# Gambling proposition **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 7, 2015, 11:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gambling-proposition/714430 "2015-03-07T11:14:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2015, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gambling-proposition/714430/21 "2015-03-07T22:57:42Z")
Where does the million dollars come from? Who loses it if I win it, and how did they get suckered into such a deal? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gambling-proposition/714430/22 "2015-03-09T14:57:12Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Where does the million dollars come from? Who loses it if I win it, and how did they get suckered into such a deal? Do you care so long as you know the toss isn’t fixed? ---
**Author:** ![Honey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/honey/32/5074_2.png) [@Honey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Honey)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gambling-proposition/714430/23 "2015-03-09T16:26:01Z")
Nobody answered my question. How many times can I play? It would have to be a one time shot right? ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gambling-proposition/714430/24 "2015-03-09T16:46:31Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Do you care so long as you know the toss isn’t fixed? Yes, I do. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 5:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gambling-proposition/714430/25 "2015-03-09T17:38:22Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > Yes, I do. I’ll bite. Why? ---
**Author:** ![Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de053/32.png) [@Jackknifed\_Juggernaut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackknifed_Juggernaut)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gambling-proposition/714430/26 "2015-03-09T17:49:20Z")
Assuming it’s all fair and you can scrounge up $100, it would be really stupid to not take the bet. I mean REALLY stupid. ETA: I add that $100 is not a lot of money by anyone’s standards. It would be a great bet at even a $10,000 loss, but the down side may be too much for many people to fathom. ---
**Author:** ![Trom](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/958977/32.png) [@Trom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Trom)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gambling-proposition/714430/27 "2015-03-09T18:01:13Z")
I’m having a hard time coming up with a good reason why anyone \*wouldn’t \*take that bet. ---
**Author:** ![Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/6bbea6/32.png) [@Living\_Well\_Is\_Best\_Revenge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Living_Well_Is_Best_Revenge)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 6:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gambling-proposition/714430/28 "2015-03-09T18:06:02Z")
Whoever wouldn’t take this bet is not the brightest bulb. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gambling-proposition/714430/29 "2015-03-09T18:09:48Z")
> [@Donnerwetter](#): > > This is a (hypothetical) question for those of you who are usually **not** into gambling. Let’s say somebody made the following proposition: There will be a coin toss. Your stake is $100. If head comes up, you lose your $100. If tail comes up, you win one million dollars. > > Would you take this bet? Of course. Huge potential gain, little potential loss. And 50% odds are extremely good odds. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 6:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gambling-proposition/714430/30 "2015-03-09T18:13:04Z")
> [@Trom](#): > > I’m having a hard time coming up with a good reason why anyone \*wouldn’t \*take that bet. Maybe someone who desperately needs his $100 urgently for something else, like insulin. But yes…I think a tougher question would be, “Would you stake $10,000 (or $100,000) on such a gamble for a million?” ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 6:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gambling-proposition/714430/31 "2015-03-09T18:15:13Z")
> [@FairyChatMom](#): > > I am absolutely not a gambler, and\*\* I’m retired so losing $100 would be a big deal.\*\* I don’t think I’d play. But winning $1 million would be a far bigger deal. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 6:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gambling-proposition/714430/32 "2015-03-09T18:16:01Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > I’ll bite. Why? I don’t know what the context is (the OP doesn’t give any), but I can think of contexts in which it would be dishonest, unethical, or dangerous to take someone’s million dollars in such a way. ---
**Author:** ![Bill\_Door](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@Bill\_Door](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bill_Door)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gambling-proposition/714430/33 "2015-03-09T18:34:46Z")
> [@Musicat](#): > > “One of these days in your travels, a guy is going to show you a brand-new deck of cards on which the seal is not yet broken. Then this guy is going to offer to bet you that he can make the jack of spades jump out of this brand-new deck of cards and squirt cider in your ear. But, son, do not accept this bet, because as sure as you stand there, you’re going to wind up with an ear full of cider.” It took 17 posts to come up with the correct Damon Runyon quote. Does no one read the classics anymore? ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gambling-proposition/714430/34 "2015-03-09T19:03:56Z")
> [@Thudlow\_Boink](#): > > I don’t know what the context is (the OP doesn’t give any), but I can think of contexts in which it would be dishonest, unethical, or dangerous to take someone’s million dollars in such a way. You have as much chance of giving a hundred as taking a million. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 7:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gambling-proposition/714430/35 "2015-03-09T19:51:03Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > You have as much chance of giving a hundred as taking a million. Yeah, so? That means I’d have to consider the implications of both outcomes. ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2015, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gambling-proposition/714430/36 "2015-03-09T21:59:52Z")
> [@Trom](#): > > I’m having a hard time coming up with a good reason why anyone \*wouldn’t \*take that bet. The bet is rigged. It’s _obviously_ rigged. A million against 100 in an 50\50 proposition?? The million is a lure for a victim. It doesn’t exist. Yep, you would most surely get an earful of cider. ---
**Author:** ![Peanuthead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peanuthead/32/360_2.png) [@Peanuthead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peanuthead)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gambling-proposition/714430/37 "2015-03-10T01:18:29Z")
Okay. Let’s do it. [Flip](http://justflipacoin.com/) Yay! I just won. You can PayPal me the proceeds. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![GreenElf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@GreenElf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GreenElf)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gambling-proposition/714430/38 "2015-03-10T12:59:20Z")
I’d take a loan out to take this bet. ---
**Author:** ![EmilyG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/emilyg/32/364_2.png) [@EmilyG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EmilyG)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gambling-proposition/714430/39 "2015-03-10T14:58:02Z")
I don’t gamble, but unless I was down to my last couple hundred dollars, I’d probably take the bet. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 10, 2015, 3:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gambling-proposition/714430/40 "2015-03-10T15:06:39Z")
I’m not a gambler but that’s because I understand the odds in most gambling situations. In this case, that same understanding would encourage me to gamble. A hundred dollars is an acceptable risk and a million dollars is a significant reward. So assuming the game is legit, I’d play. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gambling-proposition/714430.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/gambling-proposition/714430.md?page=3)