Bar bets

[smoore]

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Bet someone that they can't eat 6 Saltines in 1 minute(or maybe it was 2 minutes), they are not allowed to have any kind of beverage to wash it down in the allotted time.


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wow, you really can't do that? I should condition myself.

here's mine: Get a standard shot glass, the kind that's tapered inside and usually has the little line on it. Put a dime in. Put a quarter in. The challenge is to get the dime out, leave the quarter in, without touching the quarter.

solution is to blow very hard on the edge of the quarter, it spins around and kicks the dime out.

[eggzz]

[ QUOTE ]
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Bet someone that they can't eat 6 Saltines in 1 minute(or maybe it was 2 minutes), they are not allowed to have any kind of beverage to wash it down in the allotted time.

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I was just going to post this. It's one minute.

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This one rocks. It truly seems simple, but is nearly impossible to accomplish. It is also very difficult to eat a slice of white bread in one minute. A solution to this is to ball it up as tight as possible and then eat it. So if you proposed to someone that you could eat a slice of bread faster than someone else, this is what you should do. But you can't ball up Saltines, lol!

[jumpthru]

The saltine trick is a great trick. The best part is that I practiced and was able to eat six in a minute myself, so if they thought it was a trick problem, I would say fine, you can offer me the bet.

[bholdr]

here's a good one that takes some practice, but is stupefying to those that don't know the trick:
you will need:
two bar-style shot glasses- the heavy ones
one egg, large.

put the two shot glasses next to each other, place the egg, narrow end up, in one shot glass, and bet people thet you can move the egg from glass A to glass B, WITHOUT TOUCHING ANYTHING. no dishrags, no other people touching it , etc. let 'em try.


to move the egg, lean over glass A and blow, hard, into it where the egg meets the curvature of the glass (on the near side of the glass). the egg should pop out of glass A and into B. it takes some practice, and i suppose it's the kind of bet that only a sucker would take (i mena, you've gotta be able to do it if you're willing to bet on it, right?) but it's still a fun trick.

[youtalkfunny]

We really ought to have a poker one. This is from an old post:

"Hey Gene," I called to the poker room manager, who's been in the business for a while. "Have you ever seen the face-up poker trick?"

He said it didn't sound familiar, but I sensed that he THOUGHT he knew them all.

Ricky, a young dealer, came over. His ears perked up when he heard the words "poker" and "trick".

"It's real simple. You and I play five-card draw. We spread the deck face-up on the table, and you pick the five cards to make your hand, and put them face-up in front of you. Then I do the same. Then, just like 5-card draw, you can discard some or all of your cards and draw from the remainder of the deck, or stand pat. Then I draw, or stand pat.

"Pretend we have a face-up deck here. Which five cards would you take?"

"Well, I'd take a Royal."

"Which one? Specifically, which 5 cards would you take?"

"I'll take the A-K-Q-J-10 of Spades."

"That's funny. Everybody takes Spades, thinking that there must be a trick to this, and they're not gonna pick a Royal that might get trumped by a 'higher suit'. Don't worry, suits don't count.

"I'll take a Royal in Clubs," I continued. "Now it's time to draw. You can stand pat, or you can discard some or all of your cards and draw from the remainder of the deck. How many cards do you want?"

"I'll play these," Gene said.

"Me too. It's a tie. We push."

Gene and Ricky looked at each other. So far, this was the dumbest trick they'd ever seen.

"OK, let's play again," I said.

"Why bother?", asked Gene. "We're just gonna tie again."

"Tell you what," I offered. "This time I'll go first. And if we tie, YOU WIN."

Gene's eyebrows went up. "If we tie, I win? And I go last? Sounds OK to me."

"I'll take the four 10's, and the 2 of Clubs," I announced.

Gene's face scrunched up. "Are deuces wild?"

"No. I just needed a fifth card to go with the 10's, and I took that one. It really doesn't matter what my kicker is."

"OK," Gene said. "I'll take a Royal in Spades again."

"You can't. I've got all the 10's," I pointed out.

