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'It still feels unreal': 'Jeopardy!' champ Amy Schneider becomes No. 2 all-time winner with 39 games

Reigning "Jeopardy!" champ Amy Schneider is celebrating another milestone: The second-longest winning streak in the quiz show's history.

Schneider, an engineering manager from Oakland, California, on Monday broke Matt Amodio's record of 38 games, set only last October. (The two will compete in the next "Jeopardy!" Tournament of Champions.)

Ken Jennings, winner of the game show's 2020 Greatest of All Time tournament and current host of the syndicated quiz show, holds the record of most consecutive games with 74, set in 2004.

Jennings made note of Schneider potentially tying Amodio's record at the top of the episode as Schneider's opponents – Joanne Mercer, a registered nurse from Toledo, Ohio, and Erin O’Leary, an attorney from New York City – prepared to take on the champ. But they were no match for Schneider, who racked up a sizable pot – $37,600 – ahead of Final Jeopardy. Mercer and O’Leary trailed with $4,200 and $800, respectively.

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Final 'Jeopardy!' answer is 'Who is Amy Schneider'? The category? Champions, of course.

"Jeopardy!" champ Amy Schneider continued her winning streak Monday, Jan. 24, 2022.
"Jeopardy!" champ Amy Schneider continued her winning streak Monday, Jan. 24, 2022.

The final clue, in the category of U.S. Museums, stumped O’Leary: "Named for a benefactor, it was established in 1893 to house artifacts from the nearby world's Columbian exposition." Time ran out before O’Leary could jot down her incorrect answer of the "Bush Museum." Her wager of $799 took her down to $1. Mercer correctly answered The Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago, taking her to $6,200. Schneider responded incorrectly, with the Grant Museum, and wagered $25,000, but with $12,600 she earned enough to make her the day's victor.

“It still feels unreal,” Schneider said in a 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.”

Her 39-day total is $1,319,800, putting her in fourth place for regular season play winnings and about $200,000 behind Amodio's $1,518,601. James Holzhauer, with $2,462,216, sits in second behind Jennings' winnings of $2,520,700.

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Amy Schneider now only trails Ken Jennings in consecutive "Jeopardy!" games won.
Amy Schneider now only trails Ken Jennings in consecutive "Jeopardy!" games won.

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Unlike recent high-earner champions Holzhauer and Amodio, Schneider told USA TODAY in a recent interview that she doesn't have that much of a strategy. If she sees a category she feels less confident in, she zooms to that one first; if any Daily Doubles came up, not as much money to lose. Otherwise, she plays the game straightforwardly: Sticking to one category, top to bottom.

But her predecessors have emboldened her to bet big when it counts. "I've definitely tried to push myself to be a bit more aggressive with what I wager on the Daily Doubles. Just because you should have faith in yourself that you're probably going to know the answer or you wouldn't be on 'Jeopardy!' in the first place."

Contributing: David Oliver

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: 'Jeopardy!': Amy Schneider is No. 2 all-time winner at 39 games