Jeopardy! champion Amy Schneider used to practice her speedy buzzer technique with a ballpoint pen. Now that ballpoint-pen technique has earned her over a million dollars. After racking up an astonishing $1,382,800, Jeopardy! veteran Amy Schneider was ousted by Chicago librarian Rhone Talsma on Wednesday, ending her 40-day streak. The winning question? “The only nation in the world whose name in English ends in an H, it’s also one of the 10 most populous.†Talsma responded correctly — “What is Bangladesh?†— earning $29,600 and leaving Schneider in second place with $19,600.
“I could tell that he was here to play and that he was going to be good,†Schneider said in a press release. “I still came very close to winning, but I did feel like maybe I was slipping a little bit. And once it was clear that he was fast on the buzzer, I knew it was going to be a battle all the way.â€
As an eighth-grader in Dayton, Ohio, Schneider was voted most likely to be on Jeopardy! by her classmates. After securing a bona fide spot in the Jeopardy! hall of fame, her tenure is still far from over. Despite the defeat, Schneider will return to Jeopardy! for the Tournament of Champions in the fall. Schneider won audiences over with her encyclopedic knowledge of, well, everything. She is the highest-scoring female contestant in Jeopardy! history and the first openly trans contestant to make it to the Tournament of Champions. After unseating Matt Amodio, Schneider became the player with the second-most wins in the game show’s history.
“I’m still in shock,†Talsma stated. “This is my favorite show … I was so excited to be here, and I just wanted to do my best. I did not expect to be facing a 40-day champion, and I was excited to maybe see someone else slay the giant. I just really didn’t think it was going to be me, so I’m thrilled.â€