Famous Bets
March 7th, 2015 at 5:12:54 PM
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"Dr. Seuss's Green Eggs and Ham uses only 50 different words, which was part of a bet he made with Random House founder Bennett Cerf."
Share your knowledge of famous bets, or infamous wagers, or ones you think should be famous.
~
(note: now if Tolstoy had made that bet about War & Peace -- well it would be really boring probably)
Share your knowledge of famous bets, or infamous wagers, or ones you think should be famous.
~
(note: now if Tolstoy had made that bet about War & Peace -- well it would be really boring probably)
There's no secret. Just know what you're talking about before you open your mouth.
March 7th, 2015 at 6:07:41 PM
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William Lee Bergstrom's million-dollar bet at Binion's Horseshoe in 1984. (According to one of the Uncle John's Bathroom Reader books, when he made his first bet, which was $777,000 in 1980, he had borrowed the money and later said that he would have committed suicide had he lost.)
There are a few others I can think of off the top of my head:
In 1964, somebody in England bet £10 at 1000-1 that someone would land on the moon alive by the end of 1970. (I have also heard a version of this that said that the bet was £100 and the deadline was the end of 1969, but here is the source of the bet story.)
Arnold Palmer's "engagement ring" bet - he bet some golfing partners $100 a stroke that he could shoot a round under 70, but would pay them $100 a stroke if he shot over 80. I think he shot a 67.
Bobby Riggs betting that he would win the men's singles, men's doubles, and mixed doubles at Wimbledon in 1939. IIRC, the odds against his winning the men's singles were 12-1, and that they couldn't give him more than even money on the two parlayed bets, so it ended up being 48-1.
If fictional bets count, the most famous is probably Phineas Fogg's.
There are a few others I can think of off the top of my head:
In 1964, somebody in England bet £10 at 1000-1 that someone would land on the moon alive by the end of 1970. (I have also heard a version of this that said that the bet was £100 and the deadline was the end of 1969, but here is the source of the bet story.)
Arnold Palmer's "engagement ring" bet - he bet some golfing partners $100 a stroke that he could shoot a round under 70, but would pay them $100 a stroke if he shot over 80. I think he shot a 67.
Bobby Riggs betting that he would win the men's singles, men's doubles, and mixed doubles at Wimbledon in 1939. IIRC, the odds against his winning the men's singles were 12-1, and that they couldn't give him more than even money on the two parlayed bets, so it ended up being 48-1.
If fictional bets count, the most famous is probably Phineas Fogg's.
March 7th, 2015 at 6:16:25 PM
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In the mid 1700's, the Duke of Queensbury made a bet that he could "cause a letter to be conveyed 50 miles in a single hour." This seemed impossible at a time before steam engines and when the typical horse and carriage averaged only a couple of miles per hour. However, the Duke of Queensbury placed a letter within a cricket ball and organized a large group of cricket players into a line over 50 miles long. The cricket players threw and caught the cricket ball down their line and implausibly, the Duke of Q won his bet.
So many better men, a few of them friends, are dead. And a thousand thousand slimy things live on, and so do I.
March 7th, 2015 at 7:40:32 PM
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Bet Midler!
March 7th, 2015 at 9:07:37 PM
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ThatDonGuy]
If fictional bets count, the most famous is probably Phineas Fogg's.
*Phileas Fogg
So often incorrect that it was a clue on Jeopardy a few weeks ago.
If fictional bets count, the most famous is probably Phineas Fogg's.
*Phileas Fogg
So often incorrect that it was a clue on Jeopardy a few weeks ago.
March 7th, 2015 at 9:13:38 PM
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There's the Fed Ex bet. That's always a good read.
https://www.winthebet.com/gamblingstories_fedex.php
There's also an unsubstantiated claim that L. Ron Hubbard bet Robert Heinlein a steak dinner that he could create a religion that would have "X" so many members and generate revenue after the first year.
https://www.winthebet.com/gamblingstories_fedex.php
There's also an unsubstantiated claim that L. Ron Hubbard bet Robert Heinlein a steak dinner that he could create a religion that would have "X" so many members and generate revenue after the first year.
