Here we are again to provide you with a look into the gambling world’s bizarre and mysterious stories from the past couple of weeks. We all like to hear about the odd occurrences in this sphere. Here at ProfessionalRakeback, we certainly love reading about them and informing you, the readers, of the details.
If you’re ready for some amusement and entertainment to kick off March, then you’re in luck. We’ve got some enjoyable stories from the Poker and gambling realms in this installment of Freaky Fortnight, which is sure to keep you smiling.
888 Poker Tourney Sees Bizarre Heads-up Deal
Poker tournaments frequently finish with a heads-up deal taking place. It’s most often the case that the players involved have gone through several hours of poker battling to reach that stage too, and the difference between the prize money for the player who wins and the player who finishes in second place can be quite substantial. To lessen the pay jump and reduce variance, the two players will make a deal with one another.
To poker gamers this is all a part of normal gameplay. In the $120,000 Opening Event Mystery Bounty tournament, occurring at 888 Poker (which uses the same software as WSOP.com) on Monday, Feb. 26., a heads-up deal was experienced. Yet this was a deal that many were left scratching their heads over.
User “andrey59” was the chip leader at the start of the final table. Meanwhile, Ukraine’s “yriy3” managed to reach the final part of the tournament with an almost even stack of chips. Following a couple of hands of one-on-one action, both players clicked the deal-making icon.
It was at that stage of the tournament that the Ukrainian player held a slight lead. Their stack of 8,608,352 contained a minimal 2.8 big blinds more than the 8,161,648 stack held by “andrey59.” The player finishing first place would take home $8,766 while second place would acquire $6,408. Of course, in the deal-making situation, it would be expected that the two would forge a deal to bring those amounts closer together. A 50/50 deal (not unreasonable given the closeness in stack sizes) would have earned both players $7,587 each.
However as things proceeded, it seems that either “andrey59” misclicked during negotiations or “yriy3” put on a clinic in negotiation skills. Why? Because the latter player managed to win $10,606 while the former wound up making just $4,568. That’s around $200 less than what the third-placed player received in their payout. Bizarre!
Many people watched things transpire via the 888 Poker Twitch channel. Doubtless, viewers were stunned by the deal that occurred.
What seems to have happened is that the deal-making software in use offered both players around $4,500 due to them having almost identical stack sizes, leaving around $6,038 to play for. Although each competitor could have chosen to reduce the amount they left on the table, neither player altered the sum. This led to the substantial difference in payouts once the tournament came to an end.
Shaun Deeb Accepts $800,000 Buyout on Bill Perkins Body Fat Prop Bet
You may remember from a previous edition of Freaky Fortnight that Shaun Deeb entered into a unique wager with Bill Perkins. That bet said that Deeb could reach 17% body fat after 14 months, getting him in shape for the WSOP 2024 tournament series. On March 28 last year, Deeb placed a $100,000 wager on achieving that very goal.
His wager was put up against Perkins – a fellow poker player and wealthy businessman. Perkins laid out 10:1 odds, meaning that if Deeb achieved the 17% body fat goal, he would receive a $1 million payout. The target date for Deeb to hit that goal was set to May 30, 2024. Yet most knew the poker pro would struggle with it, considering he has struggled with weight fluctuations throughout his career. Even so, he has persevered through numerous other trials before this bizarre wager.
Well, news broke in the middle of February that Deeb hasn't reached 17%, but he is now many hundreds of thousands of dollars richer. How come? Because Deeb announced on Feb. 17 that he has accepted a buyout from Perkins of $800,000 for the prop bet. Explaining the buyout on X (formerly Twitter), Deeb said he is still working towards the goal of 17%, and he will get there to show his kids that anything is possible. He said that despite Bill buying him out, he is willing to take a lot more bets on his goal from others.
The original wager had few no rules on what Deeb could do to reach the goal. Yet the professional player seems to have tackled the goal by dieting and exercising. It was in January that he posted an image of himself looking visibly slimmer. He also posted a DEXA scan report, highlighting his body fat at 23.9%. Another report in February had him down to 22% body fat.