Gene's face went from amused to serious. He realized that this was going to take some thought.

"The highest hand I can make is a 9-high straight-flush. So I'll take the 9-8-7-6-5 of Spades."

"OK, I'll keep the 10 of Diamonds, AND DISCARD THE OTHERS. I'll draw four cards, and make a Royal in Diamonds. The rest of the 10's are in the discard pile, so you can't even tie me."

Knowing he was beat, Gene smiled. "That's a good one. You probably could have beat me out of some money with that one."

And the hold'em game continued.

Soon, I noticed Ricky was sitting at an empty poker table, scribbling furiously with pencil and paper. I didn't think anything of it.

Then later, Ricky came up to me. I was playing a hand, and he waited for me to finish before he spoke.

"I'll bet you," he said.

"Huh?"

"I'll bet you. You're gonna take four 10's and a deuce, right?"

"Oh. Yeah, that's right."

"How much can I bet?", he asked.

"How much have you got?", I countered.

"How much have YOU got?", he demanded.

I pointed to the stacks of chips I had on the table. "I've got about $150."

Ricky pulled out his wallet. He pulled out ALL of his money and counted it. "I've got 80 bucks, but I can go get more..."

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I had already demonstrated that he couldn't win, and he was begging me to let him bet all of his money.

"I'm going to do you a favor," I told him. "I'm not going to take your money..."

"You're not doing me any favors," he shot back.

"Look, you feel you've got something to prove, so I'll play along. But I insist that we keep this friendly. I'll bet $1."

Ricky was disappointed (can you imagine that?), but agreed to the $1 bet.

"As expected, I'll take the four 10's and a deuce."

Ricky siezed the moment. "I'll take the four Queens. Now, you can't make a Royal." Ricky felt pretty proud of himself.

"OK. I'll make myself a Jack-high straight-flush, AND THROW THE REST OF THE 10'S INTO THE MUCK. Your move, Slim."

It was comical to see the slight delay, then Ricky's smile abrubtly disappeared, as the hopelessness of his situation suddenly registered. Then his shoulders slumped. He reached into his shirt pocket, took out a $1 chip, and handed it to me. I added the chip to my stack.

Then my friend Benny came in. Benny knows I'm usually a chipper guy, and he asked me, "Hey, Bobby, why the long face?"

"I think I just missed a bet," I said.

[youtalkfunny]

Some others (solutions tomorrow):

CHALLENGE: Place a dollar bill on the bar. Place an empty beer bottle upside-down on George Washington's face. Bet that you can get the bill out from under the bottle. The bottle can't fall over, and you can't touch anything except the bill.

CHALLENGE: Stand an empty beer bottle on the bar. Lay a dollar bill over the opening. Stack another empty bottle upside-down over the first. So you have two bottles, mouth-to-mouth, with a dollar bill in between. BET that you can yank that dollar out without upsetting either bottle. You can't touch anything but the dollar.

CHALLENGE: Fill a shot glass with water, all the way to the top, so you can't squeeze another drop into it. Get a dollar's worth of dimes. BET that you can put those ten dimes into the glass of water, and not spill a drop. You are not allowed to touch anything but the dimes.

If the bar has a pool table--this one's a dilly. I made this one up myself.

CHALLENGE: Clear all the balls off the table. Hand the 3-ball to your mark. Tell him that he can place the 3-ball anywhere on the table. He can then name any pocket. For example, he can place the ball on the rail, six inches from the side pocket, then name that same side pocket. BET that you can sink that ball into that pocket. You are only allowed to make a legal pool shot. You have cueball-in-hand. You don't need to call every bank or kiss--just ball and pocket, just like in straight pool. You get three tries--if you miss, you can set it up again and try again, then a third time if needed. You only need to make the shot once to win the bet. ONE STIPULATION: Mark cannot place the ball on the lip of a pocket--he must give you at least six inches from the lip of any pocket.

(I ought to charge money for the solution to this one! Do you think you'll have any trouble getting people to take THIS bet?)

