Who is Jeopardy! contestant Amy Schneider?
SOMETIMES, Jeopardy! contestants impress the show’s audience so much they earn their own following.
40-time game winner Amy Schneider holds the program’s second-longest victory streak; she only ranks behind series host Ken Jennings.
Who is Jeopardy! contestant Amy Schneider?
An engineering manager from Oakland, California, Amy Schneider became the fourth person to top $1million in the 28th round of Jeopardy.
“It feels amazing, it feels strange,” she said in a statement. “It’s not a sum of money I ever anticipated would be associated with my name.”
After a 10-day streak in November 2021, Schneider said: “It’s just so surprising. I’m not going to pretend I didn’t think I could do good, but this has just been so much better than I thought I would do that it’s really hard to say what it means yet.”
Schneider grew up watching the show and in high school was voted as most likely to appear on Jeopardy.
“I’ve always watched it and I’ve also always been interested in learning facts and stuff,” Schneider told Yahoo!
“And as I mentioned on the show, in eighth grade I was voted most likely to be on Jeopardy! one day. It was always sort of in my mind that it might be something I did at some point.”
Now a millionaire, Schneider’s total winnings of $1,382,800 made her the highest-earning female to win on the show.
However, on January 26, 2022, her 40-game winning streak came to an end.
Rhone Talsma was crowned the winner after he had the correct answer in the final Jeopardy! round.
What other record did she break?
In November 2021, Amy Schneider set the record for being the first transgender person to qualify for the Tournament of Champions with “the second-longest winning streak in the quiz show’s history,” according to NBC News.
This tournament is a yearly competition between 15 players who won the most cash in previous seasons.
Additionally, her win on December 24, 2021, made her the fourth-highest earner in one season.
Her 18th consecutive win also made her the highest-earning female on Jeopardy!, with a total of $706,800, dethroning previous female record-holder, Larissa Kelly, who earned $655,930.
On December 28, 2021, her 19th consecutive win increased her total to $745,200.
Who else has reached $1million on Jeopardy?
Jeopardy has had three other millionaires on the show since its’ inception in March 1964.
Matt Amodio became the most recent contestant before Schneider to reach $1million on the show.
“Every time I win another game I feel more pressure to keep winning,” Matt said when he reached second place in October 2021.
“I kind of liked back when there were only 2 and 3 and my expectations were lower. The super streaker status, that’s a bit much.”
He added that he was thankful not to have to go up against his predecessors Brad Rutter, Ken Kennings, and James Holzhauer, saying, “We know who the real GOATS are.”
Brad Rutter reached the highest amount of earnings out of collective tournaments played, topping $4million.
However, for regular-season games, only two others stand in the way of Schneider reaching the top spot.
Holzhauer played from April to June 2019 and reached the number two spot with $2.4million.
Ken Jennings remains in the top spot after his 72-game streak, finishing with a whopping $2.5million.
How can I watch Jeopardy! Masters?
Amy Schneider is returning to compete in the spinoff show Jeopardy! Masters.
On May 8, 2023, Jeopardy! Masters premieres at 8pm EST on ABC.
Every Monday through Friday at the aforementioned time, two episodes will air back to back.
The semi-finals portion of the game show is scheduled to air on Monday, May 22.
The champion will be decided during the finals round, which will be broadcasted on Wednesday, May 24.