Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with bet

Help us find a good World Series bet...

Towelie — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 07:59:47 -0800

World series bet: Philadelphia/New York office 'rivalry'…ideas? We have six offices - with the Main Office in NYC and an office in Philadelphia.
(Staffing is about 9-10 in NYC, and 3-4 in Philly) We have four other offices (each with similar staffing levels.)

Any ideas on a 'good bet' - this is mostly for fun/morale reasons. I'm thinking that it'd be interesting/vested for our other offices to pick/align with the split over the worlds series…and have an interesting bet…

I just can't think of something beyond cheesesteaks/cheesecakes or wearing phillies/yankees wear (for one day) that would be interesting.

humiliating stakes for a friendly wager?

ames — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 11:57:14 -0800

i've been recruited to help set the stakes for a friendly wager on the ole miss / alabama game in october. while money can be involved, the bet should be more centered around humiliation of some sort. any ideas for an entertaining bet between an already-tough-to-embarrass male and female friend?

Better than vi versus emacs!

perrce — Thu, 02 Apr 2009 09:23:04 -0800

Please help settle a bet: Is a spreadsheet a simple type of database, or are they fundamentally different things? A friend emailed me today with this:

i am having a spirited discussion about what is a database and what is a spreadsheet. i claim that a spreadsheet is a simple non-relational database. i need an unimpeachable source. do you know of any? thanks.

As his resident computer geek, I have an opinion, but I wouldn't say its a authoritative. So please help my buddy out. Links to relevant web pages are welcome (I couldn't find any that were spot on), as well as informed opinions.

What do I root for in this Superbowl bet?

ODiV — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 09:15:05 -0800

Based on my Superbowl bet, what should I be hoping for? I'm going to a Superbowl party where I'll be watching the game. I don't follow football at all so I figured I'd put a wager on it to make it more interesting.

A friend is running a betting system for a group of us selling "Superbowl Squares" (described here). The payouts are for the end of each quarter (none for end of game).

My numbers are (Cardinals-Steelers): 4-2, 6-1, 6-2, and 8-3. In my limited knowledge of football scoring, those don't seem like amazing numbers. Also, I know nothing about the play of the two teams.

Could someone take a very rough stab at my chances? More importantly, what are some realistic situations that I can root for which might lead to the right scores?

Should I be hoping the teams make touchdowns, but miss the kick that follows (wikipedia tells me that's called a "point-after touchdown") so that the score is 6-12? More examples would be appreciated, including the strenghts/weaknesses of the teams involved would be even better.

$500 on GSP FTW

googly — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 12:50:33 -0800

How do I make sense of the "moneyline" form of betting odds for mixed martial arts? I'm trying to understand the way that betting on mixed martial arts works. I have read the description here, so I think I have the basics down. But I'm curious about one thing. The opening line for the GSP/BJ Penn fight is Georges St-Pierre -245 vs. B.J. Penn +175. If I understand this correctly, this means that a $245 bet on GSP results in a $100 profit, and a $100 bet on Penn results in a $175 profit.

My question is, why can't a savvy bettor hedge and come out ahead every time? For example, say I bet $100 on both fighters:

If GSP wins I win $140.82 and lose $100 to net $40.82.
If Penn wins, I win $275 and lose $100 to net $175.

So I come out ahead no matter who wins. This cannot be right; there is no way that I have stumbled on a foolproof moneymaking scheme. So what am I missing? Hidden commissions on placing bets? Have I misunderstood the explanation? Is my math bad? Do I need more caffeine today?

It's Christmas: give him the gift of naughty and nice.

December — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 05:48:36 -0800

A dare: help a friend be naughty. My friend J and his wife C are very, very close and have the type of marriage people envy: deep friendship, crazy good sex, infinite trust, beautiful children, and a bond for which an appropriate positive adjective fails me. In short, they are the best of friends. I am fortunate in that they share a great deal of their personal life with me.

Here's the dare: wife C is known for being extremely eagle-eyed and knows the most random minutiae of husband J's life, without even making an effort. They got the whole mindreading thing goin' on. They have made a bet with each other, the bet being that J in no way could ever do anything behind C's back without her knowing about it. In short, he has to do something clandestine and she has two weeks to identify what it is he's done.

So. J and I have been trying to concoct a plan for J to do something mildly naughty behind C's back to see if she'll figure it out. So far, we've only come up with semi-lame ideas like his sneaking to a stripclub during his lunch hour. ::yawn:: Given the, um, wide variety of wild in their sexual life, this is hardly sneaky or naughty enough to merit anything beyond a giggle from C.

For what it's worth, I'm pretty sure J's on the losing end of this bet. But I would like to give C a good run for her money. What kinda naughty, clandestine thing can J do to win this bet? Bear in mind I can serve as accomplice, the event can be - but doesn't have to be - sexually oriented (but that seems to be the direction our ideas are taking), and both J and C are extremely liberal souls who have infinite trust for each other. Any ideas?

Help me find a sewing-kit-in-a-pen.

