Question

You enjoy going to the horse-racing track on Sunday and have been doing so for the past 10 years. You've gotten to know some of the other regulars there. One Sunday you are complaining to a friend there that you'd like to place a bet on a specific horse to win, but the track is offering such low odds. Your friend laughs at your choice and offers to take a $100 bet himself and give you much better odds. You ask him to repeat his offer and you record a video on your cell phone of him making the offer. You also record your acceptance. Your horse wins. You think your friend owes you $500, but he doesn't pay you the following Sunday or even mention the bet or race. If you file a lawsuit, will you be able to get the court to enforce your wager and make your friend pay you?

Answer 1

I will be able to get the court to enforce my bet if it is not considered illegal in the state. The elements of a valid contract are agreement, legally sufficient consideration, legality and legal capacity of the parties to enter into the contract. Here a valid agreement is made between me and my friend when he himself offered to take $100 bet giving me better odds and I accepted the offer. Even though the odds are not specified here, the court will be able to make a decision on the terms of the contract by analyzing the intent of the parties while making the contract based on the video recorded during the agreement. There is legally sufficient consideration as both of them agreed to pay each other based on the horse winning in the race. We have the legal capacity to enter the contract and bets are legal in most of the states. Hence the requirements for a valid contract are satisfied here that would help me to get my wager enforced by the court.