The Red Hat Prop Bet

Prop bets can be fun, funny, amusing, and profitable. In case you're not familiar with the term, a prop bet is a crazy bet. Think back to when you were a kid and another kid said, "I double-dog dare you to eat that jar of paste - or that bug," and you do it because you were double-dog dared and after doing it, you became a legend. A prop bet consists of grown ups who do things just as dumb as the childhood dares.

Another difference is that the "doer" usually profits handsomely. And the "darer" risks anywhere from a few dollars to tens of thousands. I know of one $10,000 prop bet between two high-stakes poker players. The bet was that the player would not, could not eat a huge double cheeseburger within 15 minutes without throwing up. Now that sounds simple enough, but you need to know the rest of the story. The player being challenged was a vegan (extreme vegetarian - no animal foods of any kind and no diary products). He had been a Vegan for many years, so assaulting his body with beef and cheese, the bettor thought, would be such a huge negative to him that he wouldn't even make the bet, much less be able to do it. Keep in mind, if a player takes a prop bet and cannot complete it, they then owe the bettor the money. But for $10,000, hell, I would eat a bug, wouldn't you? Well, he took the bet, won the bet, and is now a legend. I was involved in a multi-way prop bet last Thanksgiving. This one was just $10 each but there were 15 in the betting pool. The bet was how long it would take Tom McEvoy to be asleep after his last bite of dessert. He was late for the party and that was when the bets were made. The times ran from under 15 minutes to a couple of hours. I won the bet when he was fast asleep on my sofa within seven minutes of that last bite of pumpkin pie!
 

Which brings me to the "Red Hat Prop Bet". I went to Mesquite for a few days for the Eureka Poker Open. Sassy went with me and we had a table set up with some Poker stuff for sale, including some sparkle hats. I was wearing my red sparkle (rhinestone covered) hat. There was some conversation about me not having man cowboy hats for sale. Suzie McBaine commented with a mischievous chuckle that she thought the sparkle hats would look good on a man and that he definitely would get a lot of attention. One guy said, "I wouldn't wear a hat like that if you paid me". To which Bill Biddulph replied, "I would. I'll do or try most anything for enough money." Suzie challenged him to wear the hat for the day for $20. He came back with, "That's not enough". She kept raising her bet until she got to $50 at which point he took it. (She later admitted that she would have gone as high as $100). She bought the hat for herself, but Bill wore it. Indeed, he got a lot of attention and frankly, even though Billy is a "mans man," he looked rather cute. He and I wore matching red sparkle hats and there were many laughs, second glances, and photo opts. The deal was that he had to wear it until the next day. At one point as it got late in the tournament, he realized something, "Oh My God!" He exclaimed, "What if I win this tournament wearing this hat?! That would make this my lucky hat and I will have to wear it at every tournament I play. I still wear the same underwear I was wearing at the first tournament I ever won!"

Guess what! Bill won the tournament. So from henceforth, if you ever see a handsome, rugged, man in a poker tournament wearing a very feminine sparkling red hat, say hello to Bill Biddulph!

BTW: The Eureka tournaments are fun, relaxed, and they have a great structure.