Who is Ryan Clary? ‘Jeopardy!’ fans furious with contestant as he fails to stop two-day champion Donna Matturri

'Jeopardy!' contestant Ryan Clary wagered a tad too little and lost the opportunity to become a one-day champion
PUBLISHED JUN 27, 2023
New contestant Ryan Clary had the chance to end Donna Matturri's winning run but failed (ABC)
New contestant Ryan Clary had the chance to end Donna Matturri's winning run but failed (ABC)

LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: ‘Jeopardy!’ fans were in for a little surprising episode when a new contestant Ryan Clary lost the chance to win against two-day champion Donna Matturri. Both the contestants answered the Final Jeopardy clue correctly but wagered a tad too little or cautiously. This allowed Donna to edge past Ryan who could’ve taken the lead and established himself as a one-day Jeopardy!’ Champion.

Donna Matturri came on Monday’s (June 26) episode after defeating five-day champion Ben Goldstein with a one-day total of $17,400. She was up against Ryan and Caroline Gulick, a Realtor from Reno, Nevada. Going into Final Jeopardy, Donna had $18,800, Ryan had $11,600, and Caroline $7,400. But toward the end, Donna established herself as a two-day champion.

Who is Ryan Clary?  

Ryan Clary is a first-time ‘Jeopardy!’ contestant from Chattanooga, Tennessee. He works as a cheesemonger and was formerly employed at Whole Foods Market. Ryan was playing extremely well against one-day champion Donna Matturri and could have won but he lost due to his miscalculation.

Ryan didn't go all in with his wager and paid the price as Donna edged past him (ABC)
Ryan didn't go all in with his wager and paid the price as Donna edged past him (ABC)                     

Ryan answered the Final Jeopardy correctly with "What is the Hindenburg?" but he only wagered $10,222 instead of going all-in. He was left with $21,822 instead of a possible $23,200. Donna was also correct, but she only wagered $4,000, leaving her the winner by $122 with $22,800. She is now a two-day champion with a total of $40,200 to his name. 

‘Why didn’t he bet it all?’ 

Fans were frustrated after witnessing Ryan lose because he wagered too low. They wanted him to go all in. On Reddit, one fan wrote, “To the future contestants: Don't forget to learn how to bet properly in Final Jeopardy” while another wrote, “Crazy that both contestants made weird FJ bets.” A third said, “ It looked to me like Donna just made an arithmetic error, thinking that $4000 would be enough to prevent Ryan from passing her”, while a fourth stated, “I completely missed that, because of Donna's (likely) math error, Ryan would've won with an all-in wager.” A fifth stated the obvious as he wrote, "f he'd gone all in, he'd have won” as the sixth agreed, "Questionable wagering by both Donna and Ryan.” One posted, “Why didn’t he bet it all?” 

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