Knew I should have bet on January.
Source: Ryan Kramer
Source: Ryan Kramer
Rat: It just ends! It's the edge of the world!
Jin: [to Li] Pay up. It's flat.
Jin: [to Li] Pay up. It's flat.
The Reveal is the ultimate resolution of big mysteries, the wool is finally pulled from the eyes of the audience and the truth is displayed for all to see. This should come as a huge shock to everyone... except the people who saw it coming. This doesn't only apply to viewers: characters sometimes suspect what's coming too, and sometimes they decide to make it interesting. After the big revelation, be prepared for a cutaway to two characters exchanging money. Not only had they foreseen the possibility that the revelation might be coming up, they decided to make a game of whether or not it did.
Classic setups include someone coming out of the closet or the resolution of a Will They or Won't They?. Classic subversions include compromising situations that imply one of the above or the losing character immediately winning the money back due to a second revelation.
Sometimes we see the bet being made, in which case a sufficiently-delayed payoff can count as a Brick Joke; conversely, if the bet is made right before the reveal, it may overlap with Tempting Fate, Speak of the Devil, Instantly Proven Wrong, or similar tropes. Other times, we only get the punchline. A common variation is for the bet to be a contest, with the characters discussing how long the reveal took before handing over the money (in this case, the implication is that no one was betting that Bob wouldn't come out — they only disagreed how long he'd last).
Contrast The Bet, which is usually a more integral part of the plot (though a particularly devious character might set a Side Bet on themselves losing The Bet). See also the Workplace Betting Pool.
Examples:
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Anime & Manga
- In 801 T.T.S. Airbats, Saginomiya tries to get people to place bets on practically anything that happens (such as whether her squadron will pass inspection). She also tries to collect on bets that the other person never accepted (on-screen, at least).
- In Azumanga Daioh, teachers Yukari and Nyamo wager 10,000 yen (~$100 USD) each year on whose class will place higher at the athletic festival. Yukari wins the first year, but Nyamo instantly reclaims the money as payment for an old debt. In the second year, they add a dinner if either one places first overall. Yukari wins again but is still a sore loser when her class beats the teachers' team with her on it in the relay race. And in the third year, Yukari runs for her class and comes in dead last because she tackled Nyamo to keep her from winning.
- In Black Lagoon, during the Nazi arc, after the Villainous Breakdown of the Nazi leader, Revy hands him a gun then tells Dutch that she's betting "black" not "yellow". Dutch replies that it's no bet and says that he's going "black" as well. The Nazi at first appears that he's going to shoot himself before attempting to shoot Dutch, only to find that the gun was empty. It's then revealed that the bet was on who the Nazi would try to shoot (himself, the black man, or the half-Chinese woman).
- In JoJo's Bizarre Adventure: Stone Ocean, Sonny Likir bets Westwood $15 that he'll be able to both startle and hose down Jolyne. Needless to say, he wins that bet, but it ultimately causes more harm than good once Survivor starts affecting them both.
- A Running Gag in Negima! Magister Negi Magi is the girls of Class 3-A constantly making bets on whatever's happening at the moment. Given they're in middle school, what they're betting are lunch tickets rather than actual money. If we see the tail end of a bet, it's usually Sakurako who wins.
- Rebuild World: Akira is A Father to His Men in Sheryl's gang but quite harsh and aloof as well. Colbert and the Number Two of the gang Erio both take bets on whether Akira will come help when he's asked to help them with a job identifying corpses for a debt company. Erio thinks that Akira won't come but bets he will for the sake of morale, and Akira does indeed show up to help out, getting Erio a sizeable sum for a slum kid.
- Yakitate!! Japan has a scene where the manager receives an announcement from the central Pantasia branch on whether Azuma and Kawachi passed the preliminaries to enter the Newcomers Competition. After grudgingly acknowledging that both boys passed, he is forced to give up the 10,000 yen he and Tsukino betted on Azuma and Kawachi's qualification to enter the competition. Tsukino wagered that they would pass, but it's not revealed what the Manager wagered.
Comic Books
- Clone Wars Adventures: Part of the plot of Versus is a mysterious (and seemingly very lucky) coliseum-goer betting large amounts of money on Luminara winning three matches in a row without Force powers, which happens to be a part of a deal Luminara worked out with Mondo-Mod the Hutt, that chapter's antagonist. Said coliseum-goer lucks out each and every single time owing to Luminara's combat skills. The very end of the chapter reveals this mysterious masked winner to be Barriss, gleefully betting on her master, knowing full well Luminara would win. While more of a sideplot to the main one, Barriss' successful bets lead to Mondo-Mod going utterly bankrupt from the losses.
- Empowered: Ninjette and Caged Demonwolf make a side bet on how long Emp and ThugBoy will be apart after a fight. Demonwolf wins a set of The Wire DVDs.
- Halloween Blues: Two of Forrester's colleagues can be seen betting on how long it'll take to get a suspect to fess up. When she emerges still ranting about how the cheating husbands she fed to her pigs had it coming, they're seen exchanging money.
- In the first Super Agent Jon Le Bon! book, when Jon and Henry lose contact with the others, the Doctor/Chief Scientist tells Martha that she owes him twenty bucks.
- Superman/Batman: In Protégé, Superman got Batman to make a bet on how Robin (Tim Drake) and Superboy (Kon-El) would react to their arrival, though Bruce isn't at all surprised he lost the bet:
Superman: We have a situation–
Superboy: It wasn't our fault!
Superman: (to Batman) You owe me five dollars.
Batman: Already?
Superman: I told you if we didn't explain why we were coming out here, they'd think they'd done something wrong.
Robin: Wait a second. You two bet on our reactions?
Superman: It was really more about how he was wrong than how you'd react.
Fan Works
- In AAML: Diamond and Pearl Version, when Team Rocket sees that Ash and Misty got together, the first thing Jessie does is tell Meowth he owes her twenty bucks.
Meowth: Forget it Jess! Dat bet expired two years ago!note .
- A Bat's New Bird: When Selina tells the family that Bruce is bringing home another child, a frowning Duke hands a smirking Cassandra twenty bucks.
- In All This Sh*t is Twice as Weird, on the second floor of the tavern, Sutherland tells a group of scouts that Varric is downstairs collecting money he's won in several of these he made regarding the Inquisition's resident Twice Shy pairing, who have finally kissed.
- In this Amphibia fan prompt Anne's Parents know she's gay and have a bet on whether she'd date Sasha or Marcy. Hop Pop wins the bet due to her dating both of them.
- Apex Predator (MHA): Mr. Compress and Kurogiri have a bet on whether or not Dabi is related to Endeavor. Compress wins.
- Ashes of the Past: From the first chapter:
Ash: I want to go back to the day I met Pikachu — the day my journey began, when I first set off from Pallet.
Sir Aaron: Ha! Told you, you great lump.
Arceus: I thought 'any day but then' was good odds.
Ash: Wait... Were you two betting on me or something?
Sir Aaron: Err... Nooo? - A Snow Queen In NYC: When Mikey and Elsa go on a solo mission, Splinter and Leo place bets on how long it'll be before Raph calls to check on them. Leo, who bet that Raph would call before they'd been gone an hour, wins.
- The Blue Dragon (Batman): The end of Chapter 7 reveals that Stephanie and Tim were having one of these over when Bruce would invite Zuko to be part of the family. Tim won, to Steph's chagrin.
- Boldores and Boomsticks: Fox passes Yatsuhasi some lien when Team CFVY finds out that all they needed to do was ask for information on Team RWBY's situation.
- The Door (Zootopia): Even though Gideon Gray and Sharla tried to keep their relationship a secret, Bonnie admits to Judy that not only did the whole town know about it long before they came clean, but there were a few bets going on about how long it would take the lovers to realize their relationship was an Open Secret. The answer? Three years.
