side-bet

Noun

side bet (plural side bets)

1. A bet on some aspect of a game or competition that is not the main bet of the game or the prize of the competition.
   • The fight lasted ten minutes and along with the championship of New Jersey, Banks won a side bet of $50.1938, Black Dynamite, page 96

   Synonyms:

   proposition bet, prop bet

2. An investment or risk undertaken by a company that is not part of its core business.
   • While this may reflect the relative low-key presence of small business representatives in Washington, I think it more reflects the basic prejudice of the small business case by the indifference and inattention of policy-makers to what they regard as a side-bet or peripheral issue regarding small...1979, United States. Congress. House. Committee on Small Business. Subcommittee on Special Small Business Problems, Impact of Federal Regulation on Small Business, page 24
3. An investment of time, money, or resources that reinforces one's commitment to a course of action.
   • It is assumed in these studies, for instance , that : (1) age "is" a side bet because the longer an employee is in an organization the more benefits he has "built up" and that (2) the nature or the correlation between age and desire to stay in the organization is used as confirming or disconfirming...1987, International Review for the Sociology of Sport - Volume 22, page 256