[youtalkfunny]

My friends all knew better than to take me up on any of these bets. They knew I wouldn't offer the bet if I couldn't do it. Often, they'd just bet a dollar, or a beer, just so they could see the trick.

Here's the only prop where I actually ever collected a real bet:

I walked into the poolroom. A bunch of the regulars were there, playing cards, as usual. I approached them, very excited. "Is this game almost over? I've got a card trick that I'm DYING to show you guys. This is the greatest card trick I've ever seen!" I continued to pester them throughout the remainder of their game. Finally, they said, all right, show us the damn trick already.

I picked up the deck, and removed the red aces. I put the remainder of the deck back on the table, and asked somebody to cut the deck in half. There were now two piles of face-down cards.

"I take one red ace, and put it here," I said, with a flourish placing the card face down atop one of the piles. "I take the other red ace," another flourish, "and put it on top of the first one."

I then ask a volunteer to finish the cut, so that the back-to-back aces are now buried somewhere in the deck. I then ask the volunteer to cut the deck, and complete the cut. Then everyone at the table gets a chance to cut the deck. When they're finished, I pick up the deck, and announce, "I'll bet you that those two red aces are still together!", and I start turning up the cards, one at a time, into a face-up pile.

Everyone looks puzzled. Aren't they SUPPOSED to be together?

I'm still turning up cards, one at a time, looking for the aces.

My friend Todd says, "He's probably using that marked deck of his!" Of course, I'm insulted. But no one can put such a thing past a trickster like me, so they're all thinking that maybe the deck IS marked. To counter this, I start peeling the cards off the bottom, one at a time.

I keep peeling until a red ace pops up. I then set down the deck, and offer, "How much do you want to bet, the bottom card is the other red ace?"

Now they're really confused. "Of COURSE it's the other red ace!", they hiss.

With a flourish, I turn up the deck, showing the other red ace on the bottom. "It works every time!", I boast.

Everyone is still looking around to each other, as if to say, "Is there more to this? Am I missing something?" Finally, one of them says to me, "That's the dumbest trick I've ever seen."

"It works EVERY time!", I say defiantly. I'm mad that they didn't like my trick.

Just then another regular happens in. "Hey Mike, come here, I want to show you this new card trick! This is the greatest card trick I've ever seen!" Everyone groans, upset that they're going to have to sit through this dumb trick again.

Again, I cut the deck into two piles. "I put the first red ace here," with a flourish, "and I put the other red ace..."

But when I tried to flourish the second one, I dropped it on the floor. I bent under the table to pick it up. Being overweight and out of shape, that took more than a few seconds.

While I was under the table, my so-called "friend" Todd reached over, picked up a couple of cards from the other pile, and put them on top of the first red ace! Everybody just loves it when they can thwart their friend's trick, don't they?

So I come up from under the table. I was only under it for a second or two. And I say, "Now where was I? Oh yeah, I put the first red ace here," I said, pointing to where I thought I had left the first red ace. What I was actually pointing to was one of the cards that Todd had placed on top of the red ace.

"And I put the second red ace here, on top of the first one."

I notice that my audience is a lot more interested in this trick now. They're all leaning forward. They're all wide-eyed. They're practically drooling over the thought of winning a bet.

Again, I have a volunteer complete the cut. Then I have everyone cut the cards, as many times as they like. Then I pick up the deck, and start pulling the cards out from the bottom, one at a time. Mike (who didn't see the first performance) asks why the cards are being pulled from the bottom, and nods understandingly when the notion of a marked deck is floated.

I finally pull a red ace. I set the deck down, and ask, "How much do you want to bet, I say the bottom card is the other red ace?"

"A hundred bucks!", shouts Eric, gleefully. $100 is like $1000 to us unemployed poolroom bums.

"Put it up!", I counter, just as gleefully.

He pulls out his wallet. "I've only got twenty."

"Put it up! It's a bet!" He slaps it on the counter. I slap a twenty next to it.

"Look at the bottom card!", I urge.