ScarletPumpernickel — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 19:01:14 -0800

Please help me find another sewing-kit-in-a-pen like the one I bought at Brookstone in the 1990s. Back in the 1990s, I went to Brookstone and bought a gadgety-cool yet practical clear ballpoint pen that contained a complete sewing kit. The pen refill held five tiny thread spools, and the remaining space in the plastic chamber held a couple of needles and a safety pin. The sewing kit slid out of the plastic sleeve using the refill as a spindle.

It's been a source of aid and amusement for many years, but it finally grew legs and walked away.

I bought the original as a gift, and I'd like to replace it.

Despite my best efforts at Google-Fu, I cannot find *any* pen containing a sewing kit.

Please help!

Should I cancel my health insurance and invest the money instead?

Anonymous — Sat, 26 Jul 2008 17:59:31 -0800

Is cancelling my health insurance and investing the money instead a good bet, or a foolhardy risk? I'm young, in good health, and have no chronic health conditions. And compound interest means that I'd have hundreds of thousands of dollars more at the end of my life. I'm currently paying over $200 a month for an excellent health insurance plan that includes doctor's visits, prescriptions, and low to no deductible for most things. However, I'm living more or less hand-to-mouth. I'm 25 years old and work as a freelance writer, which makes it very difficult to invest any amount of money -- there is simply nothing else in my budget I can cut. If I cancelled the health insurance or downgraded to an emergency-room-only health insurance plan, and invested the money instead, I'd have a few thousand dollars in savings a few years earlier, which would give me a lot more financial stability and flexibility. (Hey, I can buy a car / move to a new city / travel now!) Or, heck, I could just keep saving that money -- the effect of starting a few years early would exponentially increase the longer I left that money invested.

Now: I'm healthy -- I an ex-smoker and run frequently, and have no chronic health complaints, and haven't been to the doctor for an illness in years.

Looking at the problem in terms of risk or reward, I am currently paying $200 a month to guard against a (relatively) low risk of have to pay a lot more in the case I become ill. Now, if I invested the money instead, I'd be taking on that risk, but for a substantial payoff -- a few thousand dollars a year, which could become hundreds of thousands by the end of my lifetime. Essentially, investing my health insurance money guarantees me a large payoff, but I take on a risk of large expense.

Let's posit that I do get any medical help I need, I just pay for it out of pocket, but drift a little more towards poverty. Let's also assume that I'll do this for only two years, by which time I'll have saved a few thousand dollars and will be earning more money. And, remember, I'll have emergency room insurance, so if I'm hit by a car I'll be covered.

So: is this a foolish risk to take, given the payoff, or not? If you were to run this scenario ten thousand times, would you come out ahead, or would the house win? And given that I can only run the scenario once, is it still a good bet? If this were Deal or No Deal, would you take the deal?

(posting anonymously because of all the personal financial information. thanks for the advice, everyone!)

Crispy Crunchity Peanut Buttery

The Esteemed Doctor Bunsen Honeydew — Sun, 04 Nov 2007 17:36:16 -0800

Is it dangerous to eat a jar of peanut butter? A friend has decided to eat an entire 40oz jar of skippy brand peanut butter in one sitting, on a $20 bet. Should I try to put a stop to this, or full steam ahead? I know that it's really a bad idea to consume 40oz of anything in one sitting, but are there any actual heath risks from all that peanut butter, or just discomfort from consuming 6650+ calories in one day?

Clark W. Griswold sure likes to sing!

paddingtonb — Wed, 10 Oct 2007 20:25:52 -0800

Help me solve a bet regarding the Chevy Chase National Lampoon Vacation series Does Clark W Griswold ever sing "Michael, Row the Boat Ashore"? It can be in Christmas Vacation, National Lampoon's Vacation, or European Vacation.

Ten dollars worth of goods and services are on the line here, people.

Thanks! :)

Do they still make ha'pennies?

provocateur — Thu, 30 Nov 2006 12:34:36 -0800

What's the most annoying way you can think of to pay someone 10 bucks?...there's So i lost a bet, its a weekly bet between a group of friends and it's my turn to pay. Previous losers have paid in pesos, pennies, canadian dollars, two dollar bills, etc. I'm looking for really really annoying. Think a roll of quarters encased in amber...Oh hivemind, enlighten me with your evil...

Please tell me the precise height of Jimmy Buffett

poppo — Tue, 08 Aug 2006 06:49:39 -0800

Please tell me the precise height of Jimmy Buffett I would have thought this was easily google-able, but it seems not. Recalling a story for my friend in which I was in the same bar with Jimmy Buffett one drunken night at a Jazzfest several years ago, I expressed my surprise at how short I thought he was. My friend was shocked with disbelief at this revelation. We now have a standing bet on a case of good beer: I claim Jimmy Buffett is 5'6" or shorter, and my friend says 5'7" or taller.

Citations of any kind are preferred, but other anecdotal experiences are helpful as well.

Incidentally, Ed Bradley was there too.

BrakeFilter

AlexReynolds — Sun, 20 Mar 2005 18:14:04 -0800

BrakeFilter: My dad and I need to settle a bet about driving habits affecting brake pad life. He says that sudden stops from high speed wear out brake pads faster than gradual, slow stops, because F = ma means sudden decelleration equals high force on the brake pad.

I say that gradual braking wears out the brakes faster, since the brake pads are in contact with the disc for a longer period of time.

Whose explanation is correct? (Neither?)