http://www.wired.com/news/print_version/culture/story/21946.html?wnpg=all

Y2K Disaster? You Can Bet on It by Leander Kahney

3:00 a.m. 27.Sep.99.PDT With less than 100 days to go before the fateful date, an offshore sports book has opened a line of bets on various Y2K-related disasters. Costa Rica-based NASA International is taking online wagers on events ranging from the likelihood of a major stock market crash to aliens landing in the nation's capital in the new millennium.

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"It's really simple," said Greg Champion, NASA's CEO. "If it's of interest, we'll open a line on it. There are odds on everything."

The list of wagers and their respective odds are available on the company's online sports book in the Betting Lines section. They include:

Bank Failures: 1,000-1 that a Y2K glitch will shut down the Federal Reserve for 24 hours or more; and 700-1 that Citibank, Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corp, USB, or the Dresdner Bank will close for 24 hours or more due to a Y2K glitch.

Utility Meltdowns: 20-1 that a major US utility (serving more than 200,000 customers) or a European telephone company will shut down for 48 hours or more.

Downed airliner: 300-1 that a Y2K failure will down a commercial airliner.

Stock Market crash: 30-1 that a Y2K event will cause the Dow Jones Industrial Average to drop more than 200 points on the first day of trading after the millennium.

Firearm stockpiling: 200-1 that more firearms are sold in the US in December 1999 than December 1998.

Armageddeon: 1,000,000-1 that the world will end on 1 January 2000.

Alien landing: 100,000-1 that aliens will land in Washington on 1 January 2000.

-- CD (not@here.com), September 27, 1999

Answers

The firearms bet is an easy one. Gun sales are going through the roof this year, the December rush is a given. How do you collect post y2k? Has anyone placed any bets with this company? 200:1 on more firearms than 12/1998 (how many were sold then?)! $500 becomes $100K count me in.

-- Bill (y2khippo@yahoo.com), September 27, 1999.

By Dec. 1, the instant background check will take more than 30 days to complete. Now, about those odds....

-- Jim (waiting@aol.com), September 28, 1999.

I have a question about this statement:
Utility Meltdowns: 20-1 that a major US utility (serving more than 200,000 customers) or a European telephone company will shut down for 48 hours or more.

I am not a bookie. Do these odds mean that they think the above circumstance has a 5% chance of happening?     Yikes!
Maybe we will order that solar PV system....

-- Berry Picker (BerryPicking@yahoo.com), September 28, 1999.

maybe?

-- Chuck, a night driver (rienzoo@en.com), September 28, 1999.

As Bill said, the firearms one is easy. Odds 200:1 Notice the odds on the stockmarket crash? 30:1.

-- Things that make you go, Hmmmm Deborah (infowars@yahoo.com), September 28, 1999.

LOL,

Alien landing 100,000-1 v.s. Armageddeon: 1,000,000-1

What... they havent landed already? Thought Koskinen was living proof!

Diane

(Still chuckling! Uh, chortling... sorry Chuck.)

;-D

-- Diane J. Squire (sacredspaces@yahoo.com), September 28, 1999.