- Draco might not be a Weasley by blood, but he's family: Thomas and Adam bet money over whether the incident that caused the welcome feast to end early had anything to do with Voldemort's remaining followers. Adam wins the bet the next morning when it is revealed that several Death Eaters had escaped from Azkaban.
- In the Elemental Chess Trilogy, the men of Roy Mustang's military unit have a recurring tendency to place these on just about everything. Falman is notorious for winning.
- The Forgotten Past of The Earthling Saiyan:
- Vegeta and Tarble have a bet over whether Raditz would kill Baby Trunks or decide to keep him and raise him. Tarble wins since Raditz ends up choosing to raise the baby but Vegeta refuses to pay up.
- Raditz and Turles bet a day's worth of food over whether Kakarot would eat King Furry due to how hungry he is. Raditz is the winner when Kakarot does go through with eating the dog-man.
- For the Glory of Irk: Professor Membrane and his wife Moira have a bet regarding which of them dies first, and under what specific circumstances (a monster of his own creation for Membrane, an old patient with a vendetta for Moira). Aside from the $200 wagered, the one who survives is obligated to bring the one who dies back to life (Membrane saying he'd use cybernetic enhancement on Moira, and her saying she'd use gene splicing on him).
- In the Power Rangers fanfic Futureal, the Time Force Rangers have a bet when Jen and Wes will get together. Even Eric participated.
- Decades later in Heroes and Villains, the rangers of A-Squad had their own bet on when Charlie and Z get together.
- Decades later in Heroes and Villains
- Overlapping with Black Comedy, one of the stories in the first Halloween Unspectacular (based off of Oregon Trail) has a scene where Squidward wins a bet with Mr. Krabs on which of the travelers was going to die first (Patrick did, in case you're wondering).
- According to the Danny Phantom fanfiction Harmless, the ghosts had a bet on what it would take for Danny and Sam to admit their feelings for each other. The Box Ghost won when they finally became an Official Couple in Phantom Planet. Tucker was disappointed he didn't get the chance to join the bet.
- Hero Chat: When the other heroes learn that Adrien's identical cousin Felix is coming over, they set bets on who he'll cause to get Akumatized. While Marinette is uncomfortable about betting on new Akumas, Nino suggests it as strategic speculation to know what kind of Akuma to expect. Chloé wins the bet when Lila gets Akumatized after she mistakes Felix for Adrien and he tells her to back off.
- In Home, most of the cast didn't bother to bet if Luz and Amity would get together because it is clear they would. Instead, they better on which of the would ask the other first, as well as if Luz was ever aware of Amity's clear feelings towards her.
- In Hunters of Justice, after experiencing the craziness of superhero life for a few months, Ruby and Yang fully expected to eventually experience Time Travel. They've bet twenty bucks between each other that they'd either end up in World War II or The Wild West first. When Saturn Girl takes them to 1889 Texas, Ruby wins the bet.
- HZD Terraforming Base-001 Text Communications Network:
- The team had a bet on when Tilda would betray them; it's unclear who won. It's also mentioned that they had a bet on when Sylens would betray them, but that one got invalidated because he actually didn't.
- In the Burning Shores, everyone had a bet going on how long it would take Alva to remember that they have APOLLO and its full media library now; Sylens won. Likewise in Burning Shores, Beta won the bet on when Aloy would get a girlfriend.
- In Infinity Train: Blossoming Trail, Ash discovers that his Pokémon have been betting on which of his travelling companions he'd get together with. Oshawott admits he lost three Sitrus berries because he bet that Ash would date anyone but Trip.
- Judgement Day (Dragon Ball): Krillen and Android 18 had a bet over whether Goku and Vegeta were an actual couple or just sleeping together. Ultimately, Krillen is the winner, as they were in love (but didn't know it).
- At the beginning of The Keys Stand Alone: The Soft World, the four come across a poem carved into the wall of an underground chamber. Paul and John make a jokey little bet about whether the poem will be relevant to them, though John openly admits he thinks it is but hopes it isn't. (He does not want to be communicated to that way.) The next day they find out that it is indeed relevant, and John proclaims Paul the winner. Nothing changes hands, though, since that wasn't the point.
- And John didn't have anything except liquid assets anyway.
- In Keys: The Hard World, during the four's Speedrun raid on the Murder Island of Sudran, some of the watching gamers place bets on whether they’ll succeed in retrieving the Amber Staff. Later, when the four are marching toward the Black Tower and thousands upon thousands of characters attempt to stop them, the more casual gamers place side bets on whether certain things will happen during this march.
- Khaos Omega manages to invoke two early on involving Anise, both of which she loses. The first was against Hollie, leading to a part of her outfit (specifically the shoes) for most of the fateful Samurai Angel mission, while the second was against ZK3 teammate Dawn, leading to the creation of Anastasia Brayton.
- Kidnapping Of A Cryptid: When Izuku reveals to his father's employee Shu that Hisashi is a Super Villain, his response is to crack open a bottle of champagne and reveal that he'd been betting on this with a coworker.
Izuku: Did you know your newspaper is owned by a legitimate supervillain with limitless resources?
Shu: Maki owes me money, because I knew [Hisashi] couldn't be paying for the Endeavor matter legitimately. Which one is he? - Kiss It Better: Bulma and Chi-Chi had a bet over whether Goku or Vegeta would be the one to initiate a relationship with the other man. Chi-Chi wins the bet when Vegeta kisses Goku.
- Metal Gear: Green: This is common throughout the fic.
- Grizzly makes a bet with Ape and Eagle over how the Bikini Brigade dresses. Grizzly wins $40 while Ape and Eagle are left stunned.
- Izuku and Rody make a bet on if the next ball is a home run or not. Rody wins and Izuku has a Precision F-Strike at wearing a chicken suit for a week.
- During Grizzly's attempts at baking, several soldiers are making bets on if the seventh cake will taste good or not.
- Ocelot hands Aizawa 10,000 yen for a bet on if Ochako's class would notice Aizawa or not.
- Likewise, the Ocelot Unit makes bets on when Aizawa expels his first student this year.
- It's heavily implied that since Chapter 18, Ape and Eagle had bets on whether or not UA had a stripper hero as a teacher. When Iguchi confirms that Midnight is real, but more dominatrix, Ape is left dumbfounded in that she is real.
- In The Moon's Flash Princess multiple characters bet on when Kirito and Asuna will get married in Aincrad. They get married when they get to the 22nd Floor.
- My Hero Playthrough: While the specifics of the bets are unrevealed, Izuku deliberately ignores his guildmates exchanging money when he reveals he knows what Hagakure looks like. We do know that Mikoto lost.
- My Ridonculous Race, when Devin and Carrie are eliminated in Greece and announce that they are now dating one of the police cadets is seen forking over some money to her partner.
- New Game Plus (One Piece): Zoro and Sanji had a bet regarding whether Luffy was actually asexual or just had morals too strong to let him have sex. Finding out that Luffy avoided sex with Hancock during the Time Skip because he didn't want to get her pregnant results in Zoro saying he wins the bet.
- The New Lives Saga: After Asuma and Kurenai's relationship is exposed during the prank war arc, it's revealed half of the ninjas in the village made bets over whether or not they were a couple. Asuma's not amused to say the least.
Asuma: Just how many of you made bets?!
- In Of Heroes and Devils, Rias and Sona make one of ¥100,000 in Chapter 7 after Sona doubts that Izuku's trainer (All Might) is impressive. Come Chapter 10, Rias wins.
- Before telling each other their backstories in Not the intended use, Naoki bets Soma 500 yen that his is weirder. Naoki wins.
