In 2012, Eric Eisenberg of "Cinema Blend" chose "Slap Bet" as the best episode of "How I Met Your Mother". Eisenberg commented, "the highlight of "Slap Bet" is the use of ", and described Robin's singing as "maddening and hilarious". He said the song was "one of the best TV-created pop songs of all time" and claimed the episode had "a wonderful impact on the show at large", explaining that "both major elements at play in "Slap Bet" have gone on to have effects seen in multiple episodes throughout the program". "Business Insider" noted that the episode received the second-best rating of any "How I Met Your Mother" episode on IMDb, surpassed only by the 9th season episode "How Your Mother Met Me". In 2018, TheRinger.com listed this episode at #52 in its list of the best 100 television episodes to have aired since 2000, and was the only episode of "How I Met Your Mother" to have made the list.