Bar bets, especially the sneaky kind.

[Chuck Dye]

I have always liked bets that are lost on acceptance.  Do you have any?

Bet you can't name the president on a ten (or hundred) dollar bill.  Neither Hamilton nor Franklin were ever president.

The capital of Kentucky, is it  pronounced Lewis ville, Louie ville, or Lou'v'lle?  It's pronounced Frankfort!

Finally, a fond memory but a bet I cannot make:  The kid crowed about buying a very fast Mustang.  The old guy a few seats down the bar said "Not faster than my Mustang."  The wager was agreed to.  The kid proudly proclaimed that his Mustang was not a Ford but a Shelby.  The old man quietly said his Mustang was a North American.

[MillCreek]

The old man quietly said his Mustang was a North American.

Oooh, I likes that one, I does!

[AJ Dual]

Hold a bill between someone's outstretched index finger and thumb with the fingertips centered on the portrait.

If they can catch the bill by pinching their fingers when you let it go they can have it. If it slips through, you get a bill of the same denomination from them.

They should never be able to catch the bill, unless they're a cyborg.

[Brad Johnson]

Ask them, "Can you name all the time zones in the U.S.?"  Most everyone knows the Big Four - Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific.  Some might even know of Alaskan.  Very few, except those who live there, will come up with of Aleutian/Hawaiian.

Then, if you REALLY want to see their head spin, ask them to name all the time zones in North America.  Since they just got taken to they will probably name Alaskan first, followed by the big four, and smile as they try to collect.  Then wipe the smile off their face when you say, "You forgot Alantic."

Brad

[CNYCacher]

Ask them, "Can you name all the time zones in the U.S.?"  Most everyone knows the Big Four - Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific.  Some might even know of Alaskan.  Very few, except those who live there, will come up with of Aleutian/Hawaiian.

Then, if you REALLY want to see their head spin, ask them to name all the time zones in North America.  Since they just got taken to they will probably name Alaskan first, followed by the big four, and smile as they try to collect.  Then wipe the smile off their face when you say, "You forgot Alantic."

Brad

isn't there a little screwy one somewhere east of eastern that is :30 removed from the adjacent zones?

[Chuck Dye]

Newfoundland UTC-3:30

[Jamisjockey]

Bet a girl that she can't more shots than you.  Set up your beer chaser (should be a dark bottle, 3/4 empty).  Start doing shots, backwash the shot into the beer chaser.  Let her win.  Profit? 

[BlueStarLizzard]

Bet a girl that she can't more shots than you.  Set up your beer chaser (should be a dark bottle, 3/4 empty).  Start doing shots, backwash the shot into the beer chaser.  Let her win.  Profit? 

Never ever gonna go to a bar with you...

[Tallpine]

Ask them, "Can you name all the time zones in the U.S.?"  Most everyone knows the Big Four - Eastern, Central, Mountain, Pacific.  Some might even know of Alaskan.  Very few, except those who live there, will come up with of Aleutian/Hawaiian.

Then, if you REALLY want to see their head spin, ask them to name all the time zones in North America.  Since they just got taken to they will probably name Alaskan first, followed by the big four, and smile as they try to collect.  Then wipe the smile off their face when you say, "You forgot Alantic."

Brad

When I lived in Alaska in the 1970s, we were in the same time zone as Hawaii.

There was a 2 hour jump at Beaver Creek on the border between Alaska and the Yukon.  Makes for a long day driving if you are headed west/north 

Looked a world map back then and there was time zone that was nothing but empty Pacific.  The lines converged out in the Gulf of Alaska.

Soemthing changed since then since when my daughter was up there this summer there was only a 2 hr difference from the Rockies.

[Hutch]

Two ya never lose.  One of 'em requires that there be a baseball game on TV.

1.  If you are in Bristol, TN, which is closer- Memphis TN, or Windsor Ontario? *

2.  Get a standing bet that a batter fouls off the next 3-2 pitch.  A buck for you if he fouls it off, a buck to the sucker if there is any other outcome.  Sounds like easy money to the sucker, but it's corn in the crib for you.  Any 3-2 pitch, the first or nth of the at-bat, batter fouls it 60+% of the time

* Windsor, by any measure, air miles or by road.


