See definition 3: http://www.dictionary.com/browse/debacle
Also: It's not nearly as good with "bets on a debacle", but it a good bit more accurate.
Also: Yes all of my friends hate my sense of humor.
A large wooden "tripod" (it actually has four legs) is placed on the frozen river in winter. When the ice breaks up in spring and the river starts flowing, the current carries the tripod downstream, pulling a rope attached to a tower built on land to trigger the mechanism described in the article to stop the clock.
People buy tickets to place bets on the exact minute the clock will be stopped. The closest bet wins, and if there are multiple bets on the winning time, the winners split the prize. The prize has been over a quarter million dollars in recent years.
It doesn't quite say what happens when the slack runs out on the other ropes, come to think of it. Unless the cleaver cuts them all at once somehow.
I was in a pool of 14 people and we spread our guesses across the most likely times on the most likely days. Of course, that's what most people do, so there were several winning tickets. It wound up being a few hundred bucks.