5 Minutes Read
Things have been blowing up on Twitter these past few days. And one of the proponents causing the social media storm is partypoker pro Jason Koon. The MTT pro was looking to wager $2 Million that he can complete a 100-meter dash in 10.9 seconds. Twitter user David Joseph had a counter-offer to make, claiming the 36-year-old poker pro can’t make that time. Even entrepreneur Bill Perkins chimed in with such much-needed encouragement in the form of a $100,000 freeroll to Koon if he can accomplish the feat by February 2, next year.
GGPoker Ambassador Daniel Negreanu took to the microblogging platform last week to rant about his recent heads-up challenge losses to Doug Polk and Phil Hellmuth. However, what was meant to be an introspective post soon turned into an ugly exchange of words with Brandon Cantu. The latter instigated a heated trash talk session and challenged Kid Poker to a best-of-7 series of heads-up matches to play for Negreanu’s entire net worth. Negreanu is yet to respond to the challenge.
Poker pro Dan Colman, who has been away from the poker scene for some time now, tweeted a PSA to the poker community on May 8, warning everyone that Sean Perry could be a scammer after the latter apparently cheated Colman out of seven figures on a daily fantasy sports wager.
Jason Koon Wagers $2 Million to Run a 10.9-Second 100M Dash
It’s been a while since we talked about prop bets, and just as we were getting deeper and deeper into ‘Heads-up Challenges,’ we now have news of a possible prop bet. partypoker Ambassador Jason Koon was looking for betters to take him up on the challenge to complete a 100-meter dash in 10.9 seconds and was willing to bet $2 Million on it.
It all started when Koon shared a short video of DK Metcalf making his pro-track debut. When asked by PokerGO’s Remko Rinkema how long it would take Koon to accomplish the feat if he gave a year to prep for it, Koon replied that he could run a 100-meter heat in 10.9 seconds.
Truly unbelievable, the guy is 6’4 230lbs! https://t.co/etjhvLMd1H
— Jason Koon (@JasonKoon) May 9, 2021
No idea. Maybe 10.9 if I wouldn’t get hurt? But that’s a big “wouldn’t”, I seem to tweak a hamstring anytime I try to fully open up anymore.
— Jason Koon (@JasonKoon) May 9, 2021
It just snowballed from thereon, with Twitter user David Joseph chipping in to claim that it would be impossible for Koon to achieve the feat and that he was ‘delusional if you think you could run under 11.’
Joseph went on to say that he would bet $5 Million if Koon could run 100 meters in 10.9 seconds.
If you think this is a joke I can escrow up to 5 million tomorrow. I need a good solid lock of a bet. Jesus the fact you just said 10.9 is hilarious. That would make you faster than everybody in the NFL.
— David Joseph (@ArabiaceJoseph) May 9, 2021
What? There are probably 400 NFL players that could run under 11 seconds in the 100. The first time I ran sub 11 I was 17 years old. I was asked to guess what the best time I could run with a years training, without injury I think I could do it.
— Jason Koon (@JasonKoon) May 10, 2021
Koon took Joseph’s comments to heart and didn’t back down from the seven-figure prop bet. He fired back with his own offer.
I will bet you $2,000,000 I can do it in a year if you can actually escrow. I assume you will be crickets after this. https://t.co/ziv8JouPUI
— Jason Koon (@JasonKoon) May 10, 2021
Joseph then set the parameters for the bet, which were slightly different from Koon’s original claim. The challenger said he will permit Koon to take one year to win the bet. But if he becomes injured, he loses, and he only gets two tries to achieve the 10.9-second goal.
Either you can run it a year from now or you can’t. No ambiguity.
— David Joseph (@ArabiaceJoseph) May 10, 2021
While Koon has not yet responded to Joseph’s offer (when this report was published), he did get a generous nudge from entrepreneur and poker enthusiast Bill Perkins who offered Koon a $100,000 freeroll if he can make the 10.9-second dash by February 2, 2022.
I’m giving @JasonKoon 100k freeroll to do this by February 2nd. Electronic timing , he can have as many attempts as he wants up to that date.
