(Mental Floss) -- Most people limit their gambling to March Madness pools or the occasional trip to Vegas. Celebrities, of course, tend to do everything on a grander scale. Let's take a look at some famous people and the high-profile bets on which they cashed in or lost big.





1. Truman defeats Dewey, Jimmy the Greek defeats Vegas





Everyone remembers the "Dewey Defeats Truman" headline from the 1948 presidential election, but Harry Truman wasn't the only big winner that night.





Legendary gambler Jimmy the Greek had bet $10,000 on Truman at steep 17:1 odds. His logic? His research showed that female voters weren't too keen on candidates with facial hair, which didn't bode well for the mustachioed Dewey.





2. Phil Mickelson has a nice 2001





PGA golfer Phil Mickelson had a hot hand during 2001. Fans might remember that two longshots won titles that year: the Baltimore Ravens won the Super Bowl, and the Arizona Diamondbacks knocked off the New York Yankees in a classic World Series.





Mickelson was part of betting groups that had picked both squads. Their $20,000 bet on the 28-to-1 Ravens yielded a cool $560,000, and they hit again with $20K on the 38-to-1 Diamondbacks. And to think people used to say Mickelson couldn't get a big win.





3. Getting into the White House is tougher than free throws





Last July, NBA star Shaquille O'Neal and a member of his entourage had a fiery debate about whether or not Shaq could just drop by the White House unannounced and be welcomed with open arms. After much back-and-forth, Shaq decided he'd give it a try. If he couldn't get past the gate, he would do 1,000 pushups. If he made it inside, his buddy would have to do the pushups.





Unfortunately for Shaq, even the Big Aristotle needs an appointment to see the President. When O'Neal walked up to the gate, the Secret Service politely but firmly turned him away. He later told the Washington Post's Dan Steinberg that he was working off his debt in increments of 20 to 30 pushups.





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4. Paul Ehrlich's population bomb doesn't go off





Even celebrity scientists have tried their hands at high profile gambling. Stanford biologist Paul Ehrlich is famous for his grim predictions concerning overpopulation; he famously predicted in 1968 that 20 percent of the world's population would starve to death before 1985.





As you might expect, these claims were somewhat controversial. When Ehrlich commented in 1980 that he would make an even money bet that England would not exist in the year 2000, economist Julian L. Simon had heard enough. Simon decided to book an unusual bet of his own with Ehrlich.





Since Ehrlich's underlying Malthusian argument involved the depletion of natural resources, Simon made this challenge: Ehrlich could name whatever natural resource he wanted, buy $1,000 worth of it, and pick a time frame.





If at the end of the time frame the commodities were worth more than the initial $1,000, Simon would pay Ehrlich the difference. If they were worth less than $1,000, Ehrlich would fork the difference over to Simon. If Ehrlich's predictions about dwindling natural resources came to pass, the prices of commodities would skyrocket and Simon would be out a lot of cash.





Ehrlich was game. He spread his $1,000 evenly among chrome, copper, nickel, tin, and tungsten and told Simon to wait 10 years. Although the world's population shot up by 800 million people in the intervening decade, the metals' prices crashed. When the bet ended in 1990, Ehrlich had to cut Simon a check for $576.07.





5. Ringo says don't bet on a Beatles reunion





By 1974, legions of fans were clamoring for a Beatles reunion, but Ringo Starr was having none of it. The drummer told London reporters that he had bet a thousand pounds that the Beatles wouldn't play together that year, and that he would be happy to throw a thousand quid down on the group never playing together again.





Mental
What did Jimmy the Greek do when Harry Truman won the White House? In which year did Ringo Starr put his money down against the Beatles reuniting? Who puts his money down in 1974 against the Beatles reuniting?
defeats Vegas 1974, Ringo Starr
question: What did Jimmy the Greek do when Harry Truman won the White House?, answer: defeats Vegas | question: In which year did Ringo Starr put his money down against the Beatles reuniting?, answer: 1974, | question: Who puts his money down in 1974 against the Beatles reuniting?, answer: Ringo Starr