- In Old West, Priscilla makes one with another kid over whether or not Jake and Grace would become a couple. When Grace's son Teddy tells that to look probable, Priscilla demands the two bug's wings her opponent owes her.
- This happens when Yoshikage Kira checks in to the Hotel in A Peaceful Afterlife over what sins he might have committed in life. Razzle and Dazzle bet on Unit 731, while Husk bets on pedophile/rapist and Vaggie bets on Serial Killer. Vaggie wins at the end of the chapter when Kira confesses.
- Happens again in Only the Results over what will interrupt Charlie's latest attempt at a Hobby Swap. Husk bets on Moonchild having another hallucination, Angel bets on Stolas barging in, Vaggie bets on Stand shenanigans and Niffty bets that Octavia portals herself and Moonchild out to "make sweet love". Vaggie wins again.
- Common fanon for Phineas and Ferb is that the other characters have a bet going about how long it will take for Phineas to figure out that Isabella has a crush on him, with Ferb, Baljeet and Buford being the three most common. However, one of the most unique examples from this fandom occurs in Summer of Love; Django and Adyson both have obvious crushes on each other and when she confirms her desire to be his girlfriend at a 4th of July cookout, it turns out the other boys, including Phineas, had bet on when the two would pair. Ferb (the winner) hands over his winnings to Django and tells him to use it to treat Adyson like a queen.
- In the Miraculous Ladybug fic Poker Face, Adrien and Marinette are revealed to have a had bet running over how Lila would end up exposed, which their classmates learn about upon hearing them fighting over the results, with Adrien getting the reason (a legal scandal) correct while Marinette correctly guessed the date as well as that Lila falsified her contact information. Adrien points out that she only got that part right because she had the contacts to rig it in her favor.
- Pineapple: Several people, including Beacon staff, secretly placed bets on which team would win the Vytal tournament. Glynda seems to be the only one who picked Jaune as the winner, and since his odds of winning solo were one in a thousand, she became very rich when Jaune actually won. The last time she's mentioned, she has gone on a paid vacation just as the new semester begins, much to Ozpin's sadness.
- Ravenloft: Outlander Chronicles: Gennifer does not subscribe to the Outlander Theory, the idea that people and even whole Domains are drawn into the world by the Mists (that is, exactly the mechanism by which Ravenloft as a setting functions). When it becomes impossible to deny that Wyatt really is from another world, Gennifer has to relent and pay Laurie a silver. Others meeting Wyatt and noting that Gennifer lost the bet becomes a minor Running Gag.
- Siren Call: Alexandra and Amethyst make wagers about Anyra and Draco's relationship immediately after learning the two have become a couple. Alexandra bets that Anyra will get pregnant before she graduates. Amethyst bets that Draco will propose before they graduate, specifically on either Christmas or Valentine's Day.
- Much as in canon, Varric and Dorian like to make these in Skyhold Academy Yearbook, usually just for fun.
- Spider-Ninja: Raphael regularly takes part in these, and often loses. For example, when Casey and April started dating (with Petra remaining Oblivious to Love), Raph and Mikey bet on how long it would take Pet to notice. She finally noticed two days before Raph bet she would, leading to Mikey laughing wildly while Raph punched a pillow in frustration.
- At the end of Strange Powers, after England and America hook up after a good deal of Unresolved Sexual Tension, Romano pulls out a binder and talks to Italy about some money he has to collect.
- In Sugar Plums when Ume reveals that she's reincarnated not only do the rest of the characters present start exchanging money, one of them produces a book which contains SEVERAL different bets not just speculating the strangeness about Ume, but also betting on things like who their parents were, future spouses, number of children and who would make chunin or jounin first. Notably Ume is very upset when she learns this, because they didn't cut her in on it beforehand.
- A Thing of Vikings: Yao, Ling, and Chien Po apparently had a bet over Mulan and Shang getting together. After their First Kiss, Chien is implied to win.
- This Bites!:
- When all of the crew sans Luffy is swallowed by Laboon the whale, Cross offhandedly says that he bets ten Berries that Luffy will take another entrance and meet them inside the whale. Nami takes the bet, and after Luffy shows up, Cross grouses about not having wagered a thousand Berries instead before Nami reluctantly pays up.
- Usopp bet Sanji at one point that Cross was actively trying to get himself killed. In Chapter 24, Sanji pays up upon Cross deciding to just accept Chopper's new Hyde split personality, even though it just tried to kill him.
- Among the News Coos, there is a bet on who will Cross end up with romantically.
- There was a side bet among the Supernovas on whether or not Cross's rivalry with Apoo on the SBS was real. X Drake is the only one that figured out it was an act.
- Time Turned Back: Severus and Gabriel have a wager at the beginning of their fifth year about whether Gabriel would be able to frame James into getting a detention on the first morning without getting caught. Gabriel wins the three sickles after he's able to pull it off.
- Top of the Line (Editor-Bug): The terms of Zim and Tak's SIR fight in The Rematch are that if Tak wins, she not only takes his mission, but he stays trapped on her space station forever. Skoodge and Tenn, who were respectively dragged along by them, are allowed to bet on the outcome of the match, with the loser being stuck on the space station too. Tak wins, but the resulting fight with Space Case invalidates the bet as the four of them have to work together to survive him, then call a truce and leave together.
- Wandwood:
- Harry and Sharra have an ongoing bet about when Sirius will propose to Violet. Harry asks Sirius to propose on a Thursday, as that would let him win.
- Harry and Sirius bet on how soon after the Wandwood delegation arrives in Britain that the British Ministry would try to arrest someone. Sirius wins the bet, earning several coins, when they show up to do so not long after dinner the day they arrive. Harry had bet they wouldn't come until the day after.
- Hermione's father and Sirius have a bet as to how Harry would respond to the suggestion that he and Hermione should become legally betrothed. Sirius wins the bet when Harry immediately suggests that his family should be the one to supply a dowry instead of the Grangers, as would be traditional.
- The Years that Never Were: In chapter 11, while Buffy is crying about how the Doctor treats her pregnancy (which despite what she remembers, only happened minutes ago), Willow's (fake) memory shows the Scoobies secretly betting behind the couple's back for some time on when will the Doctor dump Buffy over their child.
- In You Call That a Costume?, Applejack and Rarity made a bet during a soccer game, with the loser having to dress in the other's style for Halloween. Unfortunately, a sudden downpour ended the game when the score was even. As such, bet enforcer Pinkie Pie declared they both had to pay the consequences.
Films — Animation
- This gem from The Hunchback of Notre Dame (Disney) when the gargoyles try to listen in on Esmeralda telling Quasimodo that Frollo's wrong about the both of them:
Hugo: What's she saying?
Laverne: Frollo's nose is long and he wears a truss!
Hugo: (to Victor) HA! Told ya! Pay up!
Victor: Oh dear. (*begrudgingly hands Hugo a coin*)
Hugo: (Smugly) Chump. - In Mulan II, Mulan's family happily watch as Shang proposes to Mulan. Afterwards, it's revealed that Grandmother Fa bet on it, only for Fa Zhou to smugly remind her that she bet Shang would propose to Mulan before sunset, he bet that Shang would propose to her before noon.
Fa Li: But... you don’t gamble.
Fa Zhou: Betting against my mother is not a “gamble”. It’s an “investment”.
Grandmother Fa: (angrily groans and gives Fa Zhou the money) - In The Road to El Dorado, early on, Tulio and Miguel are being chased by a bull, and need to jump off a ledge, and Miguel spots two barrels.
Miguel: I'll bet you we can make that.
Tulio: (looks down, looks back at the bull) Two pesetas says we can't.
Miguel: You're on! (they both jump, landing safely) You lose. (two coins flip from one barrel to the other) - Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas: Jin and Lin, two members of Sinbad's crew, pass money back and forth throughout the movie. Their bets are on whether or not the earth is flat and whether or not Sinbad will survive his latest escapade.
