In one of the more insane prop bets the poker world has ever seen, two poker pros wagered $100,000 on whether or not one of them could live in complete isolation for 30 days.

Some of the players in my game do a bunch of prop bets. It certainly slows the game down a ton. It's amazing, though, to see someone drop three buy ins playing poker and win that much in silly prop betting. Poker playing brothers Jaime and Matt Staples won a substantial amount of money this weekend, but it wasn’t won at the poker tables. It was won via a prop bet. Twelve months ago, the two brothers made a bet with Bill Perkins that they couldn’t weigh within a single pound of one other in a year. Prop bets, short for proposition bets, are more than an excuse to gamble. Used judiciously, a prop bet can completely change the dynamics of a table. Your goal is to get the other players gambling at online poker. Prop bet season is well and truly open it seems, the much-publicised ‘Pitch Dark Bathroom Challenge’ taking pride of place, and this week Phil Galfond’s ‘Run It Once’ crew have been musing on their own craziest bets. Feats of endurance are a popular theme in prop bets, but without a doubt the most incredible wager in this category came in 2011 when poker pro Ashton Griffin made a bet that he could run 70 Miles in just 24 Hours. Adding to the difficulty, the bet was not planned, leaving Griffin to attempt it on four hours of sleep after a night of partying.

Rich Alati, a poker pro with more than $300,000 in live tournament earnings, was up for the challenge, while WSOP Asia Pacific bracelet winner Rory Young bet against him.

The rules were simple. Alati had to live inside of a dark, unlit bathroom for 30 days. He wasn’t allowed any human interaction or entertainment outside of a paddleball and Rubik’s cube. Additionally, he couldn’t pass the time with sleep aids, alcohol or drugs.

Although some mental health professionals were skeptical that it could be done safely, Alati reportedly made it through long enough to force a buyout from Young.

The two men agreed on $62,400 after Alati lasted 20 days, seemingly in good spirits.

Kudos to Rich Alati for living my dream. Got paid more than $60,000 to sit in a room for 20 days, think, sleep and eat, unbothered by technology or anyone else. https://t.co/ACBxWVx1dR

— Christopher Smith (@csmithSEC) December 11, 2018

Believe it or not, this isn’t the first time a poker player has attempted a version of this bet. Back in 2008, Jay Kwik, a poker player better known as “Bellagio Jay”, was given 2:1 on his money to do a similar bet. Although in that instance, Jay could leave the lights on, watch TV, and even interact with the people who delivered his food. Kwik went on to win the bet, getting paid out by Andrew Robl and Alec Torelli.

Professional poker players are known for being risk-takers as they put their money on the line just about everyday at the poker table and believe they can beat their counterparts and make a successful living.

One of the things that poker players often do to make things more interesting is to take part in unique prop bets that can sometime be outrageous, controversial, dangerous and extremely challenging.

Poker Players Love A Insane Challenge

We list the six most craziest prop bets that poker players have engaged in during the last few years.

#1 Antonio Esfandiari – Lunge For 48 Hours

High stakes poker pro Bill Perks challenged Antonio ‘the magician’ Esfandiari at the 2016 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) to a $50,000 prop bet that would require Esfandiari to stop walking for 48 hours and only move around through lunges.

Esfandiari who is one of the most successful poker players in the history of the game with more than $27 million in prize money accepted the bet and got himself into a lot of trouble.

Esfandiari was taking part at the PCA and had more than $115,000 in chips at the table. He did not tell anyone about the bet and soon realized that he was suffering muscle fatigue from his constant lunges.

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He decided to bring a bucket to the table and used it to relive himself as he could no longer lunge to the bathroom. Esfandiari’s antics at the table were discovered and as a result, he was kicked out of the PCA. Although he won $50,000 from Perkins, his reputation took a hit and Esfandiari admitted in retrospect that he should have used better judgment. He ended up donating the $50,000 to charity.

#2 Dan Bilzerian – LA to Vegas Cycling In 48 Hours

Bill Perkins was once again at the center of this unique bet with Instagram king and high stakes poker pro Dan Bilzerian.

Perkins challenged Bilzerian to cycle from Los Angeles to Las Vegas in 48 hours for $600,000 and Bilzerian accepted the challenge.

Not many gave Bilzerian a chance as he admitted it was years since he got one a bike but once he accepted the challenge Bilzerian took things seriously. He worked with Lance Armstrong to build his stamina and in the end succeeded in completing the race within 48 hours – although there was some controversy as Bilzerian allegedly drafted behind a van that was filming the event.

Cycling Today

In the end, Perkins accepted that he lost the bet and paid Bilzerian the money.

#3 Ted Forrest – Weight Loss Bet

Poker Pro Mike Matusow put $2 million on the line in 2010 when he challenged Ted Forrest to lose weight and go from 181 lbs to 140 lbs within a short time frame.

Forrest was not allowed to use any diuretics or amputate any part of his body to make weight.

Back in 2008, Forrest had challenged Matusow who weighed 250 pounds to make to 181 pounds for $100,000. Matusow made the weight and Forrest paid him $100,000.

So when it came to Forrest’s turn to make weight, he hired himself a fitness trainer and worked really hard to lose the weight. He made the weight in time but in the end Matusow only ended up paying him $70,500. Forrest isn’t pleased that Matusow hedged on his bet and called him out on Twitter in 2014 but is yet to be paid in full.

.@CardPlayerMedia Correcting the numbers: @themouthmatusow has payed me $70.500 of the 1.8million he owes me for the weight loss bet #4years

— Ted Forrest (@ForrestTed) 9 September 2014

#4 Phil Hellmuth – Shaves Head After 2002 WSOP

Not a lot of people remember this bet because it happened way back in 2002 but it is memorable because Phil Hellmuth, considered one of the best poker pros in the history of the game with 14 World Series of Poker (WSOP) bracelets and over $20 million in prize money shaved his head after losing a prop bet.

During the 2002 WSOP, amateur poker pro Robert Varkonyi eliminated Hellmuth from the Main Event and Hellmuth would go on to say that he would shave his head if Varkonyi would go on to win the Main Event.

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Varkonyi ended up winning the main event and he was kind enough to let Hellmuth off the hook but since Hellmuth had promised his hair to charity, he ended up shaving his head, donating his hair and then paying $10,000 from his own pocket to charity to buy his hair back.

#5 Phil Ivey – Go Veggie For One Year

Tom “durrrr” Dwan told poker great Phil Ivey that he would pay him $1 million if he could be a total vegetarian for a period of 12 months.

Ivey accepted the bet and tried raising the stakes to $5 million but Dwan declined since he did not have the money.

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In retrospect, Dwan should have accepted the bet as within 20 days Ivey decided to pay Dwan $150,000 and buy out the bet as he realized being a complete vegetarian was more difficult than he expected.

#6 Brian Zembic – Boob Implants

Brian Zembic is not remembered for his accomplishments at the poker table but rather for his strange bet than won him $100,000.

Zembic was promised $100,000 if he got boob implants in 1996 and then an additional $10,000 for every year that he kept them. He went through with the bet and got 38C boob implants and won $100,000. He has kept his implants for nearly 20 years and in 2016 stated that he was contemplating removing them as he realized that money isn’t everything.

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