You Bet On What? Novelty Bets Part 2

Weird Wagers From The Past

We take a look at some of the strangest bets from the history of gambling.

Players in internet casinos and gamblers in general will know that the popularity of novelty bets is growing.

However, there's nothing new about placing bets on things that aren't directly related to traditional gaming or sports, and these unusual wagers have been going on throughout history. Here's a selection of the strangest.

Ice Breaker

In 1917, surveyors from the Alaska Engineering Commission were trying to pass the time by betting on when the ice on the Tanana River would break so that boats could get through with their supplies. The Nenana Ice Classic was born, a lottery that still exists today.

Participants have to guess when the ice will break up to the month, day, hour and minute. To ensure precision, a tripod is planted in the ice when the river freezes and attached with string to a clock on the shore. The clock stops when the tripod moves as the ice breaks up. So far, the lottery has paid out nearly $10m in prize money. But before you start thinking about placing a bet or two, bear in mind that you have to be a resident of Alaska to play.

Walking All Over The World

Businessman and playboy Harry Bensley was bet £21,000 in 1907 at the National Sporting Club in London that he couldn't walk around the world unidentified. There were lots of bizarre conditions attached to the bet, which was made between Bensley, John Pierpoint Morgan and Hugh Cecil Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale. These included Bensley only being allowed one change of underwear and having to complete the journey wearing an iron mask from a suit of armour.

According to legend, Bensley then spent six years on the road. Accounts of how far he got vary, with some saying that he traveled as far as Japan and some that he completed 30,000 miles of the journey, ending the venture in Italy with the outbreak of the First World War.

Horse Back

In 1735, a German visiting Britain won a bet when he succeeded in riding a horse backwards from London to Edinburgh. It is said to have taken him four days.

Over The Moon

More recently, in the 1960s, a man called David Threlfall placed a bet at William Hill on a man setting foot on the moon before January 1, 1970. The bookmaker gave him odds of 1000/1 and Threlfall walked away £10,000 richer when Neil Armstrong took the giant leap for mankind in 1969. Now, of course, you can get odds on the likelihood of the moon landings being a huge Cold War hoax.

Fogg Bound

In Around the World in Eighty Days, Jules Verne tells the (fictional) story of Phileas Fogg, who accepts a bet of £20,000 from his friends at the Reform Club to attempt to circumnavigate the world in this time. The story may have been based on the adventures of George Francis Train, who managed to perform the feat for real in 1870.