Films — Live-Action
- The Avengers (2012): Nick Fury offers to bet Steve Rogers $10 that there's still surprises left in the world for Steve. We don't see Steve accept, but after he sees an Airborne Aircraft Carrier in action, he walks onto the bridge and silently hands Fury a ten-dollar bill.
- The first Lipstick Lesbian close encounter in D.E.B.S. is followed by the villain's sidekick telling the heroine's friend, "You owe me fifty bucks."
- In Die Hard, when Hans is interrogating Takagi, who refuses to give up information, Theo says, "I told you," and Karl replies, "It's not over yet." After Hans kills Takagi, Karl hands Theo a bill.
- At the end of Down Periscope, there's not just a yell from the chronic gambler to "Pay Up" on the misfit's boat, but after an admiral who hated the protagonist took over the opposing boat a surreptitious exchange of a wad of cash from the former-Commanding Officer to his Executive Officer of the appropriated submarine.
- This is a plot point in The Gauntlet. The first sign Shockley gets about The Mafia's involvement is when he notices someone taking bets for a horse called "Malley No-Show" at a Greasy Spoon, with the odds against it winning already being astronomical to begin with and increasing at an absurdly high pace. This refers to the witness, "Gus" Mally, whom he has been sent to escort back to Phoenix. Towards the end of the movie, Mally ends up betting on herself to win.
- Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2: Drax and Peter have a bet about Mantis' antennae. Drax bets that they are used to detect too-small doorways so she doesn't get decapitated, and Peter bets that they're for literally anything else. Peter wins.
- At the start of Ghost Rock, two of Thompson brothers make a bet between themselves about whether the guy the Barber is fighting will even lay a fist on him before the Barber kills him.
- Fred and George Weasley in the film version of Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix bet on a Hermione vs. Ron duel.
- Invictus: Mandela and New Zealand PM Bolger have a bet on the final match. Bolger first offers all his country's goats against all the diamonds of South Africa. Mandela chuckles and instead suggests the wager be a nice case of wine.
- In The Manhunt, The warden and the chief guard have a $100 bet on whether the Wayne's character will be able to run all the way from the work site to the prison without collapsing.
- Ocean's Eleven, while watching Yen practice: "Ten says he shorts it." "Twenty!" Later, when the real deal comes up, the side bet gets a callback: "Ten says he shorts it." "No bet."
- Oppenheimer. Just a few hours before the nuclear detonation at Trinity, General Groves isn't happy to see Fermi, in a Gallows Humor moment, taking bets on whether the detonation will ignite the atmosphere and destroy the world. Played more seriously when one of the scientists, despite the latest implosion test indicating that the device won't detonate, bets a months pay against ten dollars from Oppenheimer that it will.
- In PMO, Cabinet minister Peter Tucker apparently had a bet with a friend of his that the government would lose their first budget vote, and while Prime Minister Marc Brancois scrambles to get the support they will need to survive the pending vote of no confidence, Peter calls his friend and says he owes him $10.
- The President's Analyst - American spy Don Masters and Soviet spy Kropotkin are two among many trying to find and capture the fugitive psychiatrist. They're good friends, and the latter makes a bet with the former on who'll find him first.
Masters: Okay, it's a bet. How much?
Kropotkin: Dinner at Bardil Rifat?
Masters: Bardil Rifat? But that's in Albania!
Kropotkin: Albania's my next assignment if I don't get Dr. Schaefer. And if I'm going there, the least you can do...
Masters: All right! But you've got to get your side to leak some information in order for my side to send me over!
Literature
- Carrera's Legions: When setting up a base in Yezidistan for the Sumer campaign in A Desert Called Peace, a bet is made between an officer there and Sergeant Major McNamara that Carrera would reject the double-wide mobile home set up as his quarters in favor of a regular tent. Carrera pretended to not notice the 50 drachma note being handed to McNamara to pay the wager.
- At one point in A College of Magics, after the latest of several assassination attempts, two of Faris's friends make a side bet on how much longer her bodyguard Tyrian is going to be able to stay on his feet before he has to get some sleep. Tyrian makes a point of staying up just long enough that they both lose.
- The Dresden Files:
- Hendricks in has one with Miss Gard in the short story "Aftermath." It's on if Murphy will figure out a she previously encountered one of Marcone's spies when talking with the mob boss later. Murphy does. Hendricks won.
- Which itself was a Call-Back to a bet between Hendricks and Marcone on whether Harry would get involved in a case. Marcone won.
- In The Flying Cloud, Abercrombie and MacKiernan bet each other a shilling at every opportunity, up to and including on whether an admiralty court is about to sentence the whole crew to death as pirates.
Miss Perkins: Do you always make wagers when our survival is at stake?
Abercrombie & MacKiernan: Of course! It gives us a personal interest in the outcome. - Occurs in the Harry Potter series, specifically in Goblet of Fire, when the Weasley twins make a winning long-shot bet on the outcome of the Quidditch World Cup. They then spend the entire rest of the book trying to collect their windfall, because they were paid in leprechaun gold, which vanishes in a few hours.
- Honor Harrington:
- Done in At All Costs between Queen Elizabeth and Hamish Alexander as to whether Honor would realise that she was about to become Unconquered's new CO.
- Happens in Mission of Honor when Honor asks Victor Cachat to deactivate the (otherwise undetected) suicide device he has in his pocket. Victor owes Anton Zilwiki a case of beer.
- In Storm from the Shadows, Admiral Khumalo bets Bernardus Van Dort that Helen won't be able to convince Terekhov to show up for an official banquet in mess dress (the fanciest uniform in the Manticoran navy). He loses.
- The Practice Effect: Linnora and Arth had a bet going on about some part of how Dennis made it past the guards, and Linnora bet on his win, and she won.
- In Spock's World, Spock and McCoy have one on the outcome of the secession vote. Spock won.
- A recurring theme with smuggler or ex-smuggler characters in the Star Wars Expanded Universe. At one point in Rebel Dream, as he's taking off on a very dangerous covert infiltration, Lando Calrissian bets the traffic controller a thousand credits on his survival; after the controller agrees ("I could use ten credits.") Lando points out that the man won't be able to collect if he wins.
- In another incident, Booster Terrik is outraged when his daughter and his rival's son elope together — not because of their rivalry (which he had made peace with over the course of The Bacta War), but because fellow smuggler Talon Karrde, a man of keen interpersonal insight if ever there was one, had bet him a million credits that they would do precisely that. (And had managed to haggle Booster into giving him favorable odds, implying that Karrde knew exactly how they would do it.)
- X-Wing Series: The Wraiths make a lot of such bets. After Wedge learns that Wes set one up speculation about what he would do when he realized the flaw in a plan which involved working closely with Chewbacca when he himself didn't speak Wookiee, he decides to take his most serious revenge on Wes.
- In Star Wars: Myths and Fables: "The Skiff & The Galleons," Captain Ariana Surabat's the Ravenstar is an old ship that is seen as obsolete and is ridiculed far and wide for going against two newer, bigger vessels in a race to claim an exploration prize. Through careful rationing of food and fuel and only diverting from their trip to pick up a survivor from one of their wrecked rivals (who helps them make their engines run better), they end up beating the other newer ship, which stopped to loot various wrecks (and wagers that treasure they will win) and is too overloaded with treasure to win the race and the prize of the wager.
Live-Action TV
- In The Big Bang Theory, Sheldon once ends up offering "his spot" on the couch to Howard in an attempt to apologize to him. While Howard is describing the advantages of the spot, Sheldon cracks and tells he wants his spot back.
Penny: How long?
