Now that Amy Schneider has experienced what it’s like to dominate on the “Jeopardy!” stage, she wonders why streaks like hers don’t happen more often.
She explained that once you get used to the buzzer, and the cadence, the clues, you have a significant advantage over someone who comes in cold.
Schneider has definitely found her groove.
On Friday, she became the fourth contestant and the first woman in the history of “Jeopardy!” to surpass $1 million in winnings during regular-season play. She did it on her 28th game, which was a runaway in the course of which she won more than $42,000, continuing a streak that has caught the attention game-show fans all across the country.
“It’s not a sum of money I ever anticipated would be associated with my name,” Schneider, a 42-year-old software engineering manager who lives in Oakland, Calif., said in a news release.
Schneider, who grew up watching “Jeopardy!” at home with her parents and in eighth grade was voted most likely to appear on the show, has had a whirlwind of a week — for good reasons and bad. She was interviewed by the BBC on Monday. tweetedShe was robbed and lost her identification, phone, and credit cards. (She said that she would need to pause the detailed recaps of each match on social media.
The $1 million mark is a rare one to reach — Ken Jennings was the first player to do so, in 2004, 30 games into his record 74-game run. Fans have grown to accept contestants achieving this feat. James Holzhauer became the second person in 2019 to surpass $1 million during his 32 game streak. Matt Amodio also reached $1,000,000 three months ago. He amassed $1.5million before he was defeated after 38 victories.
The recent pattern of streaks on the show has fueled theorizing among fans watching from their couches and among members of the show’s production team. Some speculate that some contestants have had more time to study because of pandemic delays in production. Some point out the increasing number of resources available online. Or it could be just chance.
“To some extent, I think it’s just got to be a statistical fluke,” Schneider said.
Schneider doubts that the extra time she spent preparing for the pandemic made a difference. Ultimately, she said, it’s not something you can cram for.
“To be good at ‘Jeopardy!’,” she said, “you just have to live a life where you’re learning stuff all the time.”
Source: NY Times