There are only two jokes that will always, ALWAYS be funny: Pretending not to see anything camo coloured, and the number 69. Even after infinite repetition, they remain purely, wholly hilarious. It never fades. Never ever. Which is why it is with deep regret that we inform you that enduring US game show Jeopardy! has reportedly banned its contestants from making wagers of $69 on the show.
[jwplayer MEzgMveC]
If you’ve not been paying attention, Jeopardy! is enjoying a spike in interest at the moment thanks to current carry-over champion James Holzhauer, whose aggressive and nigh-on unbeatable Daily Double wagering strategy has seen him shatter the show’s record single-day winning totals (he now has the show’s eight highest single-day scores). Holzhauer is also on track to best Ken Jennings‘ all-time winnings total of over US$2.5million in around half the time it took Jennings to get there. The dude’s a beast, and will likely have some rule adjustments named after him after he either loses or dies, whichever one comes first.
Thanks to his remarkable wagering strategy, which sees him build a large stack of money before targeting Daily Doubles and betting huge sums of cash, we’ve now learned the curious titbit that Jeopardy! producers quietly banned contestants from wagering exactly $69 a little while ago.
Ken Jennings revealed the very legitimate information on Twitter while joking that his more conservative wagering strategy should be praised for preventing the show from losing bucketloads.
I don’t feel I get enough credit for making small, sensible Jeopardy wagers, which helped the show with its prize budget.
— Ken Jennings (@KenJennings) April 23, 2019
this is officially forbidden on Jeopardy now, as of last year.
not even joking.— Ken Jennings (@KenJennings) April 23, 2019
No $69 bets on Daily Doubles, no $69 bets on Final Jeopardy. The absolute fucking nerve, I swear.
As it turns out, 69 isn’t the only outlawed number on the series. Holzhauer subsequently revealed that five numbers are banned from Jeopardy! wagers, with 69 being the least offensive.
Actually, there are five banned wagers. This is probably the most innocuous one. https://t.co/5Yt0Y9JbKX
— James Holzhauer (@James_Holzhauer) April 25, 2019
Digging done by The AV Club revealed that the other banned numbers include three associated with neo-Nazi and white supremacist propaganda – $14, $88, and $1488 – as well as the quote-unquote “devil’s number,” $666.
But all is not lost for comedy lovers out there: $420, it seems, remains legal.
So there’s still an outside chance we might get footage of Alex Trebek telling us all to blaze it. Which, and I cannot stress this enough, absolutely kicks ass.
