Ryan Long Discusses His Winning ‘Jeopardy!’ Strategy

Ryan Long is a 39-year-old rideshare driver from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.

[{"selector":"#anim-9db90bf5-dabe-4fe7-a35e-31b5f720ef52","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":200,"duration":1200,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-6446506b-a227-4339-996b-923a491f1d2e","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(114.82649%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":200,"duration":1200,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-fe905300-a61e-4c83-9664-44ebc44c9b6b","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

Long has won six games on “Jeopardy!” as of Friday, totaling $131,801 dollars!

[{"selector":"#anim-00c391df-d250-4476-9b7d-616cca3ebf08","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":200,"duration":1200,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-82f54fc6-7acb-4d68-bb73-e11a47fe31a9","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(114.82649%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":200,"duration":1200,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-56a73c9f-52c5-4993-9e51-73f557c03bc6","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

On Thursday, he qualified for the 2022 Tournament of Champions.

[{"selector":"#anim-ec8e0931-e374-4867-9331-53d01e5a9342","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":200,"duration":1200,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-57431c21-70cd-4b89-ba7c-9d06b4397e2b","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(114.82649%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":200,"duration":1200,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-a7ed47de-0d9c-45fa-afe0-3b6bcfe444aa","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

He will go up against Matt Amodio, Amy Schneider, Mattea Roach, and more later this year.

[{"selector":"#anim-56a9ade8-b8c9-4b22-9219-46b748ce8aa8","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":200,"duration":1200,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-de698415-e192-4095-b9c6-8b86995a431a","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(114.51104%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":200,"duration":1200,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-160b0811-5d50-4585-9936-fa18a1aea6d8","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

He recently sat down with Insider to discuss his “Jeopardy!” success.

[{"selector":"#anim-51b62fe9-4694-45e8-84fd-eefb25fd9863","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":200,"duration":1200,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-4b6abd6f-add0-45e4-896e-cf11ff9593fa","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(114.82649%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":200,"duration":1200,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-9e906a58-8485-4aeb-b86f-560724b25a8c","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

Believe it or not, Long revealed that he “didn’t study or anything.”

[{"selector":"#anim-5624b24c-2598-4c61-ab47-e18e67dc5f98","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":200,"duration":1200,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-8f3915e1-3203-4801-a8bc-6b22003677ab","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(114.82649%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":200,"duration":1200,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-58a24fee-8a5e-411e-a4c1-ab2bf7a0bcad","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

He said that other contestants had been reviewing books about buzzer strategies.

[{"selector":"#anim-b68f225e-3cf6-41bd-92d0-5bedc14b1c2c","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":200,"duration":1200,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-f75b2576-b664-4592-baeb-c90d6b609355","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(114.82649%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":200,"duration":1200,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-d464ef98-3264-4b7e-8330-a6dd589a4614","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

“I probably should have perused something, but I just didn’t,” he confessed.

[{"selector":"#anim-f06f4ffc-1e7f-4b0d-a952-60290da907bc","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":200,"duration":1200,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-dcbca139-ef88-4aa3-b69e-31b3d6a019c9","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(114.82649%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":200,"duration":1200,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-08734938-041a-45a4-aac1-a4a39164e060","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}]

“I just kind of went in and did my thing,” he said, and it seems to be working!

[{"selector":"#anim-0b7515d1-6b17-494a-b94b-7b4af37bc22e","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":200,"duration":1200,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-c9700ea0-a0d4-4f6d-a3d1-6ea7c7deeefa","keyframes":{"transform":["translate3d(115.14195%, 0px, 0)","translate3d(0px, 0px, 0)"]},"delay":200,"duration":1200,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.2, 0.6, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] [{"selector":"#anim-9f04ba8e-9768-4dfd-a2c9-1943014c068e","keyframes":{"opacity":[0,1]},"delay":0,"duration":2000,"easing":"cubic-bezier(0.4, 0.4, 0.0, 1)","fill":"both"}] Learn more