Bill Perkins has bought out of a $1 million fitness prop bet with poker star Shaun Deeb, who is now in his best shape in years thanks to a little financial motivation.
Nearly 11 months ago, the poker players agreed to a 14-month wager on Deeb’s ability to bring his body fat composition down significantly. The bet had essentially no stipulations — either get to 17% body fat by the start of the 2024 World Series of Poker (WSOP), or lose $100,000.
Deeb was permitted to take just about any measure necessary to drop from over 40% body fat, and if he were to do so, he stood to win $1 million at 10:1 odds. In March 2023, PokerNews asked the poker community to predict the outcome of the challenge, and more than half gave the six-time WSOP bracelet winner zero to little chance.
Prop Bet Buyout Details
Last month, Deeb gave his X followers an update on his progress, and it was certainly positive in his favor. A January 25 Dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) scan showed his body fat had dropped to 23.9% with still four months to go. That caused Perkins to begin proposing potential buyout possibilities on X, although nothing had been officially agreed upon.
On Friday, he went in for another DEXA scan, and he was in even better shape — 22.0% body fat composition. Then, on Saturday, the future Poker Hall of Famer informed his social media followers that Perkins had bought out of the bet for $800,000 just over three months from the start of the 2024 WSOP.
Deeb made it clear that although he’s no longer financially vested in the prop bet, he will continue to put in the effort to get to 17% body fat out of respect for those who have side action. If he were to just pack up and quit right now, those who bet on him to win or lose would be left in a tough spot trying to figure out how to settle the bet.
The poker pro suggested those who bet on or against him should settle for a similar percentage as he did with Perkins. Deeb was clearly on pace to win the challenge outright. But, of course, victory wasn’t a guarantee even with plenty of time remaining. As for his weight, which is irrelevant to the prop bet, he’s lost over 80 pounds in the past 11 months.
Perkins is now batting .500 on body fat loss prop bets. He narrowly won a similar wager last year against Doug Polk, who came close to reaching his goal but fell short and lost $200,000 to the hedge fund manager.