Proposition bets and poker are not mutually exclusive, in fact there is often more money running on prop bets at a tournament, than there is money on the tables. There have been some real stinkers over time and the latest prop bet on the poker tables has also made the news. Propositions bets are the fun fuel for pro poker players and just last week Ashton Griffin won $300,000 for running 70 miles in 24 hours. This feat has once again sparked debate; but it is not nearly as debatable as the $100 000 breast implants debacle – surely?
There are always the so-called poker experts who take up cudgels and ask the question, “are proposition bets good for the image of the game?” I am pretty sure that poker pros don’t give a damn whether their high jinx prop bets are good for the image of the game or not, it is the people on the rail that have asked and respond to this argument. Firstly they are calling this bet outrageous, in whose eyes is it outrageous? Certainly not in the eyes of the pros who are putting their money down! However, on the other side of the coin, it does make them look like a bunch for degenerate gamblers when the bets are truly outrageous.
Running 70 miles in 24 hours is not truly outrageous – the boy must be a good runner to have initiated this bet in the first place. The first rule of initiating a proposition bet is always use something you are good at. How on earth Brian Zembic landed up with breast implants is anyone’s guess, but he did, he wore them for a year, collected his $100 000 and kept them. He must have wanted breast in the first place – he now says they turn the ladies on. That is a degenerate prop bet! This type of bet is about flexing bravado, but if you are a good runner and you run the New York Marathon, you get a prize for your effort, why shouldn’t Ashton Griffin win $300,000 for running 70 miles in 24 hours?
One comment was that it is bad enough the public believe “poker is just one giant game of luck” and these prop bets make it look worse. Well the public probably also thought that Babe Ruth was a giant bundle of luck too! C’mon this is the dumb public we are talking about; poker players know better and that is all that matters. This is poker, it has a reputation and it always will. While poor poker players try to clean up this image; being a little bit “dirty” is a big part of pokers’ charm!
It seems also that the bets themselves are not so bad, but the amounts of money bet makes them worse – this is just plain envy as far as I am concerned. $300 000 probably feels like $300 to Phil Ivey. When Oprah takes a plane load of studio guests on holiday to Australia for a week, everyone goes awwww… but a $300 000 bet and this is flexing financial bravado, because they are poker players. Proposition bets go with the poker territory, always have and always will. Let them have their fun, remember they lead far more exciting lives than we do, so everything they do is larger than life. They earned it , let them spend it!