March 7th, 2015 at 11:55:40 PM
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I still like Kerry packers famous "I'll flip you for it"
get second you pig
March 13th, 2015 at 6:04:26 PM
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This is a recent one: Rory McIlroy bet his son would win the British Open within 10 years. (His son was 15 years old at the time.) It paid off at 500-1, last year.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/07/21/rory-mcilroys-father-wins-171000-betting-on-his-son-to-win-the-british-open/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2014/07/21/rory-mcilroys-father-wins-171000-betting-on-his-son-to-win-the-british-open/
March 13th, 2015 at 6:49:20 PM
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Art Rooney's big weekend at Yonkers and Saratoga in 1936, where he won enough money to start the Pittsburgh Steelers.
A falling knife has no handle.
March 13th, 2015 at 8:21:55 PM
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Quote: gordonm888In the mid 1700's, the Duke of Queensbury made a bet that he could "cause a letter to be conveyed 50 miles in a single hour." This seemed impossible at a time before steam engines and when the typical horse and carriage averaged only a couple of miles per hour. However, the Duke of Queensbury placed a letter within a cricket ball and organized a large group of cricket players into a line over 50 miles long. The cricket players threw and caught the cricket ball down their line and implausibly, the Duke of Q won his bet.
This is not plausible. They would have to
throw the ball to each other faster than
50 miles an hour, to make up for errors.
That's half the speed of a pitchers fast
ball.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
March 13th, 2015 at 9:49:39 PM
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The cricket players were NOT in a line fifty miles long.
Smart fellow: he had twenty bowlers stand in a measured circle throwing it from one to another continuously.
Smart fellow: he had twenty bowlers stand in a measured circle throwing it from one to another continuously.
"What, me worry?"
March 14th, 2015 at 12:51:30 AM
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Quote: MrVThe cricket players were NOT in a line fifty miles long.
.
"organized a large group of cricket players into a line over 50 miles long."
50 miles long is 50 miles long.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
March 14th, 2015 at 1:01:58 AM
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There was NOT a line fifty miles long.
The OP who claimed this is absolutely, categorically mistaken on this very salient point.
Duh.
They kept throwing it around the circle from player to player, over and over, until it went a total of fifty miles in less than an hour.
The OP who claimed this is absolutely, categorically mistaken on this very salient point.
Duh.
They kept throwing it around the circle from player to player, over and over, until it went a total of fifty miles in less than an hour.
"What, me worry?"
March 14th, 2015 at 1:07:37 AM
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Quote: MrV
They kept throwing it around the circle from player to player, over and over, until it went a total of fifty miles in less than an hour.
Thats not what the OP said. A circle is
not fifty miles long.
'organized a large group of cricket players into a line over 50 miles long.'
He organized a line 50 miles long in a circle?
What?
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
March 14th, 2015 at 5:36:19 AM
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Do some internet research, Bob.
Not one 50 mile circle, rather multiple laps around a much smaller circle. Plausible? Cheating? Sounds like this guy had quite a bad reputation.
Edited, I missed the page two posts in between.
The OP misrepresenting a story does not disprove any and all versions of a story.
Not one 50 mile circle, rather multiple laps around a much smaller circle. Plausible? Cheating? Sounds like this guy had quite a bad reputation.
Edited, I missed the page two posts in between.
The OP misrepresenting a story does not disprove any and all versions of a story.
March 14th, 2015 at 2:53:11 PM
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Quote:Thats not what the OP said.
Quote:
You're absolutely right, he didn't say that.
What he said was ... get ready for it ... INCORRECT.
He was wrong, bob, plain and simple.
But hey, keep parroting him if that's what floats your boat."What, me worry?"
March 14th, 2015 at 3:34:44 PM
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Quote: Dalex64
Not one 50 mile circle,.
I just went by what was said. A 50 mile
line is just that.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
March 14th, 2015 at 3:40:30 PM
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Quote: EvenBobThis is not plausible. They would have to
throw the ball to each other faster than
50 miles an hour, to make up for errors.
That's half the speed of a pitchers fast
ball.
I'm pretty sure an average adult can throw a ball faster than 50 MPH. I'm sure professional athletes can consistently do better than that.
There's other reason why this may just be a myth, but using the ball speed itself as the argument for why it's fake isn't a good one.
