“All bets are off in bankruptcy”

“There is an old saying in asset protection to the effect that ‘All bets are off in bankruptcy’” was cited in print in 2014. Bankruptcy rules mean that all investments (or “bets”) made on a company are fair game for modification.
 
“All bets are off when bankruptcy intervenes” was cited in print in 1988. “All bets are off in a bankruptcy filing” was cited in 1988, in anticipation of a General Motors bankruptcy filing. “All bets are off in bankruptcy” was said in 2013, after the bankruptcy filing of the city of Detroit, Michigan.
     
 
Google Books
The Practical Real Estate Lawyer, Volume 4
American Law Institute-American Bar Association Committee on Continuing Professional Education
1988
Pg. 85:
It is quite obvious that every contract is not always specifically enforceable in every situation and that all bets are off when bankruptcy intervenes.
 
6 June 1990, The Advocate (Stamford, CT),  “Greyhound says Chapter 11 will not disruptt bus service” by Jay Jorden (AP), pg. C8, col. 6:
“Because of the bankruptcy filing, all bets are off at this point,” said Chuck Mancuso of Moody’s Investors Service in New York.
 
Google Books
Third Party Legal Opinions
By American Bar Association. Section of Business Law
Chicago, IL: American Bar Association
1991
Pg. ?:
There is considerable debate as to what the bankruptcy exception covers but it is our view that the bankruptcy exception should be taken in its very broadest scope to mean in effect that “all bets are off” if there is a bankruptcy.
 
Google Books
Going For Broke:
A Novel

By Melanie Dobson
Colorado Springs, CO: David C. Cook
2007
Pg. 36:
“But if they go bankrupt, all bets are off.”
   
Youngstown (OH) News
Expert: Cruze is crucial for GM
Published: 10/11/08 @ 12:00
By Don Shilling
(...)
If a bankruptcy filing does occur, however, the Cruze program would be in jeopardy, he said.
 
“All bets are off in a bankruptcy filing,” he said.
     
BaylorFans.com Mesage Boards
After bailout, GM to move jobs overseas…
sonuvabear
05-09-09, 08:48 AM
All bets are off in bankruptcy.
 
Google Books
The Trust
By Norb Vonnegut
New York, NY: Thomas Dunne Books
2012
Pg. 93:
“We need our money now. The seller will declare bankruptcy, and then all bets are off.”
 
Michigan Chronicle
Detroit files Chapter 9 Bankruptcy, All bets are off
Jul 18, 2013 By Bankole Thompson, Chronicle Senior Editor
Detroit Emergency Manager Kevyn Orr today asked a federal judge to place Detroit in chapter 9 bankruptcy, a move that, if allowed, would make the city the largest municipality in the history of the United States to file for bankruptcy.
   
Los Angeles (CA) Times
Detroit bankruptcy fuels wider battle over pensions
Detroit’s bankruptcy filing, along with two in California, enters into unchartered legal territory in the battle between public pension funds and financially ailing governments.

July 19, 2013|By Richard Simon and Abby Sewell
(...)
“All bets are off in bankruptcy,” said Jack Dean of the Orange County-based PensionTsunami.com. “That’s why the unions are so panicked. And CalPERS is panicked. Because they don’t know what’s going to happen.”
 
Forbes.com
PERSONAL FINANCE 9/28/2014 @ 9:22PM
Third Circuit Resolves Competing Bankruptcy Estates In Allen
By Jay Adkisson
(...)
There is an old saying in asset protection to the effect that “All bets are off in bankruptcy”. There is a lot of truth to that. Things that should rightfully work a certain way get turned on their head in bankruptcy. It is not just the federal Bankruptcy Code and its counterintuitive nuances, but it has always seemed that the bankruptcy courts have a slight pro-creditor/anti-debtor bias, most likely resulting from their mission to marshal the debtor’s assets.