ESL Podcast 850 - Betting on Sports
smackaroos - dollars; bucks
This new tablet computer cost 600 smackaroos, but it is worth every penny.
to bet - to try to win money by guessing what the outcome of some future event or race will be, knowing that one will lose that money if one is wrong
I'll bet you $20 that Dawei calls in sick to work tomorrow.
wager - a bet, especially with a small amount of money
How could you place a wager against your own brother's ability to open a new business?
odds - probability; likelihood; the chance that something will happen
Even though Sunshine had a hurt leg, she beat all the odds and won the race.
pool - an amount of money where many people contribute a small amount for some particular purpose or bet
Shelby's co-workers are putting money into a basketball championship pool.
bookie - a person whose job is to take money from people for their bets, observe the outcome of the event or race, and then pay the money to the people who won
Gregorio is a good bookie, but I don't think I'd trust him with bets of more than a few hundred dollars.
serious - significant; with important consequences or worth a lot of money; without joking around
McQ Syndrome is a serious disease. We shouldn't make jokes about it.
high-stakes - with very high risks and the potential for high rewards and losses
Brain surgeons are in a high-stakes career. If they make a mistake, the patient might die.
penny ante - a type of gambling where people place very small bets and increase them slowly in very small amounts; small stakes; risking very little
Every Thursday night, Natalia and her friends play poker, but only for penny ante winnings.
to gamble - to place bets on the outcome of some future event, especially a race or a sporting event
Kolya became addicted to gambling and spent his life's savings at the casino.
favorite - the person, team, or animal expected to win a race or a sporting event
It's discouraging to play when everyone says that the other team is the favorite.
wide margin - with a large gap between how two items are valued or assessed; without being close; very different; by a significant amount
There is a wide margin between test scores for children who like to read and read a lot for fun and those who don't.
point spread - a prediction or forecast of the difference between the final scores in a game; an educated guess of by how many points one team will beat another team
The team was supposed to win by a 20-point spread, so everyone was surprised when they lost.
What do you say? - an informal phrase used to ask for one's opinion or decision, especially when trying to persuade someone to do something
The money is going to be used to help our school library buy books, so what do you say? Can you donate a few dollars?
too rich for (one's) blood - very expensive; involving more money and risk than one is willing to invest
They say the restaurant is the best one in town, but at $40 per plate, it's too rich for my blood.
minor leagues - less important or less skilled than the major-league, professional teams; not professional; of less importance
Blake is attending law school at night because he wants to get out of the minor leagues and start a career as a high-powered attorney.