Gambling

Seth Harper and the Clantons gamble over a game of cards in the Last Chance Saloon. (TV: The Gunfighters)

Gambling was the act of wagering against odds in order to profit. This often took the form of games. An individual wager could be known as a bet.

Playing cards could be used in gambling, along with gambling chips. (COMIC: The Greatest Gamble ^[+]Loading...["The Greatest Gamble (comic story)"])

History

In 1289, in the Imperial Palace in Peking, the First Doctor wagered on a game of backgammon with Kublai Khan. After winning half of Asia, he wagered it all for the TARDIS and lost. (TV: "Assassin at Peking")

In 1881, in the Last Chance Saloon, Seth Harper, Ike Clanton and Phineas Clanton wagered on a game of cards while waiting for the appearance of Doc Holliday. (TV: The Gunfighters)

As travelling the Mississippi in the times of the Old West took a long time, people occupied themselves with romancing, fishing, talking, and gambling. Gaylord Lefevre was a professional gambler in that time period; he played to make a living, but while he objected to people cheating against him, he hypocritically had no qualms cheating himself, using methods such as marking cards with a sewing needle to gain an advantage. (COMIC: The Greatest Gamble ^[+]Loading...["The Greatest Gamble (comic story)"])

In 1963, the Twelfth Doctor gambled in Vegas, winning non-stop; he told Clara that it was simple mathematics. When taken to the owner of the casino to explain how his system worked, the Doctor explained in great detail how he always chooses the most likely probability based on all the factors of rolling dice. (COMIC: Gangland)

In 2006, in Chicago, the First Doctor gambled away the TARDIS again, this time in a game of cards with a businessman named Buchanan. He did, however, win a purple Oldsmobile 88 in another game. (PROSE: The Mother Road)

In late 2006, Mickey Smith bet that PM Harriet Jones wouldn't mention that she fought Slitheen with Rose Tyler on Question Time. (PROSE: Mars)

Several joking and rhetorical bets were placed during when UNIT officers discussed the disappearace of the Guinevere One and the subsequent alien transmissions on an operations board on the UNIT website on Christmas Eve 2006. Major Richard Blake bet that the PM would use the dissappearance of the Guinevere One to visit the Tower Ops, Sgt A. Frederick bet that the Guinevere One was just space junk, Sgt Catherine Petts bet on how long it would take before the aliens would start selling jewelry on their "TV channel", and Frederick put a tenner on it taking a week until Anthea Turner would get her own show on the channel. (PROSE: Guinevere One)

Beckett Mariner: "I'm betting they aren't using it to power up a margarita machine, am I right?" (GAME: A Trek to Skaro ^[+]Loading...["A Trek to Skaro (episode)"])

After being informed by River Song that the Daleks seemed to be channelling a large amount of power to a particular building, Beckett Mariner remarked that she bet they weren't using it to power up a margarita machine, something which River agreed was "not likely". (GAME: A Trek to Skaro ^[+]Loading...["A Trek to Skaro (episode)"])

In 2294, in Venice, Duke Orsino gambled away Estella in a game of cards. (AUDIO: The Stones of Venice)