Smugly, Eric quickly grabs the deck, whisks it off the counter, and proudly exposes the bottom card, which is
THE ACE OF HEARTS.

The poolroom explodes. Everyone starts screaming.

Over the din, I insist, "IT WORKS EVERY TIME!!!"

Eric slinks down the stairs and out to the parking lot. He just bet all his money on a sure thing, and lost.

Oh, and my so-called "friend" Todd, who made the split-second decision to thwart my trick? He got a share of that $20, for following the script.

Yes, Todd was in on it. I dropped a card on the floor and ducked under the table for a moment on purpose, allowing Todd to bait the hook.

Let's start all over: For the first performance, there's no trick. Just do it.

For the second performance: I pick up the deck, and pull out the red aces. While looking for them, I note what the top card is. Let's say it's the 9 of spades.

I cut the deck into two piles. I put the first red ace on top of the 9 of spades. Todd drops a few cards on top of that ace. I then put the second ace down, and cover the whole thing with the other half of the deck.

All the cutting in the world won't change the order of the cards. They just go round and round.

Then I start pulling cards from the bottom. I'm looking for the 9 of spades. When that pops up, I know that the bottom card is an ace. I slide it back about an inch. This allows me to start pulling the second card from the bottom. They can't see this card sticking out of the back of the deck by an inch, while I'm pulling seconds out from the front of the deck. I'm holding back the first ace, and peeling seconds until the second ace pops up. When it does, I can set down the deck, confident that the bottom card is a red ace.

When I paid Todd his share, he asked me, "Don't you feel bad about screwing Eric out of his money?"

"No," I said. "Because he never would've reached for his wallet unless he thought he was stealing from me!"

(Note that I was young and thoughtless when I ran this scam. That was the first and last performance for me. I'm twice as old now, and the thought of stealing makes me ill. I still feel guilty. If you're going to do these tricks, keep it friendly.)

[youtalkfunny]

Ah, why wait for the answers? I've already tipped off all the good ones, anyways:

1. "Place an empty beer bottle upside-down on George Washington's face." SOLUTION: Roll the dollar, like you were rolling up a rug. Used the rolled-up portion of the bill to gently push the bottle off the bill.

2. "BET that you can yank that dollar out without upsetting either bottle." SOLUTION: Firmly grasp the end of the bill in one hand. With the other hand, try to karate-chop the bill in half. You'll wind up holding the bill in your firmly-grasping hand.

3. "BET that you can put those ten dimes into the glass of water..." SOLUTION: The trick is not to disturb the "surface tension" of the water. Drop in each dime by holding it vertically, and sliding it into the glass straight down, along the rim of the glass. When you're done, the water line will actually bulge out higher than the rim of the glass.

4. "Tell him that he can place the 3-ball anywhere on the table." SOLUTION: Usually, the mark will be unable to come up with a shot tougher than the one you suggested, so he'll choose that one. He'll put the 3-ball on the rail, usually about a diamond away from the side pocket.

If he does, you have an easy shot.

All you need to do is put the 7-ball in front of the side pocket. Then you play a "kiss" shot, shooting the 3 into the 7, so the 3 deflects into the side.

When the mark protests, you run down the rules again. "You are only allowed to make a legal pool shot. You have cueball-in-hand. You don't need to call every bank or kiss--just ball and pocket, just like in straight pool."

There's only one trouble with this bet: the mark feels cheated, and always refuses to pay. So don't take this one too seriously.

[SossMan]

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There is one I remember from a movie where the guy claims to be able to drink two 16 ounces glasses of beer before the other guy can drink one shotglass full of beer. Two rules: The first is that the other guy can not touch either of the guys 2 glasses and 2. the guy gets to drink his first glass of beer and set his glass down before the other guy can pick up his shotglass.


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i think you forgot maybe the most important word in the whole paragraph.
that's from the movie poolhall junkies (underrated movie, btw)

[JKratzer]

This is in the movie Desperado
Quentin Tarantino tells it to Cheech