The Bet cover art

The Bet

 Preview
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free
Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.
Prime members: New to Audible? Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Just £0.99/mo for your first 3 months of Audible.
1 bestseller or new release per month—yours to keep.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, podcasts, and Originals.
Auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection - including bestsellers and new releases.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, celeb exclusives, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically.

The Bet

By: Anton Chekhov
Narrated by: Walter Zimmerman
Get this deal Try Premium Plus free

£8.99/mo after 3 months. Cancel monthly. Offer ends 29 January 2026 at 11:59PM GMT.

£8.99/month after 30 days. Renews automatically. See here for eligibility.

Buy Now for £1.99

Buy Now for £1.99

LIMITED TIME OFFER | £0.99/mo for the first 3 months

Premium Plus auto-renews at £8.99/mo after 3 months. Terms apply.

About this listen

 "The Bet" is one of Chekov's most anthologized stories. A rich banker makes a bet with a poor artist that he cannot voluntarily stay imprisoned for a long period of time. The result of the bet is quite different than either man could have supposed.©1979 Jimcin Recordings (P)1979 Jimcin Recordings Classics Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Short Story

Editor reviews

Anton Chekhov begins his classic 1889 tale "The Bet" with the recollection of an argument that took place 15 years earlier at a party of the self-ordained intelligentsia. The argument - so familiar to our own time - was about the moral legitimacy of capital punishment. While most of the party agreed that capital punishment was inhumane, a middle-aged banker held that it was far more humane than life imprisonment. When a young lawyer disagreed, the bet was on: If the lawyer will spend 15 years in solitary confinement, the banker will give him a large sum of money. Fifteen years on, who will win? As performed by the popular Walter Zimmerman, “The Bet” is a hilarious look at principle, moral value, and the tyranny of caprice.
No reviews yet