We’re just one night away from Jeopardy! The Greatest of All Time, the special tournament in which James Holzhauer, Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter will all play in a head-to-head-to-head competition to determine who the GOAT is among some of the show’s best winners.
But because it was taped ahead of time, it’s possible that some folks other than the participants and those who work on the show know exactly who won.
And that could be verrrry hairy when it comes to betting on the outcome.
According to ESPN, taping happened in December and that bettors found out the winner, who reporter David Purdum didn’t reveal. Then, here’s what happened:
On Dec. 19, prominent offshore sportsbook Pinnacle took two $500-limit bets on Contestant X from the same account. The next day, three more max bets on Contestant X were placed from the same account, and Pinnacle took the odds off the board.
“I’m pretty sure at this stage that [the bettor] knew what was happening,” Marco Blume, trading director for Pinnacle, told ESPN.
On Dec. 23, a representative from Panama-based BetOnline.com tweeted that the sportsbook was closing the market on the GOAT tournament. “Some irregular betting patterns coming in. Stay tuned,” BetOnline chief Dave Mason posted on Twitter.
Mason later told ESPN that a sudden surge of bets came in on Contestant X, “one after another.”
Hoo boy. Of course, there’s a possibility that the rumor is just that, and some bettors are throwing their money away based on rumblings and not fact. But bookmakers have to be really careful when they see irregular betting patterns on something pre-taped — remember that a certain Game of Thrones character (SPOILER ALERT) had weirdly good odds to sit on the Iron Throne by the end of the series … and that’s who was on it by the finale?
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