Basic Trope: A person gambles away his/her loved ones.
- Straight: During a poker game, Bob bets his wife Alice.
- Exaggerated: And throws in their three children, the house, the dog, and all their possessions.
- Downplayed:
- Bob doesn't bet people, but he does bet his dog.
- Bob makes Alice give the winner a kiss on the cheek.
- Bob makes Alice go have a drink with the winner.
- Justified:
- Bob is a Jerkass with a serious gambling problem.
- This takes place in a culture with slavery. Gambling is one of the ways that slaves change hands.
- Alice is Bob’s Sex Slave.
- Alice is a stripper and the prize for beating Bob is her performing a striptease for the others.
- Bob is Alice’s pimp and her services cover his loss.
- Gender-Inverted: While playing poker, Alice bets her boyfriend Bob.
- Inverted:
- Bob bets himself.
- Loser Leaves Town
- Anyone who loses poker to Bob will be raped by Alice.
- Subverted:
- Bob doesn't bet his buddies Alice forever.
- The other players don't accept the bet.
- Bob already has a royal flush, so he gets to keep Alice
- Alice pleads with the other players to accept someone or something else in her place.
- Bob doesn't bet any people.
- Bob bets a loved one as a joke. Everyone knows this and doesn't take the bet seriously.
- Alice is actually an inanimate object.
- Double Subverted:
- Just for one night, and his buddies can "do as they please" with her.
- But then Bob's luck takes a turn for the worse, or one of the players is cheating.
- It's revealed that Bob cheated, and the other players claim Alice after giving Bob a What the Hell, Hero?.
- But he does bet his daughter's virginity.
- Alice pleads with the other players to accept someone or something else in her place. Everyone ignores her pleas.
- Parodied: Bob wins Alice in this way, and loses her to a poker champ in Las Vegas, in less than 24 hours.
- Zig Zagged: Bob already has a royal flush, so he gets to keep Alice. But then Bob's luck takes a turn for the worse, but he figures out that that's because the winner cheated. His luck then takes a genuine turn for the worse.
- Averted: Bob doesn't place any bets.
- Enforced: "Let's show just how much of a Jerkass Bob is!"
- Lampshaded: "I bet my hot wife, Alice."
- Invoked:
- Bob is so confident in his winning potential that he bets the one he loves the most: Alice.
- Bob deliberately loses to humiliate his cheating wife.
- Exploited:
- Charles has a crush on Alice, and cajoles Bob into betting her.
- Brittany records Bob and Alice to disgrace them.
- Defied:
- Bob feels that this is a Moral Event Horizon crossover, and doesn't do this, betting only money.
- Alice runs away once she finds out that she’s the prize.
- The other gamblers call Bob out and kick him out of the game.
- Casino management kick Bob out for flaunting the rules.
- Discussed: "Hey, if you're so confident with your hand Bob, then why don't you bet your wife? Hahaha!"
- Conversed: "Oh wow, you're really going to do it? Uh... so... how long will I keep her?"
- Deconstructed: Alice gets no say in this, and is reduced to a Living MacGuffin rather than a human being.
- Reconstructed:
- Bob wins.
- Nice Guy Charlie goads Bob into betting his slave Alice solely so that he can set Alice free. She still doesn't have any control over her fate during the game, but her life drastically improves after Charlie wins.
- Played For Laughs:
- Alice is a Gonk.
- Alice is happy to go away with the winner, who treats her a hell of a lot better than Bob does.
- Played For Drama:
- The winner feels he is entitled to sex with Alice and rapes her.
- The casino doubles as a sex trafficking ring.
- Implied: Bob walks into a casino with Alice, but Charlie walks out with her.
If you go back to Lost Him in a Card Game, I'll throw in my hot wife, too.
