Betting

Ada Lovelace (1815-1852) was a mathematician who is chiefly known for her work on Charles Babbage's early mechanical general-purpose computer, the Analytical Engine. She is often regarded as the first computer programmer. Lovelace tried to raise funds by devising a fool-proof system of betting on the horses. However, she once lost £3,200 betting on the wrong horse at the Epsom Derby.

President Calvin Coolidge, was so famous for saying so little that a White House dinner guest made a bet that she could get him to say more than two words. She told the president of her wager. His reply: "You lose."

Parimutuel betting is a betting system in which all bets of a particular type are placed together in a pool. The designation pari-mutuel is a French phrase translatable as "betting among ourselves." The system, which was developed in France during the 1860s, is used in gambling on horse racing, greyhound racing, jai alai, and other sporting events of relatively short duration in which participants finish in a ranked order.

Betting on the Favorite, an 1870 engraving

While drinking at his London club, Squire Fuller bet a friend that he could see seven church spires from his country house. On his return home, however, he realized there were only six. Undaunted, he had a seventh spire built on a nearby hill.

Mark Twain: "There are two times in a man's life when he shouldn't bet. When he can't afford it and when he can."

The phrase to bet one bottom's dollar on means to be absolutely sure. The reference is to the pile of dollar coins on a US poker table which the confident player will push to the center, including the dollar at the bottom of the pile.