PS I hope he wins!! https://t.co/7DSgQY1QVz— Bill Perkins (Guy) (@bp22) May 10, 2021
Accepting Perkins’ offer, Koon said they would donate the entire money to charity irrespective of who wins the bet.
Will give it all to a charity that we both like. https://t.co/w5HNkkGRzH
— Jason Koon (@JasonKoon) May 10, 2021
Considering how Koon has experience on the tracks – he was a sprinter in college – given enough training, there is an outside chance that he may just pull this off!
Daniel Negreanu Feels the Heat After 3 Back-to-Back Defeats; Brandon Cantu Challenges Kid Poker to Play for His Entire Net Worth
Losing three high-profile heads-up challenges one after the other is enough to rattle the best of players. So, it comes as no shock that after losing his HU matches to Doug Polk and Phil Hellmuth, Daniel Negreanu has been feeling the heat.
On May 7, the six-time WSOP bracelet winner took to Twitter to introspect on his recent losses in a rather long Twitter thread.
1/11 thread
Bizarre part of my career with lots of heads up losses
Early in my career I won my first 8 final tables with no 2nd-5th place finishes
I guess it evens out in the long run, and I have cashed well over $20 million during this span, but when you are competitive by
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) May 6, 2021
2/11 nature, losing sucks!
Even when I won $8.7 million vs Dan Colman for 2nd, in that moment, it felt like I lost $7 million.
When I came second to @JustinBonomo for $3 million, in that moment I felt like I just got kicked in the stomach.
When the heart hit the
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) May 6, 2021
3/11 river last night and I shook his hand, in that moment, it didn’t feel fair!
With the High Stakes Duel vs @phil_hellmuth it’s on a big stage, and the narratives are exaggerated no matter the result.
Win, and you played great.
Lose, and you played awful.
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) May 6, 2021
5/11 It’s what you sign up for when you enter the arena.
It requires mental fortitude to pick yourself back up time, and time again and get back on the horse.
I was leading for most of both matches until the blinds got high, but in the end I’m down 2-0
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) May 6, 2021
7/11 I thought Phil played MUCH better in the second match. I expected him to up his aggression levels, but he did surprise me with how far he was willing to take it.
Still, I was winning most of the way, but hats off to @phil_hellmuth for finishing it off.
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) May 6, 2021
9/11 I’m incredibly disappointed to lose round 2, but it won’t stop me from competing. There are some high rollers at @ARIAPoker this weekend and I’m going to jump in and give them a go.
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) May 6, 2021
11/11 the road to happiness.
“It is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better…” -Theodore Roosevelt
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) May 6, 2021
In short, he defended himself a bit by pointing out he had leads much of the way in both matches before higher blinds forced higher-variance play. He credited Hellmuth for his solid play in their second match and said that he’s waiting to play the third round and is happy he still has a chance to win it all back and then some.
Just as Negreanu’s Twitter rant ended, Brandon Cantu, a long-time friend of Hellmuth’s, blasted Negreanu in a series of tweets.
Sorry @RealKidPoker to say this but, You played horribly vs @DougPolkVids absolutely crucified. Played @phil_hellmuth absolutely dismantled 2nd time in row. Has infinite 2nd places in @WSOP . If lose 3rd time in row it’s fair to say you just aren’t great at heads up! #Facts
— Brandon Cantu (@brandoncantu) May 7, 2021
Cantu said that Negreanu played horribly against Hellmuth and that his loss in Round 3 of the high Stakes Duel II will finally prove, once and for all, that he just isn’t great playing heads up.
Negreanu, for his part, responded that he’s laying 3-to-2 on the last match as he has throughout, and he’s willing to book “as much as you can borrow.”
Cantu responded that nobody could even take Negreanu’s heads-up game seriously at this point, and it was “painful to watch.”
Never seen so much hype, WORSE play throughout ones career in (heads up only I’m talking, obv you’re an incredible player) Where people could even take your heads up game seriously anymore? Painful for anyone to watch. (But I’m not turning it off)
— Brandon Cantu (@brandoncantu) May 7, 2021
The trash talks between the duo escalated quickly, with both Cantu and Negreanu taking potshots at each other.
