Durham's Amy Bekkerman wins 'Jeopardy!' again with risky wager. Her cash winnings surge.

Durham resident Amy Bekkerman won for the second time on "Jeopardy!" to raise her total winnings to $54,100, nearly as much as Rye Beach resident Maureen O’Neil earned with four victories last week.

Bekkerman, an academic copy editor, won $38,000 in the show that aired Tuesday night after winning $16,100 in Monday's show. O'Neil won $58,200 last week.

Ken Jennings, the show’s acclaimed former contestant-turned-host, praised Bekkerman after her win, which guaranteed the academic copy editor a third appearance on the show. That was set for Wednesday night, when Bekkerman was set to compete against Katie Hargrove, a personal assistant and writer from Redondo Beach, California, and Evan Freeman, a veterinarian from Ontario.

“You finish today with $38,000 and a two-day total — this is a big total — of $54,100,”: Jennings said. “She’s winning more and more every day. Let’s see what happens tomorrow.”

Previous story: Durham's Amy Bekkerman wins one week after Maureen O'Neil

Tuesday’s “Jeopardy!” episode pitted Bekkerman against Ariel San Jose, a digital marketing manager from South San Francisco, and Washington D.C. elementary school teacher Simi Landau.

Choosing at random, Bekkerman selected all three available “Daily Double” clues, the first of which came in the opening round. Given questions from categories about foreign words and phrases, ancient mariners, television news and fashion, Bekkerman’s first “Daily Double” came in category dubbed “Water, water.”

“The Hollands Diep River flows into the Haring Estuary, which ultimately charges into this sea,” the clue stated. En route to a total first round score of $6,000, Bekkerman’s correct answer was, “What is the North Sea?”

In Portsmouth: North Church's Spinney Road parish listed for $2.5M

Jennings turned to each contestant after the show’s first commercial break to reveal a fact about them. Speaking to Bekkerman, he mentioned her two sons and an interaction she had with her eldest child about her appearance on the quiz show.

“He is probably my biggest booster,” Bekkerman said of her older son. “And I told him I’m going to be on ‘Jeopardy!’ and he said, ‘Mama, that’s awesome! What’s ‘Jeopardy?’”

In the second round, which saw Landau start with $4,200 and San Jose with $1,000, the six featured categories related to buildings in history, “glow-pourri,” authors, movie madness, classical music and crossword clues beginning with the letter “q.”

Bekkerman’s “Daily Double” luck continued in “Double Jeopardy!” as she uncovered, and correctly answered, both clues, adding a collective $10,000 to her total after each.

OnlyFans stalker: Suspect hid in NH woman's attic, took lewd videos. Obsessive behavior examined.

By the end of the round, despite a strong second round showing from Landau which elevated her score $17,000, Bekkerman’s total had skyrocketed to $28,000, while San Jose sat in last with $200.

While Durham resident’s lead would only grow, her two opponents would both lose their earnings in the “Final Jeopardy!” round.

In a category about meteorology, the final clue read: “It was feared this word caused panic, but in 1950 the U.S. weather bureau ended a ban on it in forecasts, saying prediction wasn’t impossible.”

Bekkerman was the lone contestant of the trio to submit the correct answer: “What is (a) tornado?” Betting $10,000, Bekkerman closed the game with $38,000, while Landau finished with $12,000 and San Jose ended with $1.

It was a remarkable finish that may not have occurred without her good fortune play in Monday’s episode, when she found the two second round “Daily Double” clues on back-to-back questions. Answering one of them correctly helped her stay in the game and ultimately fend off Monday’s returning champion Matt Glassman in the “Final Jeopardy!” round.

Rye Beach: Maureen O'Neil gets 4th 'Jeopardy!' win with dramatic finish

At the start of Tuesday night’s show, Jennings credited Bekkerman for her play in the episode prior.

“An often underrated skill of people who win on ‘Jeopardy!’ is bounce-back ability,” he said. “Case in point: (In) yesterday’s show, Amy Bekkerman hits a ‘Daily Double,’ loses $4,000. Could have been crushing for her. But on the very next clue, she finds the other ‘Daily Double.' That’s big again. Gets it correct and goes on to win the game. It was clutch ‘Jeopardy!’”

This article originally appeared on Portsmouth Herald: Durham's Amy Bekkerman wins 'Jeopardy!' again, hits all 'Daily Double'