With a new title, "The Bet", revised and cut with part 3 of the original text now gone, it was included in Volume 4 of Chekhov's Collected Works, published in 1899–1901 by Adolf Marks. Chekhov explained the reason for the omission in 1903: "As I was reading the proofs, I came to dislike the end, it occurred to me that it was too cold and cruel."
With a new title, "The Bet", revised and shortened by removing part 3 of the original text, it was included in Volume 4 of Chekhov's Collected Works, published in 1899–1901 by Adolf Marks. Chekhov explained the reason for the omission in 1903: "As I was reading the proofs, I found the ending to be too cold and harsh."