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'Jeopardy!' Champ Amy Schneider Breaks Down Her Second-Longest Win Streak!

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By Kristin Myers on January 26, 2022 at 4:00 AM PST

Current “Jeopardy!” champion Amy Schneider has done it again!

In addition to becoming the fifth millionaire in “Jeopardy!” history, and the fourth to do so during regular gameplay, Amy now holds the second-longest win streak in the game show’s history!

She recently beat Matt Amodio and his win streak of 38 games and now has a 40-day total of $1,382,800 after Tuesday’s game.

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Matt Amodio 2
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Although many fans have been impressed with her run, she still lags behind current host Ken Jennings and his seemingly insurmountable total of 74 games set back in 2004.

Is Amy going to be able to continue her run long enough to beat the “Jeopardy” host at his own game? Fans can’t wait to find out, but in the meantime, Amy is sharing her thoughts on what that nail-biting episode was like from behind the podium!

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Amy Schneider Reveals Her Pre-Game Thoughts!

Amy Schneider on Jeopardy!
Instagram / jeopardy

Although many fans probably don’t think too much about what goes on behind the scenes, Amy revealed that they are still being regularly COVID tested to make sure that the cast and crew are safe. However, she got a little extra sleep because they decided not to test her that morning!

“The day before, I'd asked someone if I'd have to come in for another early Covid test. They said they hadn't heard anything, and I was like ‘Then please don't ask about it!’ lol,” she wrote. “So I'd had a bit of extra sleep relative to the day before.”

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“And during the morning briefing, I got even better news: after today there would be another two-week break from taping!” she added. “If I got through today, I wouldn't have to come back until after Thanksgiving! Which was great, because the cumulative grind of taping had really worn me down.”

“One other note from the morning: of all the days I was there, this was absolutely the most fun group of fellow contestants, we all had an absolute blast!” she shared.

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Amy Schneider becomes openly trans winner on Jeopardy! during trans awareness week
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“For example, I remember having a conversation with Joanne talking about how desolate Toledo is,” she explained. “I visited a friend there in college, and found it so depressing that I wound up writing a song/poem about it ("In October the sky is grey / And it looks about five feet away...").”

“But all that aside, there was important business at hand: claiming the second-place spot for myself on the list of all-time streaks!” she continued. “I'd tied Matt Amodio, but at this point, I'll be honest, I *really* wanted it all to myself!”

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Amy Schneider Begins The 'Jeopardy!' Round… In The Music Category, Of Course!

Amy Schneider
Instagram / jeopardamy

Although Amy has previously stated that she tends to start in categories that she feels less confident in, she felt semi-confident with this particular music category.

“So here we go!” Amy wrote. “I started with the music category, even though the '90s are the one decade where I have a decent amount of familiarity with the music scene. The first clue was for Oakland's own MC Hammer, which I felt was a good sign.”

“Very disappointed with myself for not coming up with This Is How We Do It,” Amy added. “I think I psyched myself out by thinking of it as a weak category for me, but I should have known that one.”

“Erin jumped to the wordplay category and found the first Daily Double; it being so early she naturally bet it all, but unfortunately couldn't come up with ‘bulrushes,’” Amy explained.

Amy Schneider And The Adventures Of Penny The Penguin!

Amy Schneider on Jeopardy!
Instagram / jeopardy

During the break, Amy revealed that she had gotten a stuffed penguin that she named Penny and posted all of her adventures with Penny online during the COVID-19 lockdown. Ever since she said that, fans have been begging to see some of those cute snaps!

“I'll post a few highlights of my Instagram adventures with Penny in the next day or two!” Amy wrote, to the relief of many fans. “Also, I appreciate the thought from Ken, but Penny is too chill to care about a tv shoutout.”

And jumping back to the game: “At the break, I had a decent lead, partly due to Erin's miss on the Daily Double, but nothing to get too excited about.”

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“After we got through the geography category I went over to The Year of Before & After; I wasn't sure what it was, but I'm usually comfortable with the various Before and After categories, and this was no exception!” she shared.

Amy Schneider 3
Twitter / jeopardamy
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“I liked it because remembering exact years gives me trouble, but for these clues I just needed to remember the approximate year, and then use the other half to figure out the last digit or two,” she explained. “Which proved crucial on the Daily Double! I went with my default $4000, and if the clue had just been asking for the year of W.H. Harrison's election, I would never have gotten it. But once I figured out 40 winks, I only needed the century, and I knew *that* much at least!”

“I got slightly lucky that they accepted Magnetic Resonance *Image* rather than *Imaging* (I'd focused on whether it was "Resonance" vs "Resonating"), and even luckier when the next clue was the second DD! My lead had stretched a bit,” she continued. “I bet $5000 and with that I was looking good!”

Amy Completely Missed The ‘Final Jeopardy!’ Clue… Again!

Amy Schneider
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Even though Amy didn’t provide the correct “Final Jeopardy!” answer yet again, she still walked away with a win!

“Still, another big win, and another big FJ miss!” Amy wrote. “Oh well, that's one where you know it or you don't. What made it frustrating was that a) we had just been to Chicago, and b) ‘Field Museum’ is a name that I've known repeatedly in my life but just never sticks for whatever reason.”

“Although I think it will now; I'd never put it together before that it was named for Marshall Field (I guess I always just figured it was named after some field lol), which is a nice example of how Jeopardy clues can teach you new things,” she added.

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“But while the miss hurt, it was quickly eased by the knowledge that I now had the second longest streak in Jeopardy history!” she shared. “I can't stress enough how crazy that would have sounded to me when this run began.”

Amy Schneider appears on Good Morning America
Instagram / jeopardamy

“I thought I could win some games, and even qualifying for the Tournament of Champions seemed plausible, if unlikely. But this? THIS?” she asked. “This is the sort of thing that happens to people on TV, not to me!”

“But I guess I'm a person on TV now! Wow,” she shared. “Thanks to Joanne and Erin, they were both great, and it was nice to share the stage with them on such a memorable occasion. Where would I go next? Back to change outfits! All I could do was take it one game at a time. See you tonight!”

Will Amy be able to win tonight’s game and take one step closer to beating Ken’s win streak? Fans can’t wait to find out!

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