I’d play you too but feel it’s only right you pay back all the money you scammed people out of and robbed.
Dead beat thief is what you are.
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) May 7, 2021
Monday: Brandon wins big playing open face and collects from Euro player
Tuesday, loses it back… and 7 years later hasn’t paid a cent.
That’s next level scummy move dude. Special shit there.
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) May 7, 2021
If I had your history I wouldn’t want to bring it up either.
You came at me totally unprovoked.
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) May 7, 2021
The verbal back-and-forth continued for a while before Cantu finally proposed to “wrangle up some big, big, big money” for his own match with Negreanu, saying he’d play a best-of-7 series under the same structure as “High Stakes Duel.” From there, the ranting got a bit unhinged and hard to follow. Cantu seemed to say he was willing to play for Negreanu’s net worth, hinting that he had backers with unlimited funds.
Here’s where it’s gets good.. @RealKidPoker I will make sure my infinite $ is put up by my big money crew and your 100M or whatever you are worth these days by your lucky 1/4 of 1% of @PokerStars share stock you had to get rich.(Not from poker you’re a joke)
— Brandon Cantu (@brandoncantu) May 7, 2021
Cantu even went on to say that PokerGo could film their heads-up match, but Negreanu shouldn’t bother to show up unless he had at least $100 Million.
Given the stakes and tall claims, this looks like a challenge that will most likely never see the light of day.
Dan Colman Accuses Sean Perry of Fraud
The 2014 Big One for One Drop champion Dan Colman has been missing from the poker circuit for years now. He grabbed the spotlight after making some damning accusations against poker pro Sean Perry, who Colman claims scammed him out of seven figures via a daily fantasy sports wager.
He tweeted the allegations on May 8.
PSA to poker community: It’s extremely likely Sean Perry is a scammer. Do not bet with him. pic.twitter.com/Xy5exyVTsN
— Daniel Colman (@DanielColman_) May 7, 2021
and huge thank you to @aejonesleggo for lending me his expertise and all the time he spent going through the lineups to help show that I was being cheated
— Daniel Colman (@DanielColman_) May 7, 2021
Colman claims he entered a high-stakes daily fantasy sports wager between Perry and fellow poker pro Sam Soverel. He said that since Perry wanted more action, he jumped in on Soverel’s side. The wager was based on the results of six DFS accounts, of which Perry and Soverel each chose three to ride.
According to Colman, three of the accounts were controlled by Perry, which allegedly gave him an unfair advantage. Colman became suspicious when the accounts chose strange ways to set their lineups. Colman’s suspicion was confirmed by independent observers Aaron Jones and Ryan Daut.
The former poker pro then contacted Perry and showed him the “overwhelming evidence.” He then asked for a refund, but that request was declined. Perry initially agreed to the judgment of an independent arbitrator in the form of Tom Marchese but ultimately declined on the grounds that Colman was only looking for an excuse not to have to pay his debt.
The poker community reacted to the situation by sympathizing with Colman and claiming that Perry was a sketchy character.
Ummm who is Sam Perry?
— Bill Perkins (Guy) (@bp22) May 8, 2021
Very sketchy situation, sorry this happened to you. Can vouch Sean Perry is completely insufferable, met him once.
— Doug Polk (@DougPolkVids) May 8, 2021
Have always wanted to share this story because it’s one of the funniest moments I’ve experienced in live poker but always considered it too mean to share. Seems appropriate now pic.twitter.com/RKyURDTQfx
— Daniel Zack (@Dan__Zack) May 8, 2021
With so many regs to choose from it’s bizarre the three random accounts were added. Sam is either in on the scam or made an egregious error betting on this format.
— Peter Jennings (@CSURAM88) May 9, 2021
Really sorry this happened to you. What kind of level were ss/sp in terms of experience/what was volume of bets? I’m so dumb with American sports but with uk soccer you’d notice this when sweating the teams after 1st/2nd week max. The US sports just different because of scoring?
— Patrick Leonard (@padspoker) May 8, 2021
Thanks for sharing Dan… and props for making this public right away. Sorry you had to go through that, I’m sure it’s an awful feeling.
— Faraz Jaka (@FarazJaka) May 8, 2021