What is the ‘Jeopardy!’ Monday curse — and did Amy Schneider break it?
Curse? What curse?
“Jeopardy!” champion Amy Schneider continued her winning ways Monday, despite what history may have had in store.
Schneider won her 24th consecutive game on the same episode when guest host Ken Jennings opened the show by pointing out several so-called “super champions” have lost on a Monday.
“Now our returning champion Amy Schneider certainly ended 2021 on a high note, securing her 23rd consecutive win,” Jennings said at the top of the episode.
“She is right now the fifth-biggest money winner in ‘Jeopardy!’ history with the fourth-longest winning streak. So that’s all very impressive, but — but could she fall victim to the ‘Jeopardy!’ Monday curse that fell James Holzhauer, Matt Amodio, Julia Collins, so many other great super champs of the past?”
The answer to Jennings’ question was a resounding “no,” as Schneider easily dispatched her two competitors, tacking on another $42,000 to her overall winnings. She has now won $897,600 as she continues her assault on the “Jeopardy!” record books.
Schneider owns the fourth-longest winning streak in show history, trailing Holzhauer (32 games), Amodio (38 games) and Jennings (74 games).
Schneider is also the fourth highest-earning contestant in regular season play. Amodio is third with $1,518,601, Holzhauer is second with $2,462,216 and Jennings set the standard with $2,520,700. Schneider is also fifth in all-time winnings, including tournament play, trailing Amodio ($1,518,601), Holzhauer ($2,962,216), Jennings ($4,370,700) and Brad Rutter ($4,938,436).
Schneider, who is the first transgender contestant to qualify for the Tournament of Champions, also owns the record for most wins by a woman, topping the 20 games Collins had won.
She has also championed being trans.
“I didn’t want to make too much about being trans, at least in the context of the show,” she wrote in November in a Twitter thread. “I am a trans woman, and I’m proud of that fact, but I’m a lot of other things, too!”
She’s also responded to transphobic comments she has received.
“I’d like to thank all the people who have taken the time, during this busy holiday season, to reach out and explain to me that, actually, I’m a man,” she tweeted on New Year’s Eve. “Every single one of you is the first person ever to make that very clever point, which had never once before crossed my mind.”