This is a list of bets, both verified and unverified, that have achieved fame. *Ancient world: Cleopatra supposedly bet her lover

Mark Antony Marcus Antonius (14 January 1 August 30 BC), commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from a constitutional republic into the au ...

that she could spend the enormous sum of 10 million sesterces on a single meal. She allegedly dissolved an extremely valuable pearl in some vinegar and drank it. *c. 1746: Allegedly, Earl Fitzwilliam had a pyramid built with an archway ( The Needle's Eye) because he had wagered that he could drive a coach through a needle's eye. *c. 1788:

Thomas Whaley Thomas Whaley (October 5, 1823 – December 14, 1890) was an early settler of San Diego, California. The residence he built there in 1857 is now a public museum called Whaley House. Biography Whaley was born in Manhattan, New York City, 18 ...

, an Irish gambler and politician, won bets totaling £15,000 (about £1.8 million in 2001) after he traveled to Jerusalem and back within two years. The region, part of the

Ottoman Empire The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...

, was considered too dangerous for travelers. *18th century: The physically fit

Richard Barry, 7th Earl of Barrymore Richard Barry, 7th Earl of Barrymore (14 August 1769 – 6 March 1793) was an English nobleman of Irish heritage, as well as an infamous rake, gambler, sportsman, theatrical enthusiast and womanizer. He was known as ''Hellgate'' and ''the Rake ...

, supposedly was challenged by a rotund butcher named Mr. Bullock to a foot race, the conditions being that Bullock be given a head start and the choice of the course to be run. Bullock selected a narrow lane. Barry quickly caught up with his opponent, but there was no room for him to get past. *1872?: Horse breeder (former governor of California and co-founder of Stanford University) Leland Stanford allegedly wagered $25,000 that a horse, while running, had all four feet off the ground at the same time; he supposedly hired photographer

Eadweard Muybridge Eadweard Muybridge (; 9 April 1830 – 8 May 1904, born Edward James Muggeridge) was an English photographer known for his pioneering work in photographic studies of motion, and early work in motion-picture projection. He adopted the first ...

to prove it. Whether there was a bet or - more likely - Stanford merely wanted to better analyze a horse's gait, Muybridge did take a series of photographs for him in June 1878, the basis of ''

The Horse in Motion ''The Horse in Motion'' is a series of cabinet cards by Eadweard Muybridge, including six cards that each show a sequential series of six to twelve "automatic electro-photographs" depicting the movement of a horse. Muybridge shot the photogr ...

'', which showed the horse's feet in the air at the same time. *November 1872: Not long after the end of the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

, in which many of the English had sympathized with the South, Gilbert Bates wagered $1000 to $100 that he could walk the length of England carrying the American flag without being insulted. He won. *between 1957 and 1960:

Bennett Cerf Bennett Alfred Cerf (May 25, 1898 – August 27, 1971) was an American writer, publisher, and co-founder of the American publishing firm Random House. Cerf was also known for his own compilations of jokes and puns, for regular personal appearanc ...

bet

Dr. Seuss Theodor Seuss Geisel (;"Seuss"
'' Green Eggs and Ham ''Green Eggs and Ham'' is a children's book by Dr. Seuss, first published on August 12, 1960. As of 2019, the book has sold 8 million copies worldwide. The story has appeared in several adaptations, starting with 1973's '' Dr. Seuss on the Loos ...

'', using and reusing exactly that number. *c. 1977: George Lucas visited Steven Spielberg while the latter was making ''

Close Encounters of the Third Kind ''Close Encounters of the Third Kind'' is a 1977 American science fiction film written and directed by Steven Spielberg, starring Richard Dreyfuss, Melinda Dillon, Teri Garr, Bob Balaban, Cary Guffey, and François Truffaut. It tells the story ...

''. Struggling with his own production and impressed by what he saw of Spielberg's work, Lucas offered to trade 2.5% of the points (profits) of their films. ''Close Encounters'' made a lot of money, but not as much as '' Star Wars''. Spielberg is still collecting the difference to this day (an estimate $12.5 million as of 1978). *1980 and 1984: On September 24, 1980, William Lee Bergstrom walked into the Horseshoe Casino in Las Vegas with two suitcases, one containing $777,000, the other empty. The Horseshoe had a unique policy, which set a gambler's maximum bet limit at the first wager placed. Bergstrom bet the entire amount on the don't pass line in

craps Craps is a dice game in which players bet on the outcomes of the roll of a pair of dice. Players can wager money against each other (playing "street craps") or against a bank ("casino craps"). Because it requires little equipment, "street ...

and, after several rolls, won. The winnings went into the second suitcase. On March 24, 1984, he returned to the Horseshoe and bet $538,000, again in craps and again won. Finally on November 16 the same year, Bergstrom placed his largest craps bet: $1,000,000. This time he lost. *April 11, 2004:

Ashley Revell Ashley Revell (born 1971 in Maidstone, Kent) is an English entrepreneur. In 2004 he sold all his possessions, including his clothes, and on 11 April he gambled US$135,300 (about £76,840 at the time) on a single spin of a roulette wheel in th ...

sold all his possessions and bet £76,840 on one roll of the

roulette wheel Roulette is a casino game named after the French word meaning ''little wheel'' which was likely developed from the Italian game Biribi''.'' In the game, a player may choose to place a bet on a single number, various groupings of numbers, the ...

Las Vegas Las Vegas (; Spanish for "The Meadows"), often known simply as Vegas, is the 25th-most populous city in the United States, the most populous city in the state of Nevada, and the county seat of Clark County. The city anchors the Las Vegas ...

. He doubled his money when the ball landed on a red number. *

Scientific wager A scientific wager is a wager whose outcome is settled by scientific method. They typically consist of an offer to pay a certain sum of money on the scientific proof or disproof of some currently-uncertain statement. Some wagers have specific date r ...

, a list of examples

References

{{Gambling Wagers

See also

References