Make a friendly beer bet on the big fight online

Can’t believe your best friend thinks McGregor is going to defeat Mayweather, but don’t want to take his cash by betting against him? Why not just keep it friendly by betting a beer at a local pub?

That’s the theory behind Good Bet, a new social wagering platform that will soon allow social bets of beers, burgers and even entire meals on dozens of sporting events. The company is giving it a practice run for Saturday’s fight.

The company has partnered with It’s On Me, an online gifting platform that allows users to send friends virtual gift cards for food and drinks at participating restaurants through its website or mobile app.

Good Bet recently received approval to begin accepting social wagers on sporting events, as long as the bets are limited to those gift cards, and not cash.

It’s On Me founder and Good Bet partner David Leibner describes the new endeavor as “a platform that allows social wagering between friends, while supporting local businesses.”

Making a bet is fairly simple. Use Good Bet’s website — goodbetapp.com — (the feature will be integrated into the mobile app soon) to call out a friend, and challenge him to a bet on one of the dozens of sporting events offered by providing his name and mobile number. If the bet is accepted, the two of you are done until the game or match is over. If you lose, the partnership will allow you to pay up by sending a gift card to your friend’s phone and charging it to your account.

Nobody will force you to pay, however. If you choose to stiff your friend, it’s now on you. But be forewarned, the app will keep track of whether you honor your bets, and use your record to calculate a user rating, similar to eBay and other sites.

The feature is expected to be fully functional within the next month. But to introduce it to the public, the company is taking single-beer bets for this weekend’s fight, and even covering the cost for the loser so nobody is out of pocket. And of course, anyone who signs up for that bet will be notified as soon as the full feature goes live.

A previous version of this story incorrectly identified the relationship between It’s On Me and Good Bet.