“Jeopardy” Bans Wagers Referencing Sex, Nazis and Satan

The show has outlawed five specific wager amounts

Alex Trebek. (Kris Connor/Getty Images)
Alex Trebek. (Kris Connor/Getty Images)

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Jeopardy is a game of numbers. Well, most of ’em.

A comment from a joking Twitter user about former champ Ken Jennings’s penchant for wagering $69 during “Final Jeopardy” led him to reveal that betting that amount is “officially forbidden” on the show as of last year.

Then, after current champ James Holzhauer confirmed what Jennings had to say, he noted there are four other “banned wagers” besides $69. “This is probably the most innocuous one,” he wrote on Twitter.

Following that reveal, other former contestants took to Reddit and shared what the other banned wagering amounts are: $666, $14, $88, and $1488.

Thanks to its link to the devil and Satanism, the reason why 666 is banned should be fairly obvious.

The reason why the other three are banned is a little more mysterious unless you are up on popular white supremacist numeric symbols.

According to the Anti-Defamation League: “The first symbol is 14, which is shorthand for the ’14 Words’ slogan: ‘We must secure the existence of our people and a future for white children.’ The second is 88, which stands for ‘Heil Hitler’ (H being the 8th letter of the alphabet). Together, the numbers form a general endorsement of white supremacy and its beliefs. As such, they are ubiquitous within the white supremacist movement – as graffiti, in graphics and tattoos, even in screen names and e-mail addresses, such as aryanprincess1488@hate.net.  Some white supremacists will even price racist merchandise, such as t-shirts or compact discs, for $14.88. The symbol is most commonly written as 1488 or 14/88, but variations such as 14-88 or 8814 are also common.”

In a positive sign for all of us, 420 is not a banned wager amount — yet.

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