Leonard: Ninety-four seconds. [reaches for money] - Buffy the Vampire Slayer - in "When She Was Bad", the Scooby Gang get together and the news says that vampires are at large again Giles says he'll consult his books and Xander tells Willow to pay up, having bet five minutes before he'd do that.
- On Cheers, Sam and Diane were supposed to be getting married, but they started arguing. While they carry on their dialogue in the foreground, everyone in the bar behind them is passing money back and forth, apparently having bet on whether or not they would go through with the wedding.
- Cowboy Bebop (2021). In "Darkside Tango", Jet and Fad are trying to find out who the Dirty Cop in their department is, and end up putting money down on it. Jet thinks it's Chambers, but Fad disagrees. It turns out to be Fad, and Jet leaves the money on Fad's corpse after shooting him.
- Cracker. Fitz does this all the time, given that he's a gambling addict.
DCI Bilborough: (re Fitz's Sherlock Scan) Absolute bollocks.
Dr Fitzgerald: 45 quid.
DCI Bilborough: We're conducting a murder inquiry.
Dr Fitzgerald: Yer money where yer mouth is. - CSI:
- In one episode, Greg Sanders' replacement eventually cracks from the pressure to be just like Greg and quits. Nick forks over a bill to Warrick, who really shouldn't have been participating since he had a gambling addiction in the first season.
- There's also been a whole episode with a Running Gag about Nick and Warrick having a bet about what happened to the Vic of the Week, so it seems that Warrick can engage in "fun" bets with a buddy without a problem.
- Another episode sees Catherine and Grissom making a bet over whether two murder victims' deaths were related or not. At the end, it turns out they were both right, and Catherine rips a bill apart and hands half of it to Gil after the very heavy conversation, this is a tension breaker when Grissom reminds her that doing that is a federal offense.
- CSI: NY:
- One of the cases in "Recycling" involves a backstage murder at a dog show. At the end of the episode, Mac and Stella attend the show and bet each other $10 on the outcome. When Stella wins, Mac is surprised that she actually wants him to pay up.
- Danny and Mac in "Fare Game." Danny bets Mac $5 that Lindsay won't eat the bug cuisine he brings back after a case involving it. Lindsay eats it and Danny has to pony up to Mac.
Lindsay: You bet I wouldn't do it?
Danny: Dunno what I was thinking, betting against a country girl. - In "Nine Thirteen", Sid, Sheldon, and Adam have a side bet about whether Lindsay is pregnant again. She is and Sid wins. Mac and Christine have their own going as well; he wins theirs.
- Doctor Who: Rose spends the duration of "Tooth and Claw" betting that she can get Queen Victoria to say "We are not amused," making every effort possible to get her to say it.
- When Ellen comes out of the closet, her friends ask her if she's sure about it, and, when she says yes, Joe pays Audrey, who then pays Ellen's cousin.
- ER; when Carol announces that she and Doug are back together she is greeted by a few seconds of silence. Then a nurse holds out her hand and says, "Pay up."
- The Expanse: Holden is fearful of how Amos will react to the fact that he and Naomi have developed a romantic relationship, given Amos' close bond with Naomi. When he finally reveals the relationship it turns out that not only had Amos figured it out, but he and Alex had a bet as to when it had first started.
- On a first-season episode of Extreme Makeover: Home Edition, there was a bet between the four designers over which pair (the men or the women) could make a nicer room, with the losing team cooking dinner for the winners. The competition heated up to ridiculous extremes, to the point where they were even trying to sabotage each other. Ty called off the bet, bought everyone pizza, and (off camera) told them to never do that again.
- One episode of Frasier saw Lilith's husband leave her...
Frasier: ...and get this - for a man.
Niles: Damn - I owe Dad $5! - Happens several times on Friends.
- Once, Joey was deliberating on whether to sleep with a casting director for a part. He comes in and tells the others that he refused, only to be offered a bigger part. Ross and Chandler pay Rachel and Phoebe. Then Joey implies that he did sleep with her for the better part. Rachel and Phoebe hand the money back.
- In another episode the gang decide that Chandler's New Year's Resolution is to not make fun of them anymore. Ross decides to sweeten the deal by betting Chandler $50 that he won't last a week. After three days Chandler decides he can't take it anymore, pays Ross his $50 and launches into a string of jokes he's been holding in about the gang's antics.
- In "The One with the Cuffs", Monica is catering for her mother's party when she loses one of her fake fingernails in the mini-quiches. To her anger, her mom reveals that she had lasagnas prepared in case she screwed up and made a $5 bet with her dad over whether or not she would.
- In Ghost Adventures Zak at one point mentions that he has a side bet about how long it will take Aaron their equipment tech to trip/fall over something at their filming location. In this particular episode, he tripped over the exact same piece of debris twice an hour apart.
- House sets up bets with his underlings, friend and boss all the time, and some of them have picked up the habit from him. Generally, the audience doesn't know a bet was in progress until money changes hands.
- In a season 4 episode, House's ducklings were making bets with Chase on which of them would be fired. At the end of the episode, even though they all screwed up one way or another, House doesn't fire any of them, meaning that Chase won all the money. Foreman then confronts House, saying that he can't believe he would do something that 'nice' without financial gain. Sure enough, it is revealed that House and Chase cut a 50/50 deal.
- One episode of How I Met Your Mother has Ted finding out that Lily and Marshall have been making bets on the decisions their friends make, including a long-running bet on whether Ted and will eventually give up on the idea of being with Robin and if they will end up together. Lily thinks they won't while Marshall thinks they will. At that point, it seemed unlikely that they would, and Ted claimed yet again that he was over Robin, but when Lily told Marshall to pay up, he said, "Not yet." The audience already knows that they won't, except the series finale ends sixteen years in the future with widower Ted going to ask out divorcee Robin so the bet seems still unresolved.
- In the I Love Lucy episode featuring them returning home from Hollywood by train, Lucy continuously pulls on the emergency brake which causes the train to abruptly and violently stop. When she does it to catch a jewel thief, the conductor (who has been driven crazy by Lucy doing that) comes in says he just won $5 from the engineer.
- Married... with Children: Marcy once showed up at Al's with a date (the episode was from after Steve left and before Jefferson's debut) and had him ask Al what his job was. Once Al confirmed being a shoe salesman, the date gave Marcy some money. When Al told him how long he kept the job, he gave her more money.
- Father Mulcahy from M*A*S*H does this virtually every time the subject comes up.
- Motive: In "The Dead Hand", Lucas and Mazur have a side bet about whether Angie is actually going to take her vacation.
- Ms. Marvel: Nakia and Bruno bet if Kamala will pass her driving test. She says she failed, and Bruno passes money to Nakia.
- In the pilot for Murphy Brown, Murphy was able to book a live interview with a key figure involved in a major political scandal, under the condition that she did not ask said figure if he had slept with a senator's wife. The first question Murphy asks is, "Did you sleep with the senator's wife?" Jim Dial immediately collects money from Frank Fontana and Corky Sherwood.
- Several instances on MythBusters, either from Adam and Jamie or the Build Team, on the outcome of an experiment.
- In one Build Team wager, a cameraman was drafted to hold the money until the bet was resolved (Tory won).
- In another instance, Adam bets Jamie a hundred dollars that they will not need to use the sprayer method that Jamie has devised to lubricate the water slide they have built. When the sprayer does in fact become necessary, Adam privately comments to the camera that he hopes Jamie has forgotten about the bet. He has not, and Adam has to pay up during the end credits.
- New Tricks has a few side bets, usually over aspects of a case.
- NCIS:
- The show once featured Ziva, Gibbs and McGee having a bet over what interrogation method Tony would use.
- Another one had Abby, wearing a cute hat she'd cut from a clean room uniform, present a similar hat to Kate, and ask her to try it on. She does—and McGee gives Abby twenty bucks. He leaves, despondent... and Abby gives Kate her ten-buck cut.
