"To make a bet" means to gamble or place a wager on something, usually involving money, by predicting the outcome of a future event or outcome. Full definition
Sure, a deposit levy may not have been expected, but bail - outs are never as expected — and why even make a bet on a situation so fraught with risk? (wexboy.wordpress.com)
In lab group meetings, he was always making bets with students and postdocs over theories and experiments. (sciencemag.org)
I am just saying that I wouldn't make any bets based on the assumption that the plaintiffs lawyers have run out of people to sue. (dandodiary.com)