Forgot another good one:  which state is easternmost in the USA, and which is westernmost?  Most folks will try to guess if HI has an island west of AK, or if FL sticks out further than ME.  The answer to both is Alaska.  There is an aleutian island on the other side of the int'l date line, making it the farthest east, as well.

[Jamisjockey]

Never ever gonna go to a bar with you...

It also works in reverse.  Challenge the biggest guy to a drink off.  Shoot and spit, you'll drink him under the table.  Much lulz! 

[erictank]

I have always liked bets that are lost on acceptance.  Do you have any?

Bet you can't name the president on a ten (or hundred) dollar bill.  Neither Hamilton nor Franklin were ever president.

The capital of Kentucky, is it  pronounced Lewis ville, Louie ville, or Lou'v'lle?  It's pronounced Frankfort!

Finally, a fond memory but a bet I cannot make:  The kid crowed about buying a very fast Mustang.  The old guy a few seats down the bar said "Not faster than my Mustang."  The wager was agreed to.  The kid proudly proclaimed that his Mustang was not a Ford but a Shelby.  The old man quietly said his Mustang was a North American.

That right there is a WIN.

I sincerely hope the kid paid up.

[BlueStarLizzard]

It also works in reverse.  Challenge the biggest guy to a drink off.  Shoot and spit, you'll drink him under the table.  Much lulz! 

Good point....

[Chuck Dye]

I sincerely hope the kid paid up.

He did, perhaps gratefully:  his first bet was his pink slip against the older guy's.  The P-51 owner showed no regret when he declined, brought the kid down to a round for the house (fewer than a dozen of us.)

[Boomhauer]

Two ya never lose.  One of 'em requires that there be a baseball game on TV.

1.  If you are in Bristol, TN, which is closer- Memphis TN, or Windsor Ontario? *

* Windsor, by any measure, air miles or by road.

Are you sure? According to Google maps...road mileage is

Memphis, TN is 503 miles/8hrs, 6min
Windsor, Ontario, Canada is 568 miles/9hrs, 45min

But you are correct on air mileage...

[209]

My favorite one was the cue ball roll under the pool stick.  Place the pool stick across the table from one side pocket to the other.  Make the bet you can roll the cue ball under the cue stick from one side of the table to the other length-wise.  Helps if they're a bit drunk!   

Take the bet and then roll the ball on the floor length-wise from one side of the table to the other. 

Disclaimer: sometimes leads to a fight!

Second disclaimer:  Make sure the legs on the table allow you to do that! Doh!

[birdman]

Another pool trick
Set up two balls on the far rail, with the 8 balanced on top of them, and the rail (contacting the two, and the rail)
Bet you can't hit the 8, without hitting any other balls, from the other side of the table.
Hit the cue slowly, on a line to hit the 8, and when it's almost there, smack the table, the two will move aside, dropping the 8 right in line to be hit.

It works every time, and I've won money on it.

[CNYCacher]

Another pool trick
Set up two balls on the far rail, with the 8 balanced on top of them, and the rail (contacting the two, and the rail)
Bet you can't hit the 8, without hitting any other balls, from the other side of the table.
Hit the cue slowly, on a line to hit the 8, and when it's almost there, smack the table, the two will move aside, dropping the 8 right in line to be hit.

It works every time, and I've won money on it.

You reminded me of this.  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qyJf7xmFWfs

[Hutch]

Avenger, this bet was invented before Mapquest.  And I was pretty fuzzy-eyed at the time, iirc.

Message to our friends:  Ignore then geography bet!

[Matthew Carberry]

A standard pint glass is about 4" greater in circumference at the rim than it is high (you can measure with a bar napkin).

Put it on a cell phone or something and ask the guy next to you if he thinks it is now taller than it is around.  Keep adding stuff til he's ready to bet.  A shotglass is usually about where the bet is made.

[HankB]

In a sports bar on New Year's eve, bet someone that that can't give your the right answer to the question "Who won the Rose Bowl last year?"   Four out of five will tell you the winners of this year's game, played January 1; few will answer with the previous year's results.

Another easy bet: tell someone that they can shuffle a deck of cards, deal you 25 at random, and you'll be able to assemble five pat poker hands from the deal - meaning straights, flushes, or full houses. It may be counter-intuitive, but in actuality you can do that almost every time.

(My vote for the best is still the Mustang story in the OP.     )