March 14th, 2015 at 3:58:29 PM
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Quote: sc15I'm pretty sure an average adult can throw a ball faster than 50 MPH. I'm sure professional athletes can consistently do better than that.
.
It's implausible and silly and it's not
right anyway, they were in a circle.
"It's not called gambling if the math is on your side."
March 14th, 2015 at 5:26:24 PM
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Brian Zembic was also nicknamed "the Wiz".
I doubt if you could ever guess the bet if you did not know the name.
I doubt if you could ever guess the bet if you did not know the name.
His most famous wager was in 1996 when he agreed to receive breast implants and keep them for one year in return for $US 100,000 (US$ 150,000 in 2015). The year passed and he won the bet but he became accustomed to the breasts and didn't have them removed.
In the summer of 1996 Zembic was gambling in a high-stakes game when the conversation turned to women's breast implants.[1] One of his friends, another gambler named Jobo, had the opinion that having implants in order to attract men was a crazy thing to do. Zembic disagreed and said that it wasn't a serious event and that the consequences were small. An argument ensued and the two agreed that they would enter into a wager where Zembic would receive breast implants and if he kept them in for a year he would win $US 100,000 (US$ 150,000 in 2015).[1]
The two established a contract to work out the details. Brian would pay for the operation to have 38C implants placed under his pec muscles.[1] Jobo placed the money with a third party to guarantee payment if Zembic won the bet. For a few months in 1996 he didn't follow through with the wager but in the fall of 1996 Zembic lost a large amount of money playing the stock market and sought out a surgeon to go through with the procedure in order to win the $100,000 prize to cover his losses.[1]
Through his gambling contacts he found a cosmetic surgeon who was also a gambler and after a few games of backgammon Zembic was able to get the $4,500 surgery in exchange for forgiving the doctor's debt.[1] In October 1996 Zembic underwent the breast augmentation surgery in New York.[1] Jobo upon hearing that Zembic had undergone surgery offered to buy out the bet by paying $50,000 to cancel the wager but Zembic refused and said he would see the wager through for the full year and full $100,000.[1] In October 1997 he fulfilled the arrangements of the bet and Jobo deposited the full $100,000 into a Swiss bank account
Wikipedia
In the summer of 1996 Zembic was gambling in a high-stakes game when the conversation turned to women's breast implants.[1] One of his friends, another gambler named Jobo, had the opinion that having implants in order to attract men was a crazy thing to do. Zembic disagreed and said that it wasn't a serious event and that the consequences were small. An argument ensued and the two agreed that they would enter into a wager where Zembic would receive breast implants and if he kept them in for a year he would win $US 100,000 (US$ 150,000 in 2015).[1]
The two established a contract to work out the details. Brian would pay for the operation to have 38C implants placed under his pec muscles.[1] Jobo placed the money with a third party to guarantee payment if Zembic won the bet. For a few months in 1996 he didn't follow through with the wager but in the fall of 1996 Zembic lost a large amount of money playing the stock market and sought out a surgeon to go through with the procedure in order to win the $100,000 prize to cover his losses.[1]
Through his gambling contacts he found a cosmetic surgeon who was also a gambler and after a few games of backgammon Zembic was able to get the $4,500 surgery in exchange for forgiving the doctor's debt.[1] In October 1996 Zembic underwent the breast augmentation surgery in New York.[1] Jobo upon hearing that Zembic had undergone surgery offered to buy out the bet by paying $50,000 to cancel the wager but Zembic refused and said he would see the wager through for the full year and full $100,000.[1] In October 1997 he fulfilled the arrangements of the bet and Jobo deposited the full $100,000 into a Swiss bank account
Wikipedia
There's no secret. Just know what you're talking about before you open your mouth.
March 14th, 2015 at 5:55:52 PM
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Quote: EvenBobIt's implausible and silly and it's not
right anyway, they were in a circle.
I would say the line of people 50 miles long part is extremely far fetched, but the ball speed itself makes sense.
March 18th, 2015 at 1:22:54 AM
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I think everyday many big strange bet are made at the tables and lives ruined or many thousands won.
Here are just 5 crazy casino bets
Here are just 5 crazy casino bets
http://www.Roulette30.com
