“Jeopardy!” champion Amy Schneider won 40 games in a row in January, making her a clear favorite going into the 2022 “Jeopardy!” Tournament of Champions that featured contestants throughout season 38.
Amy was up against former competitor Andrew He and Professor’s Tournament winner Sam Buttrey, who gave Amy some stiff competition.
In a best-of-three final round, Sam earned one victory while Andrew and Amy had two each going into the sixth and final game. Although she wagered conservatively in the previous Final Jeopardy! rounds, Amy decided to bet big, which earned her the victory and the cash prize of $250,000.
Although the cash prize doesn’t hold a candle to the $1.3 million she won while competing in regular gameplay, Amy took to Twitter shortly after the game to celebrate her success.
‘Jeopardy!’ Champion Amy Schneider Celebrates 2022 Tournament of Champions Win
In a lengthy Twitter thread, the former engineering manager from Oakland, California walked her fans through a recap of her latest victory on the “Jeopardy!” stage.
“OMG you guys! Like, what? What?!?! This happened two months ago for me, I watched it happen last night, and I still can’t believe it!” Amy began. “But let’s rewind…”
That morning, Amy said that she gave herself some confident self-talk, “telling myself I was playing great, I was a fantastic Jeopardy player, I was a winner. And it worked fairly well.” Amy joked, “I didn’t want to show any fear in front of Sam and Andrew.”
She said they ate a “tense” lunch separation from the parking garage, although she said they were also having fun. “We’d developed a camaraderie, going through this crazy thing together,” she wrote.
Amy Didn’t Have Much Luck With The Daily Doubles In The Final Match!
Amy Schneider also felt that Andrew was looking a little shaken and less confident after losing the fifth game. “And the important thing is, *I* thought he looked less confident,” Amy noted. “And I realized I should believe it, regardless of whether it was true. It would give me confidence during the inevitable dry spells, or in the not unlikely event that Andrew took a big lead on a Daily Double.”
At the start of the game, Amy admitted that her timing “wasn’t great” and it took her a little while to get on the board. Although Amy quickly found her rhythm, she took a moment to praise Ken Jennings as host. “He’s so quick on his feet despite having a lot of other things to think about as host,” she wrote. “I’m quite impressed.”
Amy also lamented not being able to find any of the Daily Double clues in the final match. “I’d had rough luck on them myself; out of 18 Daily Doubles in the tournament, I’d gotten four, and had missed two of those, both of them gettable,” she explained.
The Game Ultimately Came Down To The ‘Final Jeopardy!’ Round
Although Amy was $1,400 ahead of Sam and Andrew going into the Final Jeopardy! round, she was still wary. “But here’s the thing: there had been a lot of tough Final Jeopardys in these finals, and when everyone misses on Final, second place is actually the best place to be,” Amy explained.
“I knew Andrew would bet small, and the thought crossed my mind to bet small as well, so as to win on a triple stumper. But, the last two games aside, I just couldn’t not bet on myself. I felt fine about my previous wager not haunting me,” she continued. “But if I lost the tournament by playing scared at this last moment, that really would haunt me forever. So, I bet enough to guarantee the win.”
Amy bet enough to guarantee the win if she was correct and the gamble paid off. The Final Jeopardy! category was PLAYS. The clue read: “The January 12, 1864 Washington Evening Star reported on a performance of this ‘dashing comedy’ to ‘a full and delighted house.’” Both Amy and Andrew provided a correct answer of “What is ‘Our American Cousin’?”
Amy Schneider Reflects On Her ‘Jeopardy!’ Win: ‘I’m D— Good At This Game, and I’m Proud Of It!’
“It didn’t feel real,” Amy said of her win. “The tournament was over, and I’d won. I’d won! I’d won?! I’d certainly come into the tournament with the intent to win, but I wasn’t at all confident that I would. But I’d done it, I’d won the whole d— thing. Not Matt or Mattea, not Andrew or Eric, but me!”
“But I’d done it!” she continued. “I’d managed all the pressure, kept my edge despite all the distractions of the past year. I’d gone up against Andrew, the single opponent I feared the most, and I’d beaten him!”
“I’d only beaten him by a hair, and certainly we both had our share of good and bad luck,” she added. “Had any number of things gone slightly differently, all the way up to the last Final Jeopardy, Andrew would have won, and he would have deserved it.”
“But I don’t feel lucky to have won; if there’s one area where my instinctive self-deprecation clearly shouldn’t apply, it’s my skill at Jeopardy!” Amy wrote. I’m d— good at this game, and I’m proud of it!”
Amy wrapped up her lengthy Twitter thread said it’s “time to celebrate,” adding, “I’ll post another thread soon with some final thoughts to close the book on this crazy, fantastic experience.”
“Jeopardy!” fans can’t wait to hear Amy Schneider’s final thoughts on her life-altering game show experience!