Gambling on the 2012 Elections

[jackstar7]

Use this thread to bet against other members of the forums.

Set your terms. Agree to the bet. Wait for the results and watch the nonsense that follows.


This is started so Don and Cybr can get their bet sorted out. All others are obviously welcome to participate.

 

[a777pilot]

There's nothing to bet on.

Romney wins with 320 Electoral College votes.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

There's nothing to bet on.

Romney wins with 320 Electoral College votes.

As you are so confident, allow me to extend to you the bet I offered cybrsage:

- If Romney wins the election, regardless of how or why (including if Obama withdraws from the field or is otherwise ineligible to be elected), you win and I leave this forum (ATPN, not necessarily all of the AT forums) for a minimum of four years.

- If Obama wins the election, regardless of how or why (including if Romney withdraws from the field or is otherwise ineligible to be elected), I win and you leave this forum (ATPN, not necessarily all of the AT forums) for a minimum of four years.

- Under these rules, the only possible push will be if neither Obama nor Romney wins.

- We stipulate that the mods can ban the loser from this forum until Election Day 2016.

- The loser cannot participate in this forum under any alternate account and/or username, and if found to have done so, will be subject to a permanent ban from all of forums.anandtech.com.

Are you in or out?

This bet is also available to spidey07 and cybrsage. Other interested parties can inquire and I will let them know whether I am interested in the same wager with them.

 

[cybrsage]

There we go, now hopefully people will not continue to violate the demands of a mod in that other thread.

IMO, only a moron would bet on something which is so close a toss up. Since I am not a moron, I will not bet on it. Others can choose to show themselves to be morons if that makes them happy.

 

[jackstar7]

There we go, now hopefully people will not continue to violate the demands of a mod in that other thread.

IMO, only a moron would bet on something which is so close a toss up. Since I am not a moron, I will not bet on it. Others can choose to show themselves to be morons if that makes them happy.

Please stop directly and indirectly calling people morons.

You can say you don't want to bet because it is close. The rest is you just being a troll.

Considering you bet on Santorum... I'm not sure you have any ground to stand on.

 

[diesbudt]

I personally see Obama by a small margin.

1-2 years into his second term, things don't get better, they get worse (At this point neither party will fix it)

Some small group will finally go off the deep end, and long story short. Joe Biden is president.

 

[glenn1]

If gambling isn't against forum rules, it should be (even if the stakes are for a forum ban rather than money). I recommend mods lock this post.

 

[cybrsage]

Other interested parties can inquire and I will let them know whether I am interested in the same wager with them.

Not so sure of yourself, eh? If you were so sure, you would be willing to bet anyone. But then again, you are choosing to bet on something which is a close toss up...

 

[Londo_Jowo]

I bet no one takes DVC up on the bet. Now what do I win?

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

There we go, now hopefully people will not continue to violate the demands of a mod in that other thread.

IMO, only a moron would bet on something which is so close a toss up. Since I am not a moron, I will not bet on it. Others can choose to show themselves to be morons if that makes them happy.

That is the nature of gambling. Every hand of every card game involves a similar element of luck, as does every sports bet. I wouldn't bet my life savings, but since I am fairly confident (though admittedly not certain) that President Obama will be re-elected, I'm prepared to wager something I care about. Intrade would not exist if there were not a large number of people prepared to do the same, but with real money.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Not so sure of yourself, eh? If you were so sure, you would be willing to bet anyone. But then again, you are choosing to bet on something which is a close toss up...

You haven't thought this through. There are Romney supporters on this board who I like and whose absence would make this a worse place. It would be stupid to bet with them, because it would be self-punishing whether I won or lost. The whole point is that, if I win, I will have enhanced the quality of this forum. This has nothing to do with my level of confidence (which I would put at, say, 65% in favor of an Obama victory).

The bet is still available to you, and will remain so until otherwise stated.

 

[cybrsage]

A large number of people are morons.

