WAGERS, in the common law of England, were held good, if they were not against the principles of morality, public decency, or sound policy; and a wager or bet was defined to be, a contract entered into without color or fraud between two or more per sons for a good consideration, and upon mutual promises to pay a stipulated sum of money, or to deliver some other thing to each other, according to the result of some contingency. A wager has been held void which was made on the life of Napoleon I., on the result of an election of a member to serve in parliament, etc. Before the statute of 8 and 9 Vict. c. 109, wagers above a certain amount were declared to be illegal, but now wagers on a race are not illegal. That statute provides that all contracts or agreethents, whether by parole or in writing, by way of gaming or wagering, shall be null and void, and the money due thereon cannot be recovered in any court of law; but that enactment does not apply to any subscription or contribution or agreement to sub scribe or contribute for any.plate, prize, or sum of money to be awarded to the winner or winners of any lawful game, sport, pastime, or exercise. If a sum of money has been deposited with a stakeholder, not as a stake, but by way of wager, it may be recovered back if notice is given to the stakeholder before the event comes off. As no wager
can be recovered in a court of law, it is merely a debt of honor, and if paid, it is in the eye of the law the same thing as giving a gratuity. If a promissory-note or bill of exchange be taken as security for money either won by betting or knowingly lent for betting, the consideration is illegal, and the money cannot be recovered. A recent act was passed for the suppression of betting-houses, and imposes penalties on persons keeping or using houses for betting purposes (17 and 18 Vict. c. 119); and justices may authorize constables to break into such houses, and arrest all persons found therein. Whoever by a cheating wager wins money from another, is liable to be indicted for obtaining the money by false pretenses.—ln the law of Scotland, wagers are treated as pacta illieita, which it is beneath the dignity of any court to entertain questions about, and so they are not recoverable by action. The act 8 and 9 Vict. c. 109 does not apply to Scotland, but there are older statutes of a somewhat similar effect.