Clearly, the descending body fat percentage reports had Perkins believing that Deeb would make the 17% by the end of May. So the accepted buyout offer saved him $200K of the potential $1 million he could have lost to Deeb.
Good for Deeb! We have every faith that he can reach his target!
New Poker-Related Game Released…Only to Be Removed from eShops
Balatro is a new game available via various platforms by developer LocalThunk and publisher Playstack. Within the first 72 hours of the game’s Feb. 20 release across all platforms, it has sold over 250,000 copies. But what is it?
The game serves up a poker-inspired card game, where players can combine unique Joker cards in a creative fashion. Over 150 different types of Joker cards exist within the game, and each of them has a different ability. Five potential variants of each Joker card are also present, adding even more diversity to the deck held by each player.
There is a lot more to enjoy about the game too, which features a synth-wave soundtrack and hand-crafted pixel art. Not only was Balatro available through Steam for PC upon its release date, but on PlayStation 4 and 5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S. It has also garnered many positive reviews so far, achieving a score of 89 on Metacritic.
Yet just three days after its launch in February, the game was unexpectedly yanked from sale in various countries. Publisher Playstack went on record saying that the issue surrounds a surprise change in its rating.
In a lengthy statement shared on social media, the company said that it was unable to estimate which stores in which countries have been impacted by the removal of Balatro. The game remains accessible on Steam; yet, the cause of all the frustration surrounds an overnight change in its age rating. Originally listed as available for those aged 3 years and above, it is now listed as an 18+ game. Seemingly, an unspecified rating board believes that it is a game featuring prominent gambling imagery and materials that instruct on participating in gambling.
Playstack didn’t mention the ratings board by name, but it is likely referring to PEGI in Europe. The game currently has an 18+ rating on the Xbox and PlayStation digital stores alongside content warnings. It is no longer offered on the Nintendo eShop in the United Kingdom.
The publisher said it doesn’t allow or encourage gambling via the game, highlighting that the rating change “is unfounded.” It went on to say that the game was developed by someone who is very much against gambling. It apologized to those fans who cannot access Balatro before stating that it is hoped the game will be back on sale “with a temporary 18+ rating.”
Michael Jordan is Worth $3 Billion but Has a $6,000 Unpaid Bet
Everyone knows Michael Jordan. He’s the former basketball player who became the sport’s central focus during the late '80s and through the '90s. Not only that, but he starred in the live-action/animation hybrid film “Space Jam” in 1996. His legacy precedes him. Yet, his celebrity status as a top-quality basketball player and film actor belies a strange financial oddity.
An unpaid betting slip worth $6,000 with basketball sportscaster Dan Dakich is also attributed to Jordan. That lingering mystery has made the basketball player’s reputation a little more complex. During a recent interview with “Outkick,” Dakich spoke of the fact that Jordan owed him $6,000 for a wager they made while playing golf. The amount remains unpaid to date, and Dakich says that he writes to Jordan every year looking to settle the bet.
That wager between the two was made more than 10 years ago at a time when Michael Jordan saw his wealth soar to unprecedented heights. That came about thanks to his deal with sportswear brand Nike, which is worth a massive $255 million every year. The unpaid betting slip has continued to attract interest, sparking mystery in the minds of financial analysts and sports fans alike.
Jordan is known for partaking in various friendly bets during his time as a player for the Chicago Bulls. He has also had some experience with engaging in high-stakes gambling during his career. Yet the $6,000 betting slip doesn’t fit into either of those categories as it was done with a frenemy. Thus, issues are raised over the nature of the gaming taking place.
Of course, $6K isn’t a huge amount for someone of Jordan’s financial status. So why would he leave it unpaid for such a long time? The former basketball star has made no comment on the claim by Dakich, but many believe it could be due to the parties involved being frenemies and Jordan not wanting to pay up.