- In an episode just before the one where McGee and Abby made a bet, there was a bet between Tony and McGee where Tony had to get Kate to admit she was Tony's wife.
- NUMB3RS: In "Friendly Fire", Nikki, Colby, David have a bet on who will bring the best looking date, with Colby and David winning by bringing each other while Nikki had one at first, but he bailed when he found out she previously arrested a friend of his when she thought he was on drugs but he actually had food poisoning.
- An entire episode of The Office revolves around this, as bets are placed on the characters' quirks. Such as: Whether or not Creed will notice if his apple is replaced with a moldy potato, or the over-under on how many Romantic Comedies Kelly will mention while explaining Netflix.
- Person of Interest. Showing her usual Comedic Sociopathy, in the episode "Reasonable Doubt" Sameen Shaw wants to bet on whether the Number is Victim of the Week or Villain of the Week, and is curtly told off by Harold Finch. Ironically the Number turns out to be both.
- The Professionals. Bodie and Doyle do this all the time. In "A Hiding to Nothing" a government secretary is told her younger lover is actually a Honey Trap using her to spy on her boss. CI5 get her to feed the spy false information, and while listening to the bug they've planted on her, Bodie and Doyle bet on whether she'll mess it up. Bodie (who bet she wouldn't) wins the bet, but refuses the money because he feels bad over how the secretary is being used by all concerned.
- In The Red Green Show episode "The Big Thing", the Lodge members have bet on how many tires are on the truck carrying the big thing. It turns up becoming a Brick Joke at the end: When Harold says there were 59 wheels, Red says he won because his guess of a thousand was the closest.
- On Scrubs:
- When an exasperated Dr. Elliot tells Dr. Kelso that she came out of the (fake) closet to her mother, he deadpans, "Well, it seems the boys in Radiology owe me quite a lot of money."
- Another episode had Turk and Cox making a bet as to whether a patient would live or die in surgery. The patient lives, and Turk wins the bet. However, this gives Dr. Cox to give a nice What the Hell, Hero? speech to Turk about how callous he's become to make bets on people's lives. Turk feels appropriately ashamed afterward. Why he feels bad or cynical for betting the guy would live is not clear (as opposed to Dr. Cox who stood to gain money from a patient's death).
- Stargate SG-1: SG-13 apparently has a tradition of betting on what they're likely to find on the other side of the stargate, leading to this amusing exchange:
Wells: An abandoned naquadah mine.
Dixon: Boring. Good odds. Bosworth?
Bosworth: I'm gonna put my money on trees, sir.
Dixon: Bosworth's disqualified for being a smartass. I'll go with two-headed aliens.
Wells: Hostile or friendly, sir?
Dixon: One head good, one head bad. Balinsky?
Balinsky: Oh, ruins of an ancient city.
Dixon: Yeah, you wish. - Tales of the Gold Monkey. A common occurrence during the show's many bar brawls. For instance in "Trunk from the Past", Jake gets into a fistfight with Sarah's ex and the following exchange ensues.
Sarah: (to Louie) Do something!
Louie: (to Gushie) Forty francs on Jake. - On a 1995 episode of The Tonight Show With Jay Leno, Motörhead was the musical guest. Bandleader Branford Marsalis said that he bet Motorhead leader/singer/bassist Lemmy Kilminster $5 he could get them on the show. After they performed, Lemmy took $5 out of his pocket and gave it to Branford before heading to the couch to talk to Jay.
- What Could Possibly Go Wrong? has the hosts betting on various things. On one of them, Kevin has a bowling competition with Grant. Kevin uses his remotely controlled bowling ball, Grant his experience. The loser has to drink a beer.. from their bowling shoe.
- Whodunnit? (UK): At the start of "All Part of the Service", Inspector Godfrey and Sergeant Coop have a bet about how long they'll be at the crime scene.
- In a Flash Back episode of Will & Grace where Will admits he's gay, Grace's mother tells her father she owes him twenty bucks.
- The Wire: In season four, as the Homicide department finally finds out where Chris and Snoop have been hiding their kills, and they start pulling bodies out of the vacants, Bunk mentions there is a bet going for how many they will end up with.
- During the second season of Food Network's Worst Cooks in America, chefs Anne Burrell and Robert Irvine had a side bet about whose team would win. If Anne won, Robert had to bleach his hair blonde. If Robert won, Anne Burrell had to lose her trademark hair and get a make-under. Burrell won, and the photo evidence is here.
- One episode of Yes, Minister has Sir Humphrey and Bernard preparing to welcome Hacker back from a trip to the US. Sir Humphrey bets a pound that Hacker's first words to them in the office would be to ask about press coverage of the speech he gave on the trip. Bernard claims the money since Hacker had already asked in the car from Heathrow. Sir Humphrey gets it back with interest when Hacker asks again as soon as they walk in, forcing Bernard to discreetly pass the money over right in front of Hacker.
Tabletop Games
- In Paranoia, Troubleshooter support staff sometimes bet on how many clones will get killed during their current mission. As this is illegal, they have to be covert about it ("Dispatch, this is Mission Control, standard autocar requisition, Code Two, over"). As citizens normally only get six clones each, you hope you never get assigned to a Code Seven...
Theatre
- In Cyrano de Bergerac, Cyrano has threatened to punish Montfleaury if he acts in “La Clorise”. Raguenau and the first Marquis bet a fowl “a la Raguenau” about if he will fulfill his threat.
First Marquis: (shrugging his shoulders) He will not come!
Raguenau: I say he will! and I wager a fowl—a la Ragueneau.
The Marquis: (laughing) Good!
Video Games
- In Black Mesa, stepping into one of the offices in "Anomalous Materials" reveals that a security guard and a scientist bet lunch on whether Gordon would show up to work that morning.
- Dragon Age:
- In Dragon Age: Origins one party banter between companion characters Morrigan and Zevran is revealed to be prompted by one of these (the side bet being between Zevran and a third party member - either Alistair, Leliana, or Oghren, depending on who's in the party at the time).
Zevran: They are goddesses receiving their subjects, just as you should be. Whatever would be annoying about that?
Morrigan: I have no wish to be placed upon a pedestal.
Zevran: But you deserve no less. You should be admired by painters, copied by sculptors, exalted by poets! Surely you know that yours is a beauty so exotic it-it would turn the eye of the Maker Himself!
Morrigan: Well, I suppose I...
Alistair: By the Maker! You were right! You win.
Zevran: I think you owe me five silvers, yes?
Morrigan: I hate you all. - In Dragon Age: Inquisition, if the banter is anything to go by, Varric and Dorian have these over just about everything. This includes their chances against the Elder One, which Dorian pegs at about 3 to 1, in favor of the Elder One. (The Inquisitor has the option to get in on that particular bet.) Other bets include whether they are "ass-deep in trouble" (Varric being a dwarf skews that a bit), the creepiness of nug feet, and whether they'll find an enemy that farts fire next.
Dorian: I'll take that bet. I win either way.
- In Dragon Age: Origins one party banter between companion characters Morrigan and Zevran is revealed to be prompted by one of these (the side bet being between Zevran and a third party member - either Alistair, Leliana, or Oghren, depending on who's in the party at the time).
- In Jedi Outcast when Kyle decides to keep his lightsaber, we are informed that Lando owes Jan five credits.
- Guild Wars 2: Early in the Level 70 personal story, the player character gets a letter from their racial mentor. If you're playing asura, Zojja's letter starts out by thanking you — she just won 100 platinum off a college friend by betting you'd find a way to retake Claw Island note .
- In the expansions, Canath heads to a casino to bet on the Commander's success on at least two occasions.
- In Prominence, some of the crew onboard the Laeril made a gambling pool to guess when the nearby sun would erupt.
