Poker Pros' Most Audacious Bets: Highlights of 2023

In the world of poker, one can find many examples of crazy bets that professional players love to make. Take, for example, Antonio Esfandiari, who, after the deal with Bill Perkins, moved around the casino only in "leaps", and then because of this he burped in a container right under the poker table.

Or let's recall how Brian Zembic added to his femininity by installing breast implants for a year – for this, the legendary gambler received $100,000.

This year in poker has not been that crazy. But we have something to mention about strange bets and wagers of poker players.

An Exciting Journey to a Las Vegas Casino

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In the spring of 2023, poker reg and streamer Richard Alati bet $10,000 that he would be able to crawl four kilometers to the Aria casino in "dog style". This is the same Richard who in 2018 spent a month in a bathroom without light for $800,000.

It should be noted that the "dark" bet ended in success for Alati, but this time he slightly miscalculated his strength. The poker player covered only half the distance and was forced to give up on this idea. As it turned out, it is not so simple.

There have been some CRAZY prop bets in the poker world but this one might take the cake 👀

After winning $62,400 for living in a dark room for 20 days, Rich Alati is back to gamble!

He bet $10,000 to win $11,000 to do...what?! #poker #propbets

📽️ @DylanJDeStefano pic.twitter.com/MdSwOPFxub

— Poker Org (@pokerorg) April 22, 2023

Playing with a Pan on the Tennis Court

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Also this year, the poker community saw the tennis match between high roller Dan Smith and WPT champion Marcus Gonzalez. According to the terms of the match, Gonzalez, more experienced in tennis, had to play with a pan instead of a traditional racket.

The poker players agreed to play on one of the Las Vegas tennis courts. Apparently, the dispute had a purely friendly nature – there was no stipulation about the prize money. Despite Smith's advantage, Marcus won 6:2.

Video of the game for fans of "pan" tennis:

After that, the players agreed on a rematch in May, but this time Smith promised to bet $100,000 against Gonzalez's $125,000. Unfortunately, there are still no details of this match – perhaps the rivals decided not to meet on the court.

Weight Loss Recipes from Shaun Deeb and Douglas Polk​

This year, two bets were made for weight loss at once. To be more precise, the first was "signed" a year ago between Douglas Polk and Bill Perkins. According to the conditions, Polk had to lose 50% of his subcutaneous fat in a year, and $200,000 was at stake.

As for the second bet, this time the irrepressible Perkins offered the winner of six WSOP bracelets, Shaun Deeb, to win a million dollars if he could reduce his body fat to 17%. Considering Shaun's weight of 138 kilograms, the task will not be easy.

But Deeb still has time to get in shape – the finish of the bet is scheduled for the beginning of the WSOP 2024 series. In case of defeat, the poker player will give Perkins $100,000.

Chinese Lessons with Daniel Cates

Let's end the material with an interesting bet from Jungleman, who is famous for his extravagant actions. At the end of October, Daniel Cates offered to bet that he would be able to learn Chinese in three months.

Anyone want to bet the poker savant that he can’t learn Chinese fluently in three months?

— Daniel Cates 🇺🇸 🌎 (@junglemandan) October 29, 2023

Fortunately for Cates, fans on the X social network decided to keep the high roller money – so far, no one has agreed to this ridiculous idea. In the comments, Andy Stacks noted that it would take Dan three years, not three months, and under the condition that he will live in China.

Perhaps Cates will still be able to try to implement his idea next year – Bill Perkins is always walking somewhere nearby with a suitcase of dollars in his hands...