 

[cybrsage]

You haven't thought this through. There are Romney supporters on this board who I like and whose absence would make this a worse place. It would be stupid to bet with them. The whole point is that, if I win, I will have enhanced the quality of this forum.

The bet is still available to you, and will remain so until otherwise stated.

Oh, I thought it through; unlike you, I am not a moron.

 

[yllus]

I for one am thoroughly enjoying the squirming cybrsage is doing at the hands of Don Vito Corleone.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

Oh, I thought it through; unlike you, I am not a moron.

Typically scintillating repartee - you have a rapier wit.

This kind of post is why I wish you'd take my bet.

 

[jackstar7]

If gambling isn't against forum rules, it should be (even if the stakes are for a forum ban rather than money). I recommend mods lock this post.

What's the harm?

 

[cybrsage]

I for one am thoroughly enjoying the squirming cybrsage is doing at the hands of Don Vito Corleone.

Saying people who gamble are morons is squirming? Really? You have an odd view of what is and is not squirming.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

If gambling isn't against forum rules, it should be (even if the stakes are for a forum ban rather than money). I recommend mods lock this post.

In the past such bets have been allowed, including at least one money bet involving spidey, on the 2010 midterm elections. I don't see any harm in the terms I suggested. I am not aware of any law or even any moral or ethical principle that is being violated. If someone can point out to me how this is illegal, I will of course retract my offer, but I don't believe that's the case.

I find it interesting that the people who express, as a matter of fact, that Romney will be the next President are so unwilling to put anything on the line in support of that proposition. I am by no means certain of an Obama victory, but I think it's more likely than not and so I'm prepared to put my money where my mouth is. It parallels what Yeats was saying in the quote in my sig.

 

[cybrsage]

Typically scintillating repartee - you have a rapier wit.

This kind of post is why I wish you'd take my bet.

I dumb it down so you can follow along. If I get too cerebral, you are unable to understand what I say and then I have to say it twice anyway.

You are an angry person, you should try yoga.

 

[cybrsage]

In the past such bets have been allowed, including at least one money bet involving spidey, on the 2010 midterm elections. I don't see any harm in the terms I suggested. I am not aware of any law or even any moral or ethical principle that is being violated. If someone can point out to me how this is illegal, I will of course retract my offer, but I don't believe that's the case.

Depending on the state, money bets could be illegal (some states have outlawed online gambling, afaik). Non-money bets are not illegal, though I cannot say if they are against the unwritten forum rules. Gambing is still moronic.

 

[jackstar7]

People not making or taking bets don't need to post in this thread.

 

[Don Vito Corleone]

I dumb it down so you can follow along. If I get too cerebral, you are unable to understand what I say and then I have to say it twice anyway.

You are an angry person, you should try yoga.

Your projection is transparent to all.

But yeah, I probably should try yoga.

 

[a777pilot]

As you are so confident, allow me to extend to you the bet I offered cybrsage:



This bet is also available to spidey07 and cybrsage. Other interested parties can inquire and I will let them know whether I am interested in the same wager with them.

I'm "out". I don't want you, me or anyone banned from this site over a stupid bet. This is suppose to be a site on which to have fun. I find this site fun. Posts here amuse me. Why would I want you gone and not posting?

 

[cybrsage]

Your projection is transparent to all.

You actually believe you are important? Why would someone so unimportant as you actually make me angry? Hubris, thy name is Don Vito. Oh wait, sorry. Excessive self pride is what you are showing. Sorry for confusing you.

But yeah, I probably should try yoga.

You can shed a lot of anger that way. You can also try devout prayer, though you do not strike me as the religious kind.

 

[PokerGuy]

For any bet to make sense, there would have to be some sort of line / points. At this point Romney is a prohibitive underdog, with all the electoral math working against him and all the battleground states leaning the wrong way. I'd need some sort of "points" (whatever the equivalent would be).