- In Mass Effect 3 Citadel, James and Cortez come over and watch a game of biotic ball with you. Rather than place bets on which team will win, they bet on whether or Shepard would pick the winner. Cortez bet (s)he would, as "you don't bet against Shepard', and James said (s)he wouldn't since "you use up all your luck on the battlefield".
- Hilariously subverted in Sonic Colors when before the Frigate Orcan boss fight, Sonic tells Tails to pay up when it turns out Eggman's space theme park was an evil plot and that visiting it was a good call, but Tails simply says they never betted in the first place. Sonic is left disappointed as he proceeds with the boss battle.
- In the Knights of The Fallen Empire expansion of Star Wars: The Old Republic, Hylo Visz bet Doctor Ogurobb 5000 credits a Smuggler Outlander would consider themselves the Republic's greatest outlaw hero, not her.
- Several story events in King of the Castle, particularly those involving the wealthy Patricians of the Coast, involve nobles making bets with each other (or with the King) over the outcome of anything from a boat race to a "hottest pepper" competition to a gladiator fight.
Visual Novels
- The Haunting of Braidwood Manor: The final chapter has Zack and Kaitlyn betting on whether or not Hannah and Victor or Hannah and Eleanor are a couple.
- Katawa Shoujo:
- Queen of Thieves:
- Zoe, Jett, and Leon seem to engage in frequent side bets. In the prologue, Zoe has bet Leon a beer that he (driving a car) won't get to their rendezvous point before the rest of the team (in a helicopter), while Jett has bet Zoe two drinks she can't land the helicopter with nothing but her tablet.
- During the jailbreak in Remy's second season, there's a bet going on who can escape first. Nikolai ends up owing Vivienne a gelato after she beats him to the rendezvous point.
- Everybody in the Gilded Poppy has money riding on whether or not Nikolai and the heroine will get back together in his fourth season, after breaking up at the end of the previous season. One dialogue choice can have the heroine calling them all cowards and upping the ante by another ten thousand euros.
- In Runa's first season of Sweet Enchantments, the heroine learns that Zain and Roman had a bet running on whether or not she'd lose her patience and punch Runa. Roman bet that the heroine is "too virtuous" to resort to violence, though the heroine counters that she's simply not dumb enough to punch a magician.
Webcomics
- In the El Goonish Shive: NP story "Double Date", when Camdin and his thus-far unnamed friend (who had previously dated Diane and Lucy) realise they're on a date together, Camdin says his friend owes him $20.
- Grrl Power:
- When Sydney (who is quite short) first meets Anvil (the tallest member of a team of generally tall people), Sydney falls to the ground, screaming about shrinking. Maxima hands Anvil a twenty.
Maxima: Technically she didn't say anything about your height, so I'm paying in protest.
- During the first major fight against supervillains, Dabbler warns everyone not to touch one of her discarded weapons, as it's "mammary-trapped." Maxima corrects her to "booby-trapped," and Dabbler pulls out a "Make Maxima say __ bingo" card and crosses off "booby."
Maxima: What was that?
Dabbler: Nothing. Just... notes on English. - When Sydney is given a code word to say when under duress ("Vermillion"), she asks if she can change it to "that penis-butt thing that chickens have." Maxima points out that 1: It's called a cloaca, and 2: She's heard Sydney say that word before in casual conversation, so it can't be her code word. Once Maxima isn't looking, Sydney takes out her own bingo card and crosses off "cloaca."
- When Varia mentions that she doesn't know who her father was, Sydney starts a betting pool about various possibilities (dad's an alien, dad's an Aztec deity, she's actually an android, etc). Varia is annoyed, though in the margin cartoon she asks Sydney about her cut of the proceeds.
- When Sydney (who is quite short) first meets Anvil (the tallest member of a team of generally tall people), Sydney falls to the ground, screaming about shrinking. Maxima hands Anvil a twenty.
- Here in Knowledge is Power, with the twist that the character in question is wrong about winning the bet. (The bet was on whether Emjay's supposed boyfriend David really existed; the "David" her friend just met was actually an alien shapeshifter who happened to be using the name.)
- Narbonic:
Artie: So I've got a soul. Mell owes me a dollar.
- This strip from The Order of the Stick.
- Haley and Roy betting 10 gold pieces on various things has become a sort of Running Gag.
- While two of the Inter-Fiend Cooperation Commission bet 10 "soul pieces".
- Rain (2010): Chapter 1 has Maria and Gavin making a bet on who gets to talk to Rain first. Maria wins.
- Dr. Pohl and Agent Then of Selkie have an ongoing bet on the existance of human echoes. Agent Then wins $10 and the opportunity to give one hell of an "I told you so."
- Ace's mother in the webcomic Too Much Information (2005) is a repeat offender.
- This has been used twice in Wapsi Square. The first time, Shelly made a bet with Bud that Monica wouldn't be able to figure out how she protected herself from being shot. The second time, Bud bet Brandi that Monica wouldn't be able to keep her hands off of a supernatural artifact.
Web Originals
- In Dragon Ball Z Abridged Piccolo and Tien bet on whether Vegeta or Krillin will screw things up for everyone. Bulma bets on both. And wins.
- Vegeta wagers Scrooge's hat for the mysterious briefcase when they bowl in Ducktalez 7. They lose, but Vegeta is crafty and steals both the hat and the briefcase, resulting in them getting chased by the Beagle Boys.
- Looming Gaia: In "Troubled Tides", when Alaine tells the Freelance Good Guys that Roach is a divine, Skel exclaims "I knew it!" and tells Balthazaar to pay him.
- Madness Combat Incident: 100A: Sanford and Deimos apparently had a "this is so stupid that it has work/this is so stupid, it'll never work" bet going. Sanford is not happy when it turns out that yes, the AAHW Mooks really are stupid enough to keep shooting at a picture of Deimos on a stick, giving adequate time for the real Deimos to shank the idiot in the ribs.
- Not Always Related features the coming-out version in "Coming Out Can Be A Gamble". And "Straight-Betting", and "No Disorientation On The Orientation"...let's just say it's apparently very common to bet on the sexual orientations of loved ones.
- In Pay Me, Bug!, Cyrus and Ktk continually make bets with each other about anything and everything, such as the outcome of the mission, how long it will be until they wind up in trouble at this particular portnote , whether they will survive their current screwup, etc. This is, in fact, where the title comes from: Ktk is a "Bug," and whenever Cyrus wins, he makes sure everybody knows it.
Western Animation
- The Amazing World of Gumball: Masami and Teri made a bet in the past about Ambiguously Bi Gumball. Upon seeing Gumball yelling "Marry me!" at Ocho, they conclude that Teri won.
- Carmen Sandiego: Coach Brunt and Professor Maelstrom have one in "To Steal or Not to Steal". If Carmen outright refuses their offer to work for them in exchange for saving Zack and Ivy from being mind-wiped, Maelstrom owes Brunt a steak dinner.
- The Chipmunks: In one cartoon, Alvin is left at home as punishment while Dave takes Simon and Theodore to an amusement park; Alvin has to clean the house while they're gone. Simon and Theodore make a bet over whether or not he'll actually do it, with Simon betting he won't and Theodore insisting that Alvin learned his lesson. When Alvin sees Theodore collecting from Simon at the end of the episode, he's outraged that Simon would bet against him.
Simon: [dryly] I was playing the odds.
- Daria:
- In "Antisocial Climbers", Daria and Jane wage a bet on whether or not Quinn will be kicked out of the Fashion Club. She is, and the scene cuts to Jane handing Daria a bill.
