What is the best motivation for a poker player? Betting for a big cash prize, of course! Fresh proof is poker pro Shaun Deeb, who decided to lose weight after years of weight problems. Deeb, who started out weighing a whopping 134kg, isn't just doing it for the sake of it - there's a "fat" prize waiting for him at the end if he's successful!
The bet has been placed with him by film producer and high stakes poker player Bill Perkins, who has challenged several famous poker faces to a similar feat in the past. In 2022, he made a $200,000 bet with pro Doug Polk. Just like now with Deeb, he and Polk bet on losing at least 50% body fat. In the end, Perkins emerged victorious from the challenge, as Polk was just 1.25 percent short of winning. Four years earlier, by contrast, he had lost one bet of this kind - against brothers Jamie and Matt Staples, who lost a full $150,000.
This time, however, there's much more at stake - at odds of 10:1, Deeb stands to gain a full one million dollars if he wins. The challenge deadline is the start of this year's WSOP, which falls on May 28.The six-time WSOP bracelet winner weighed a full 134 kilograms when he entered the challenge, and his body fat percentage was 40.2. He needs to cut it down to just 17% to win, and his final weight won't matter.
Many fans doubted he could do it, and several assumed he would give up soon after the challenge began. Deeb still has four months to go, but he appears to be on track. He shared a recent photo of his body on social network X, as well as an image from his X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan, which shows his body fat percentage. If the current trend continues, Perkins will owe him a tidy sum of money.
So I know the updates to my weight loss propbet been sporadic but will share my latest dexa results feeling pretty good still tough few months ahead but I know how to close pic.twitter.com/Eba1l35SMb
- shaun deeb (@shaundeeb) January 26, 2024
In fact, on 25 January 2024, Shaun reached 23.9% body fat, which is still 7% away from his goal. According to a chart the poker pro shared on X, he's gone from 53kg of fat mass to just 24kg. Since the start of the challenge, he has managed to shed an admirable 33 kg of standard weight. Although we can already talk about a great transformation, Deeb still has a whole 4 months of work ahead of him. Since losing off his original body weight will definitely have health benefits as well, Deeb would have gained two straight reasons to celebrate.
What do you think? Can Shaun Deeb successfully complete this challenge and come up with the money package? Would such motivation be enough for you? Let us know in the comments on our social media!
Source - PokerNews, WPT, TwoPlusTwo
