‘Jeopardy!’ Champ Amy Schneider Shares The Story Behind Her $4,000 Wagers!

“Jeopardy!” champion Amy Schneider has quickly become a fan favorite.

Besides becoming the first openly trans contestant to make it to the Tournament of Champions, Schneider is now fourth place in overall gameplay winnings, according to the “Jeopardy!” Hall of Fame.

To make things even sweeter, she recently became the woman with the highest gameplay total. The previous woman to hold the title, Larissa Kelly, holds no ill will towards her; in fact, she even took a moment to congratulate Schneider for breaking her record on Christmas Eve!

Schneider now has an impressive 21-day total of $806,000 dollars and fans have noticed an interesting trend in her daily double wagers: why does she usually wager $4,000 dollars?

Amy Schneider has a tendency to bet $4,000 dollars whenever she gets a Daily Double, and host Ken Jennings couldn’t help but ask her about it. The clip was then featured in a segment on #OverheardOnSet on the official “Jeopardy!” Twitter page.

“Is there any significance to the $4,000, by the way, that you have wagered off and on?” Ken asks.

“Uh, no,” Schneider replies. “No, I think it just sort of evolved and now it’s like, in my head as a default.”

“It just seemed like the sensible number and now, sure, why not?” Ken joked.

“Yeah,” Schneider replies. “I mean, it’s sort of like the most that you could… I don’t know. Like, $2,000, but you getting it right and the other person getting it wrong as this swing of $4,000... I don’t know.”

“Yeah, I mean, often you’re trying to protect on the downside as well,” Ken adds. “Maybe not if you’re a James Holzhauer type, but…”

Although Ken Jennings still holds the highest total from regular season play, James Holzhauer is right behind him in the leaderboards. James, who has made a name for himself by his massive Daily Double wagers, currently has his name listed in all ten slots for the highest single-game winnings in the “Jeopardy!” Hall of Fame.

James’ highest one-day winnings were $131,127 on April 17, 2019, and his lowest top score is still a very impressive $89,229 from May 20, 2019. James won 32 consecutive games in 2019, whereas Jennings still holds the record with 74 games won in 2004. Matt Amodio broke James’ previous record earlier this year when he won 38 games in a row.

Schneider now sits in fourth place for consecutive games won with 21 games, so it’s possible that she could break James’ 32-game win streak if her run continues into 2022. She also sits in fourth place for highest winnings from regular-season play with $806,000 dollars. Matt Amodio is in third place with $1,518,601. James is in second with $2,464,216. Ken is in first with $2,520,700.

However, when it comes to all-time winnings, including tournament play, Brad Rutter takes the lead with a massive $4,938,436. Ken Jennings sits at $4,370,700. James Holzhauer has won $2,962,216.

Matt comes in fourth place and Amy comes in fifth. Their regular gameplay is the same as their all-time winnings because they haven’t participated in any tournaments yet. But once Matt and Amy face off in the 2022 Tournament of Champions, anything is possible!