Punters are obviously familiar with wagering on the outcome of horse races or sports events but there is a weird sub-category of “proposition” or “side-bets” that can keep true gamblers entertained when more conventional wagering opportunities are lacking.
Former England Cricket captain, Mike Atherton put together an illuminating read, “Gambling, a story of triumph and disaster,” which includes a “High Life” chapter detailing the propensity of 18th century British aristocracy to come up with peculiar wagers.
“In 1735, Count de Buckebergh laid a large wager on riding to Edinburgh whilst sitting backwards on a horse – a feat duly accomplished in less than four days. In 1770, two Earls struck a bet that one could ride from London to Edinburgh and back in less time than it took the other to draw a million dots.”
And how about this for a zany, novelty bet? Atherton writes, “A Northern baron laid a considerable wager that he would go to Lapland and bring back two native females and two reindeer within an allotted time. He did so, and the Laplanders lived with the baron for a year until they (quite understandably) asked to go home. He paid for their return, but did not accompany them…”
Other eccentric bets involved hitting a golf ball from near Tower Bridge to White’s gaming club in the city of London in under 2000 strokes – after initially teeing the ball up on a bus ticket, seemingly the winning ploy was to use a putter, advance steadily 20 meters at a time, and “to keep to the gutter!”
The book, The Professor, the Banker, and the Suicide King, reveals how David Grey once bet pro poker player, Howard Lederer, who became vegetarian following gastric bypass surgery, $10,000 that Lederer would not eat a cheeseburger. Lederer accepted the cynical wager, and with no feelings of remorse, guzzled the burger and duly collected.
Unfortunately, it’s not a big shift from these wacky, dare- for- money wagers to illegal “spot fixing”. Southampton soccer legend, Matt Le Tissier admitted to trying to win money on the time of first throw-in being under 75 seconds by kicking the ball out directly as soon as the game started against Wimbledon in 1995.
His clumsy attempt was foiled by team mate on the left wing, Neil Shipperley, who, unaware of the bet, headed le Tissier’s deliberately wayward “pass” back into play.
Le Tissier, explained in a 2009 BBC Sport article, that the longer the ball remained in play, the more money he stood to lose. “I have never run so much in my life. We stood to lose a lot of cash if it went much longer than 75 seconds before the ball went out. ”
The ball eventually went out of play on 70 seconds, meaning Le Tissier neither won nor lost money.
Southampton proceeded to win the game, with Le Tissier, a prolific striker, scoring the first of their two goals. He was a devoted team man making over 500 appearances for the Saints, and never dreamt of doing anything untoward to influence the final score of the match, but after this ill-conceived venture, decided that spread betting was not his scene either!