Uptight ‘Jeopardy’ Judges Won’t Let Contestants Wager $69 (Nice)

Ah, Jeopardy, the show your smart friend puts on to make you feel stupid. On behalf of people who use this show to brag about their trivia knowledge I’d just like to say that saying “How do you know all this stuff?” like retaining facts is a foreign concept isn’t helping your case.

But you’re going to be saying “nice” a lot less often while watching from now on, because former champ Ken Jennings confirmed on Twitter today that you’re not allowed to wager $69 (nice) anymore.

this is officially forbidden on Jeopardy now, as of last year.
not even joking.

— Ken Jennings (@KenJennings) April 23, 2019

Former champ Stefan Goodreau added that $1488 is also not allowed, being a reference to white supremacist ideology.

Someone wagered $1,488 (innocently) and they had to change it in post, and I guess they decided that there were a few numbers that would be off limits as wagers.

— Stefan Goodreau (@sgraps) April 23, 2019

Then reigning champ James Holzhauer, who has won over a million dollars in three weeks, chimed in to say there are actually five banned numbers.

Actually, there are five banned wagers. This is probably the most innocuous one. https://t.co/5Yt0Y9JbKX

— James Holzhauer (@James_Holzhauer) April 25, 2019

According to former contestants in this Reddit thread from a month or so ago, the banned bets are $69 (nice), $666, $14, $88 and $1488. The policy was apparently instituted after the incident Goodreau mentioned, where a contestant trying to get a specific score wagered $1488 without knowing the meaning.

I get that one, the contestant was probably glad it was edited, you don’t want to end up like Randy Marsh in that one episode of South Park. But $69 (nice) and $666 are just good, wholesome fun. Okay, I guess old ladies in church groups might load up their Depends if someone bet $666, but at least let us have 69 (nice). We don’t ask for much.