The Bet

I'm not generally speaking a gambler. I'm rather risk-averse, and in relatively few things require the added spice of money on the line. Every now and then, however, I find it rather amusing to gamble. I don't gamble on games of chance, or even those which may be influenced by skill. I would say that when compelled to experience something otherwise very boring, I might be induced to place a wager with trivial stakes to make things a bit more interesting.

We're really talking a token bet. The kind of bets I would go for are those sometimes carried by Irish bookies for major sports and entertainment events. Such a bookie might offer odds on the outfit worn by the host of the Oscars, for example. They might also offer an over/under on some trivial thing. I just made and lost a bet with a friend on a rather trivial thing. If you're unfamiliar, an over/under offers a prediction for some statistic, such as a combined score in a football game. It would be selected to provoke an equal number of bets on the score being higher and lower.

That's not what I bet on. Just before the opening game of the NFL season, the President gave a speech. I offered a friend a bet on the over/under for elapsed speech time. An impartial third party set the over/under at 25 minutes. I graciously gave my friend the chance to choose, and he eagerly took the over. I can't fault him for that. That's just smart. I was still optimistic about my chances given what we knew, and it looked for a time like I had a chance.

Just before it passed 25 minutes, it looked at last like Obama was wrapping up, no thanks to the numerous (if brief) standing ovations. Just when I began to hope, he uttered some dastardly words which clearly signaled a good length more to come, and I was beaten. Rest assured, my friend was not a magnanimous victor, nor was the impartial third party all that impartial. Instead, he was all too happy to rub it in as well. I was saddened and infuriated, but I couldn't deny one thing. The speech raised the specter of being bored before the football game, and the bet had made it interesting.