- In "Fat Like Me", Daria and Jane are placing various bets with each other throughout the episode. When they hear about Sandi being forced to resign from the Fashion Club due to the strict weight guidelines when she puts on a couple of pounds after breaking her leg, and then guilting Quinn into resigning as well, they start betting whether or not the Fashion Club will be able to continue. As the stakes get raised up to $80, they both begin manipulating Quinn to have the bet go into their favor. Ultimately, Daria wins after she not-so-subtly suggests that Quinn help Sandi get the weight back off so they both can rejoin the Fashion Club.
- In a flashback scene in The Dragon Prince, two royal guards exchange some coin when Queen Sarai disarms her husband Harrow during a sparring match.
- Duck Dodgers: In "The Fast & The Feathery", Duck Dodgers enters a race against X-2. During the race, Cadet and the Martian Queen make a bet over who'll win. Dodgers wins the race and Cadet makes a big profit.
- The Flintstones: In the episode "The Engagement Ring", Wilma and Betty make a small wager on what excuse Fred and Barney will use to get out of the house (for something they're already aware of). However, they use both excuses, causing the bets to cancel out, much to the wives' amusement.
- Futurama: Occurs in "The Deep South", while the Planet Express crew searches for Fry on the ocean floor.
Bender: Fry! Oh, I just knew you were still alive! [whispering] I owe you ten bucks, Hermes.
- Goof Troop: In the pilot, P.J. and Pistol make a bet on whether or not their father will bust a gut or a spleen when the Goofs make a tiny dent in his prized boat. When Pete sees the dent and has a major Freak Out, P.J. gives Pistol a quarter and says, "You were right; spleen."
- Gravity Falls: In "The Last Mabelcorn", Mabel, Candy, Grenda, and Wendy go looking for a unicorn. While the three younger girls are ecstatic about possibly meeting a real unicorn, Wendy is skeptical. When Grenda begins performing the ancient chant to summon the unicorn, Wendy sarcastically bets five bucks that nothing will happen. Mabel accepts the bet, and when the chant works, she encourages Wendy to pay up (much to the latter's irritation).
- House of Mouse: In "Gone Goofy", Mickey, as a last resort to solve the club's budget problems without having to fire Goofy, goes up on stage to announce that he's quitting. The scene then cuts to Mortimer Mouse telling a few villains, "I told you boys the mouse wouldn't last. Now, pay up!"
- Johnny Bravo was subject to this trope once. His sensei was arguing with a rival martial arts teacher. When Master Hamas (Johnny's sensei) said even his worst student would defeat his rival's best, the rival picked Johnny as a challenge. After the fight, it was revealed Hamas was so sure Johnny would lose, which he didn't, he made a side bet against his student. Instead of promoting Johnny to a higher belt for winning the fight as Johnny hoped, Master Hamas punished Johnny.
- In Lilo & Stitch: The Series episode "Yin-Yang", the titular pair of experiments activate around the same time Lilo and Stitch are having a fight, leading to a challenge to see who could catch one of them first. Jumba was in Stitch's corner while Pleakley supported Lilo, leading the two aliens to make a Humiliating Wager over Lilo and Stitch's challenge, with the loser having to dance the dreaded Gloknar. Unfortunately, the teams' head-butting prevented them from catching the experiments until Lilo and Stich made up and decided to catch the experiments together, resulting in a tie, which was bad news for Jumba and Pleakley.
Pleakley: Interglactic Wagering Rules state "In the event of a tie, both parties must pay the bet"! [cries] We both lose!
- Milo Murphy's Law:
- The first episode is centered around a bet over whether Milo and Zack will make it to school on time; Milo's best friend Melissa is the only one betting for him and totally cleans up... admittedly with food since the bet started because of classmate Bradley's comment of "I bet my pudding pack we don't see them again today", to which Melissa bets a snickerdoodle that Milo will not only make it to school but also on time; it snowballs from there.
- Later episodes feature Melissa and Zack betting on whether things will go south because of Milo; they always do, and we see the money exchanging hands as things go haywire.
- The third season finale of Regular Show starts out with Mordecai sharing a kiss with Margaret. He feels he screwed it up, and when he tells Rigby about it, the first thing that he says:
Rigby: Whoa. I owe Muscle Man so much money.
- In Rugrats, Susie tries to help Chuckie get over his fear of the slide. As Chuckie goes to face his fear, Angelica bets a pudding pop with Susie over whether or not he chickens out. When it looks like he's getting cold feet, Angelica raises the stake to two pudding pops. Susie still wins.
- South Park:
- When Butters tells his parents he has a girlfriend, they exchange money according to their bet on his sexuality.
- In another episode, Cartman bets Kyle 10 bucks that his Christian rock band will get a platinum album before him. It backfires when Cartman is presented a myrrh album (Christian music's equivalent of platinum), resulting in the bet falling apart and Cartman throwing a tantrum.
- And of course, the entire subplot about the Kyle sucking Cartman's balls in "Imaginationland."
- Total Drama:
- In "Not Quite Famous", none of the guys on the Killer Bass believe that Bridgette can stand on her hands for twenty minutes, so she dares them to a bet. Everyone chips in with chocolate and cash, but the bet is forgotten about when Bridgette accidentally unties a stage light that smashes down on Courtney and her violin.
- Owen and Cody make a bet in "Up the Creek" whether or not Cody can get his hands on one of Gwen's bras. If he can, Owen will do his dishes for the rest of the competition. Cody realizes that Gwen will never give him one out of romantic interest, so he makes a deal to set her up with Trent in return for a bra. Both come through on the deal, so Owen loses the bet.
- The challenge in "I Triple Dog Dare You!" is a game of disgusting dares. To make it more interesting for themselves, Chris and Chef make a bet for a hundred bucks that the other will vomit first. They toughen it out well, but once Owen enthusiastically chows down dog food, Chris can't hold it in anymore and loses the bet. He has just enough time to hand over the money to Chef when Chef too has to throw up.
- Chris and presumably Chef have a bet in "Monster Cash" whether or not all contestants will make it through the first challenge. Chris loses the bet when everyone gets through.
- Duncan and Alejandro make a bet for five bucks in "The Ex-Files" whether or not Alejandro can hypnotize Owen. Alejandro learned hypnotism from his uncle and so wins with ease. Duncan is impressed and doesn't mind losing.
- Trent and Leshawna make a bet for five bucks in ''Aftermath III: Aftermath Aftermayhem" whether or not Lindsay will remember Tyler's name. She remembers and Trent hands over a fiver to Leshawna.
- When the heroes of Transformers: Rescue Bots finally reveal to the town that they are aliens, Huxley Prescott reluctantly hands some cash to Mrs. Neederlander.
- The Venture Bros.: In the episode "The Revenge Society", while being forced by the villain "Revenge" (a.k.a. Phantom Limb going through a particularly nasty Villainous Breakdown) to steal the ORB from the Venture Compound, kidnapped members of the Council of 13 Red Mantle and Dragoon accidentally knock fellow kidnappee Billy Quizboy unconscious, leading to this exchange:
Dragoon: What is this, an episode of Gilligan's Island? Everybody gets hit once and they are instantly unconscious!
Red Mantle: [snickers] Good one. Six bucks says he has amnesia when he wakes up. - In Wild C.A.T.s (1994), Maul and Warblade bet on how many days it's going to take Grifter and Zealot to give in to their simmering Unresolved Sexual Tension. When they confess their feelings before the end of the episode, Warblade smugly collects his money.
- In the third episode of Xiaolin Showdown, which centered on Kimiko Tohomiko achieving "absolute focus," her male teammates made a bet where the loser has to do the other's chores—Raimundo bets that she would gain her focus while Clay and Omi bet that she wouldn't. Raimundo ultimately wins the bet, so Omi and Clay end up doing Raimundo's chores for the next four weeks (it was originally just one week, but they doubled the bet twice).
Some guys have probably made bets on what The Stinger would say...
