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J'ai gagné mon pari contre lui.

J'ai gagné mon pari contre lui.
I won my bet against him.
From Lesson 313:Transforming verbs into nouns·French

Questions & Answers about J'ai gagné mon pari contre lui.

How is nominalization being used in this sentence with "mon pari"?
Le pari (the bet) is the noun form of the verb parier (to bet). Instead of using a longer verbal clause like ce que j'ai parié (what I bet), the sentence uses the noun phrase mon pari. This condenses the sentence, which is the main goal of nominalization.
Is "pari" a standard way to turn a verb into a noun in French?
It is one of several common patterns. While many French verbs add suffixes like -tion or -ment to become nouns, others simply drop their infinitive ending to create a short masculine noun. Here, dropping the -er from parier gives us le pari. You see this same pattern in verbs like voler (to steal or fly) becoming le vol (the theft or flight).
Why do we use "lui" instead of "le" or "il" after "contre"?
Because contre (against) is a preposition. In French, any pronoun that immediately follows a preposition must be a stressed pronoun (also known as a tonic pronoun). The stressed pronoun for a masculine singular 'him' is lui.
If I wanted to say I bet on him rather than against him, how would the preposition change?
You would change the preposition to sur (on). Saying J'ai gagné mon pari sur lui means you wagered that he would succeed at something, whereas contre lui means he was your direct opponent in the wager.

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