Lose Weight by Gambling?

An online betting site is becoming popular for an unusual reason, the gamblers using its services are, almost without fail, losing weight.

The site dietbetter.com, is the home of Diet Bet, an online service that allows people to gamble as a group, matching one another's bets for the chance to win the group-pot. But just what are they bettering on? It's certainly not horses.

Diet Bet allows friends and even total strangers to start a betting pool where they gamble on the likelihood of their own weight-loss. According to the Diet Bet website, gamblers can chose to bet that they will lose at least four percent of their current body-weight with a minimal $5 buy-in. The gamblers involved then have to lose that weight in four weeks or forfeit their bet to the pot. Those who reach their goal then split the pot accordingly. With each round, gamblers are allowed to raise their bets along with a rise in the weight-loss goal to potentially win more money. Of course, even those who lose a round can buy-in again, but the new round will prove even harder.

Testimonials on the site praise this unusual form of dieting, claiming that money as a motivation for weight-loss is extremely effective, and the community that the site and its forums.

There also appears to be difficult to abuse this system. People can't simply join a betting pool and fake numbers to win money. Each round requires a person to take two pictures before and after the round to prove their weight loss. Each picture must be time stamped, doctored, and clearly showing their weight while on a scale in "airport attire" - wearing a shirt and pants but without shoes, watches, or jewelry. The pools also can be private, requiring an invite from another member to join.

CNN and other various media agencies have reported on the unique weight-loss success stories that this unusual dieting site has produced. Thirty-four year old Sara Lugger, for instance, is 60 lbs. thinner (from an initial 340 lbs.) and $330 richer thanks to DietBet.

Of course, the site is not for everyone. Some experts are worried that the betting pools will result in some people pursuing unhealthy means to temporarily lose weight just so they can make some easy money.

It remains to be seen how Diet Bet or the "social dieting" community that has formed as the result of this site and sites like it plan to control such a problem.

More about Sara Lugger's story can be read at CNN.

A press release about Diet Bet's latest project was published in 2013.