Poet who made many a bet (5)
I believe the answer is:
dante
'poet who' is the definition.
'dante' can be an answer for 'poet' (13th- and 14th-century Italian poet). I am not certain of the remainder of the definition.
'many a bet' is the wordplay.
'many' becomes 'd'.
'a bet' becomes 'ante' (ante is a kind of bet).
'd'+'ante'='DANTE'
'made' is the link.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for dante that I've seen before include "Inferno poet" , "Italian poet, writer of the Divine Comedy" , "Net Da a poet" , "Thirteenth-fourteenth century Italian poet" , "Author of the Divine Comedy, d. 1321" .)