‘Jeopardy!’ Fans Bash Judges’ ‘Brutal’ Daily Double Ruling
Spoiler Alert
[The following post contains MAJOR spoilers for the Tuesday, May 6, episode of Jeopardy!]
Although a lot of questions were answered correctly on Tuesday’s (May 6) episode of Jeopardy!, the contestants’ totals were pretty low, and it all came down to their wagers on their Daily Doubles.
Ben Ganger, from Goshen, Indiana, tried to go for his sixth win. The data analyst had a five-day total of $105,915 and became the fifth qualifier for 2026’s Tournament of Champions. Ganger faced off against two new opponents: Keegan Olson, from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, and Sarah Gillis, from Asbury Park, New Jersey.
When host Ken Jennings stepped out on the stage, he said that Ganger told him after Monday’s show, “ToC, man. That’s beyond my wildest dreams.”
The beginning of the game was a pretty even playing field as all three game show contestants answered a handful of questions correctly. Gillis, a mortgage loan processor, found the first Daily Double of the game. With $1,400 in her bank, she wagered all of her money. In “Howdy Neighbor,” the clue read, “China borders the providence of Sukhbaatar in this neighboring country.” “What is Mongolia?” she answered correctly, doubling her up to $2,800. This put her in the lead and was $1,000 over Ganger.
The round had four Triple Stumpers, which means all three contestants didn’t know the answer. Ganger answered two wrong, as well as Gillis. Olson got one wrong, but their total amounts weren’t anything substantial. In a surprising turn of events, Olson was in the lead with $4,600. Gillis was in second with $3,400. Ganger trailed with $2,800.
Olson found the first Daily Double in Double Jeopardy after only two questions. With $6,600 in his bank, he wagered $4,000. In “Flags,” the question read, “Covering a lot of ground, Mozambique’s flag features an open book, a hoe, and this weapon invented in the 1940s.” “What is a machine gun?” he answered. Jennings asked him to be more specific, and he said, “What is a Kalashnikov?” He dropped down to $2,600, as it was incorrect. “I’m afraid we needed the specific weapon, Keegan. It’s an AK-47,” Jennings said. He was now in third place. Olson quickly gained the lead as he sped through the next few questions, leaving Ganger still in third.
He found the second DD and made it a true Daily Double at $10,200. The clue in “Cold War Times” read, “Countering atheistic communism, in 1954 this 2-word phrase was added to the Pledge of Allegiance.” He answered, “What is in God?” which was wrong. Jennings let him know it was “One nation under God.”
“That’s tough for a Canadian,” he said. Olson dropped down to $0, now putting him in last place. Gillis quickly took the lead with $7,400. Ganger had $3,600 and Olson was in third with $2,800 going into Final Jeopardy.
That round ended with five Triple Stumpers and two incorrect DDs from Olson.
The category for Final Jeopardy was “Word Origins.” The clue was, “Fittingly, this adjective describing a hit-you-in-the-gut kind of feeling goes back to a Latin word for internal organs.” Both Olson and Ganger correctly answered, “What is visceral?” Olson bet it all, making his final total $5,600. Ganger wagered $2,001, giving him $5,601, only $1 ahead of Olson.
It was up to Gillis and her answer and wager. She answered incorrectly by not putting anything down. Gillis only wagered $100, though, giving her a final total of $7,300 and making her the new winner. The tension could be cut with a knife on set as Jennings talked to them. Gillis will be back on Wednesday to face two new opponents and try to get her second win.
Fans reacted to Olson’s DD wagers and answers on Reddit. “I think not accepting Kalashnikov for DD2 was a really poor ruling,” one fan said.
“Strongly agree. The AK-47 is commonly called a ‘Kalashnikov,'” a fan replied.
“I strongly disagreed with the judges on their DD2 call, then was SO shook by Keegan’s second DD (barely a) miss that I had to stop watching,” wrote another.
“DD2 – Brutal ruling. I knew it was AK-47, but I’m surprised the judges didn’t either accept “Kalashnikov” or give Keegan another ‘be more specific’ prompt,” said one Reddit user.
“His revised DD2 answer should have been accepted,” said another.
“Keegan gambled too hard,” wrote one last fan.
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B
I was fully expecting them to come back after commercial to set matters straight about the AK47/kalashnikov answer!
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O
The ak47 is better known as a kalashnikow,
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G
Duh an AK 47 is Klashnikov the AK stands for Avtomat Kalashnikova.
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O
“Kalashnikov” should be good enough. The Canadian would never have been treated so poorly if Alex were still alive.😢
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O
In Ken's defense, it's not his call. It's the judges call.
Viewers don't see it, but when there's a controversial answer, the show taping is stopped for the judges to make a ruling. They make the decision, then taping is restarted where Ken communicates the decision. But the whole decision process is never included in the taping, so the decision "seems" instant on the show.
That said, it was a bad decision not to accept Kalashnikov.
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G
Another article about the champ that lost said they did stop taping and the judges came on and said Kalashnikov makes other guns besides the AK-47, and that is why it wasn't accepted.
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G
Machine gun should have been enough! Not what type. He got ripped off!!!!!
I am disappointed in the judges.
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G
Jennings is trying to be another Alex Trebek. He even corrects people's pronunciations (like it really matters?). I've seen several instances when KJ has 'allowed' questionable responses. (The judges might be prompting him, but he probably still has some leeway). Although Alex was not beyond 'poking fun' at some of the contestants, he controlled his interactions whereas Jennings has repeatedly demonstrated a mean streak. Fortunately for us, soccer interrupted our Tuesday episode of Jeopardy.
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I find KJ to be very egotistical and condescending
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G
It’s not up to Ken Jennings, it’s in the hands of the Judges. Period! Although his answer should have accepted. Judges???
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B
Kalashnikov probably should've been accepted, but machine gun should've been ruled incorrect to begin with. The machine gun was not invented in the 1940s and the AK-47 is more often generally referred to as an assault rifle or automatic rifle rather than a machine gun.
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O
Please get rid of Ken Jennings and his awful arrogance.
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