all bets are off

[awl bets ahr awf, of]

idiom

1. (used when the outcome of a situation is too uncertain to predict).

   We have to make it to the meeting place by 5:30 or all bets are off.

   The individual ingredients may be safe, but once you mix them up into a brew, all bets are off.

Word History and Origins

Origin of all bets are off¹

First recorded in 1830–40, in reference to horse races

Example Sentences

“Once the defendant testifies, all bets are off,” he said.

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All bets are off as to who that might be.

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“The evidence suggests that the Office of Management and Budget, OMB, and the Office of Personnel Management, OPM, have taken advantage of the lapse in government spending and government functioning to assume that all bets are off, that the laws don’t apply to them anymore,” Illston said — which she said was not the case.

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There is a sense that all bets are off.

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And I gotta take this to practice, and when I take that, all bets are off.

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