Sam, I am
Sometimes it requires a cash wager to push anyone to new heights of achievement. In 1960, Bennett Cerf, the founder of publishing giant Random House, made a wager with a noted children’s book author. Cerf bet the author they couldn’t compose an entire story using significantly less than 50 unique words. The author took up the challenge with gusto.
His name? Theodore Geisel, better known as Dr. Seuss. The result of the bet? Green Eggs and Ham, a classic book so ingrained in the culture that American Supreme Court Justice James Muirhead referenced it in an official court opinion.
Rumour has it that Cerf never paid Geisel, nevertheless the book sold over 8 million copies. This resulted in Geisel making thousands over a seemingly impossible task.
Betting Against Yourself
A Brit’s slick trick to prevent taxes finished up benefiting every one involved (besides the Crown). In 2005, 91-year-old Arthur King-Robinson wagered £500 on six: 1 odds he’d be dead by year’s end. He finally found a bookmaker who took the macabre bet, which ended up being King-Robinson’s try to skirt an inheritance tax.
As it happens King-Robinson won by betting against himself. He survived the year, sidestepped the death tax and his bookmaker pocketed the £500.
Betting on Armageddon
Sometimes you must appreciate the intrepid gambler who will do anything to secure a wager. Whilst the year 2000 loomed, there is mass-hysteria, due to the world-ending apocalypse foretold in a Mayan prophecy. Londoner Matthew Dumbrell angled to profit, having a 1, 000, 000: 1 bet that the world will be annihilated in Y2K.
The Name is… Travolta?
Rumours abounded in 2014 that Sony Images would tap Idris Elba as the first nonwhite James Bond. Unfortuitously, this step in to the 21st century for the film franchise didn't materialize.
Little Pickle
3 months before the 2016 US presidential election, Donald Trump’s once-long 1000: 1 odds of winning the election had shrunk to 7: 4 (What are you doing Americans?! ) A far more contentious battle was being waged over the size of his male appendage.
Trump’s manhood has been the subject of media scrutiny for many years. In the summertime of 2016, odds stood 50: 1 he packs significantly less than four inches and a quick 11: 4 betting on 7. 01-8 inches. A classic betting line for the ballsy.
