People’s proclivity for gambling has pushed them to bet all sorts of bizarre things. But what better game to bet things at other than poker? In the game’s century-old tradition, players have bet a lot of strange and even weird stuff. From expensive jewelry to a car, to even one’s soul mate! Crazy as these bets sound, they all have a funny side and were all mostly made on the outcome of a game of poker. Let’s get started with the craziest things won from the poker pot, but first – a brief history of the game.
A Brief History of Poker
If you came across this article then you know how popular of a game poker is. With its many variations, some news outlets say that the poker’s origins date back to ancient China. Since its creation, the game of poker has seen many changes and some dozens of different variations are known to exist.
In modern times, the most popular variants of poker are draw poker, stud poker and community card poker. It’s important to mention that poker is played with chips which are used for betting. However, it is known that some people use coins, real money or even bolts and nuts instead of chips. Is that more fun you might ask?
Not really, but it proves another handy way to track your winnings and losses. With that being said, many casinos that feature poker tables and poker tournaments have specific sets of rules. Generally, only chips are allowed to be bet on the poker tables, but some players often raise the stakes by adding personal belongings towards the poker pot. In that line of thought, we have researched and found some of the craziest things a player can win from a poker game.
Winning a Car from a Poker Bet
There are many stories about poker players who just couldn’t resist betting their car. Often times both players are so confident they’d win, that they end up place their keys as a part of the pot. Whether that means that the winner gets only the keys or the whole car – that’s an arguable point. With that being said, it’s important to mention that most casinos or tournaments ban such activities as players must use only chips for betting.
But looking at private games, we can honestly say that “anything goes,” as long as everyone agrees. With that being said, of course, nobody likes losing their car, but everyone likes the opportunity to raise the bet high enough to win a car without much hassle. The only question that remains is who would be driving the car you won on the way back to your home?
Ever Wanted an Expensive Watch or Jewelry? Why Buy It When You Can Win It
Another highly popular “top-up” bet in poker is expensive accessories which poker players have. The poker players, who also are fans of wrist watches, often have quite a solid amount just hanging on their wrist.
With a quick look at current prices for the brand Hublot for example, we can find quality wrist watches with starting prices around five to ten thousand dollars. However, wrist watches on the higher end go to some forty thousand or more. Those numbers also go even further up when we look at Rolex watches or other brands of luxury wrist watches.
Besides watches, many poker players would also bet jewelry such as golden rings, platinum chains and other expensive bracelets. Although prices do vary depending on the weight and material of the item, players that want to top up their poker pot can easily add some five thousand dollars. With that being said, the winner takes all so you have to ask yourself first would wrist watch you win or the golden chain match your outfit?
Just Don’t Bet your Wife
While the examples so far may sound nothing out of the ordinary, the next story is rather shocking. Two Russian players were playing a game of poker. One of the players under the name of Andrei Karpov was in deep with no money left. The other player, under the name of Sergey Brodov, also wanted to keep the game going.
With that being said, Karpov actually decided to bet his wife named Tatiana. Yes, this is not a mistake – he actually made a bet with his wife. However, the poker game quickly turned around when Brodov won the game and Karpov’s wife. Looking at Tatiana, she didn’t like this at all so she divorced Karpov and married Brodov.
She actually said that Brodov was good-looking and she was happy, despite the fact that their marriage was the result of a ludicrous poker bet.
Eating $1,000 Worth of Food from McDonald’s?
Many famous poker players make ridiculous bets for activities which ultimately cannot be achieved. The example here comes from the poker player under the name of Mika Noori. Back in 2017, the poker player planned to win some $200,000 in wagers at 5-1 odds. All he had to do was consume meals from McDonald’s which were worth $1,000.
The only catch here was that he had only 36 hours to achieve the set goal. With that being said, looking at the calories that the foods contained, Noori was facing some 70,000 calories on 36 hours. In other words, he had to eat nearly 2,000 calories each hour. Turning our eyes to the recommended daily income of calories per person is even less than 3,000. With that being said, the bet was called off, not that it would have been possible to win it anyway. However, the peculiar bet served a good purpose after all as some $14,000 was raised for charity.
Naked Weather Forecast
Last but not least, we have another obscure bet, which didn’t take place on a poker table, but the result was seen by everyone… in France. Back in 2013, a French model under the name of Doria Tillier made quite the bet. At that time, the soccer qualifiers for the World Cup were played.
And France was defeated by Ukraine 2-0 in their first qualifier for the Cup. With that being said, France had to make up with a huge comeback in order to qualify for the 2014 World Cup. Tillier knew this and bet that if France qualifies for the World Cup, she will do a weather forecast naked. In a rather funny turn of events, France did qualify for the World Cup by defeating Ukraine with 3-0. This meant only one thing – that Tillier had to do as promised…. and she did.
