a holiday that is all about family. And that can be hard for anybody who has been ostracized or otherwise cut off from their family … a group which, sadly, still includes a disproportionately high number of trans people, especially trans youth and trans people of color.” Schneider said she wanted to show her public support for the community.
Then with her 21st victory on Dec. 28, Schneider overtook Julia Collins as the woman with the most wins on the show.
Collins set the record in 2014. To show appreciation for Collins’ success, Schneider dressed in a dark blue sweater similar to the one Collins was wearing when she achieved the milestone.
“Julia Collins won 20 games and so this is my 20th game and so I just wanted to wear a sweater in tribute,” Schneider shared at the time.
Earlier this month, Schneider became the first woman ever to earn more than $1 million in non-tournament play. She is also only the fourth person to reach this landmark.
Following the significant moment, Schneider, who recently was recognized by the GLAAD Media Awards tweeted, “Of all the things that have come out of my Jeopardy run, I will always be most proud of any good that I’ve managed to do for the trans community, so this acknowledgment means more than I can ever say.”
Schneider has cemented her place alongside Amodio, James Holzhauer and Jennings as one of the greatest competitors “Jeopardy!” viewers have ever seen.
‘Jeopardy!’ Notebook: On Day 40, Dayton native ‘very dominant’ in runaway performance
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“Our champion Amy Schneider got her week off to an incredible start yesterday securing her 39th straight win,” said host Ken Jennings at the outset. “What that means is for the first time since the Greatest of All-Time Tournament, the two ‘Jeopardy!’ champions in the show’s history with the longest streaks are now sharing a stage. And I’ll tell you what – I am relieved that I’m hosting because I would not want to be playing Amy Schneider right now. She has been very dominant.”
In the interview segment, the engineering manager from Oakland, California had the Tournament of Champions on her mind.
Reigning ‘Jeopardy!’ champion Schneider breaks record with winning streak
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“Jeopardy!” reigning champion Amy Schneider celebrates another milestone as she continues her winning streak.
Schneider is now the second-winningest contestant in the game show’s history.
On Monday, Schneider won her 39th consecutive game, surpassing Matt Amodio’s 38-day record.
She is now only behind Ken Jennings, who holds the record with 74-straight wins, which he set in 2004.
“It still feels unreal,” Schneider said in a statement released by the game show. “Knowing that I had this chance, I was definitely thinking about it …Then Ken said it, and I thought, ‘Alright, I just accomplished this huge thing,’ and it was pretty great.”
Schenider’s winning total thus far sits at $1,319,800, which is roughly $200,000 behind Amodio’s $1,518,601 total winnings.
Amy Schneider now has second-longest ‘Jeopardy!’ winning streak in history
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Yale’s Jeopardy! record holder, Matt Amodio, dethroned
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“Jeopardy!” contestant Amy Schneider has dethroned Yale student Matt Amodio for second place in most consecutive wins on the show.
Schneider, an engineering manager from Oakland, Calif., reached a 39-game win streak on Jan. 24 with a total winnings amount of nearly $1.4 million.
Amodio is a Yale University computer science Ph.D. student. His 38-game winning streak earned him the spot as the second-place winner of the most consecutive “Jeopardy!” games before Schneider broke the record this week, according to previous reporting.
His streak ended Oct. 11, 2021, when he finished in third place with $5,600 against Jonathan Fisher, an actor from Coral Gables, Fla., who earned $29,200 and Jessica Stephens, a statistical research specialist from Nashville, Tenn. who finished in second place with $28,799.
Schneider and Amodio will compete against each other in the next edition of “Tournament of the Champions,” according to the game show’s website.
“I’m excited to have the opportunity,” Schneider said about the upcoming match against Amodio in a statement released on the “Jeopardy!” website. “It’s going to be a tight competition.”
Current “Jeopardy!” host Ken Jennings holds to record for longest win streak with 74-wins, a record he set in 2004.
Schneider said it was comforting to know host Jennings had been in the same position she was, according to the game show’s website.
She knew there was a possibility she could break Amodio’s record, and Jennings’ on-air confirmation solidified it.
“It still feels unreal,” Amy said in the statement. “Knowing that I had this chance, I was definitely thinking about it …Then Ken said it, and I thought, ‘Alright, I just accomplished this huge thing’ and it was pretty great.”
Earlier this month, Schneider also became the first woman to win $1 million in regular-season winnings according to the “Jeopardy!” website.