A bar bet is a bet made between two patrons at a bar. Bar bets can range from wagers about little-known trivia, such as obscure historical facts, to feats of skill and strength. Some bar bets are intended to trick the other party into losing.
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Famous bar bets
- The annual Midnight Sun baseball game played in Fairbanks, Alaska (the only game to be contested after midnight without the use of artificial lighting) was established in 1906 as the result of a bar bet.[1][2]
- Two of Tony Hawks' books, Round Ireland With A Fridge (ISBN 0-09-186777-0) and Playing The Moldovans At Tennis (ISBN 0-09-187456-4), were written describing Hawks' attempts to win two bar bets.
- The film To Have and Have Not is supposedly the result of bar bet between Ernest Hemingway and Howard Hawks, with Hemingway betting Hawks that Hawks couldn't make a good film from Hemingway's worst novel.[3]
- It is widely believed that the creation of Scientology was the result of a bar bet between L. Ron Hubbard and Robert A. Heinlein. According to Scientology critic Lindsay[4] this is "definitely not true", no such bet was ever made, it would have been "uncharacteristic of Heinlein" to make such a bet, and "there's no supporting evidence". However, several of Heinlein's autobiographical pieces, as well as biographical pieces written by his wife, claim repeatedly that the bet did indeed occur.
Enforceability
Under contract law, bar bets may or may not be legally binding, and the winning party may have difficulty having a court enforce the bet. A written contract, drawn up soberly the next day and signed by both parties, can avoid doubt.
For example, if one or both parties are intoxicated when the bet is made, they may be found to lack capacity to agree to a contract, and the contract thus found void or voidable.
However, the fact that the agreement is oral but not written does not undermine it: oral contracts are valid, though certain contracts must be written, under the statute of frauds.
References
- ^ "Midnight Sun Game". Alaska Goldpanners. http://www.goldpanners.com/midnight_sun_game.html. Retrieved on 2005-12-19.
- ^ Williams, Van (2005-06-22). "100 Years of Midnight Baseball Fun in Fairbanks: A 1906 bar bet has turned into a tradition on summer solstice". Anchorage Daily News. http://www.goldpanners.com/Pressbox/Teams/2005/Articles/2005_06-22_van-williams.html.
- ^ "To Have and Have Not". The Rake. http://www.rakemag.com/stories/section_detail.aspx?itemID=4001&catID=148&SelectCatID=148. Retrieved on 2005-12-19.
- ^ Don Lindsay. "Non-Scientologist FAQ on "start a religion"". Church of Scientology exposed. http://www.bible.ca/scientology-1million-start-a-religion.htm. Retrieved on 2005-12-19.
Further reading
- Rub Cruit (October 1985). 175 Ways to Win a Free Drink: The Complete Book of Bar Bets. Dodd Mead. ISBN 0-396-08586-5.
- Henny Youngman (1974). Bar bets, bar jokes, bar tricks. Citadel Press. ISBN 0967601819.
- Alan Ericksen (1981). Bar games, bets and challenges. Warner Books. ISBN 0-446-90648-4.
External links
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