Why tattoo the face of one fellow poker player on your body when you can tattoo two? UB.com pro Joe Sebok will ask himself that question after losing a last longer prop bet during the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) L.A. Poker Classic on Friday.
The three-way prop bet featured Sebok, Full Tilt Poker pro Gavin Smith, and young gun Jeff Madsen. Whoever was eliminated first from the $10,000 buy-in L.A. Poker Classic would tattoo the faces of the other two players on his body. That honor went to Sebok, whose aces were cracked during the third level of play on Friday to come out on the short end of the bet. On the wager, Sebok told new WPT Live Updates Hostess Jacque, “It is so stupid. I am so embarrassed to even admit it. I feel like one of the scientists who worked on the Manhattan Project and now I’ve done something so awful that it’s going to torment the world for so long.”
Madsen was the next player out and now must tattoo Smith’s face on his body. Smith, meanwhile, reached Day 2 of the L.A. Poker Classic at the Commerce Casino, but sits with the second smallest stack in the room as play begins. Sebok’s Twitter feed was full of prop bet-related 140-character outbursts on Friday. He honorably admitted defeat, saying, “fair victory for @olegsmith, w/ @jeffmadsenobv’s bust. 1 thing is certain; i shall never drink alcohol w/ EITHER of these clowns again…”
The rumor mill at the WPT tournament indicated that Smith would accept a $20,000 buyout of the bet, while Madsen may take $15,000. However, Sebok stated on Twitter that buying out of the unique bet was not an option: “btw all, the ONLY thing worse than losing this bet and getting these fool’s ugly faces on my body is PAYING them to not do it. hell no…” Sebok let Madsen buy out of a prop bet during a previous running of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) for $15,000, hence Madsen’s offer.
When Madsen busted from the L.A. Poker Classic, his Twitter feed was equally lively. Madsen sought user suggestions for the pending tattoo: “Its ok, i will happily memorialize gavin forever… Any suggestions on the theme of the tat?” During play, he added, “I’m trying not to remind myself that I’m in the middle of the most retarded prop bet ever.” Madsen is a two-time WSOP bracelet winner. Smith already owns a tattoo immortalizing Sebok, as the initials “J.S.” appear on his back.
The poker community weighed in on the bet, which panned out at the Commerce Casino. Tournament Director Matt Savage chimed in, “@joesebok: @SavagePoker jeez, don’t sound so happy, jerkus… Not Happy but at least you can do radio shows this week?” Sebok co-anchors the UB.com poker news show “Poker2Nite” alongside Scott Huff. The series’ second season will kick off on Versus on Wednesday at 11:00pm ET. Meanwhile, Smith trumpeted his victory for all of cyberspace to see: “No tattie’s for ole GSmith, Madsen and Sebok can’t say the same!”
Upon hearing that Sebok had lost the bet and now has two new sets of ink coming his way, actress Shannon Elizabeth exclaimed via a Tweet, “@joesebok LOL-you LOST??? NO WAY! That’s huge! LOL-nice work! Haha ;)” Poker publicist Lara Miller offered her own advice: “Can you get the tatts super super small? Like the head of a pin?” No indication has been given on the size of the tattoos.
Smith has been involved in some of the industry’s most memorable prop bets, including a wager with Allie Prescott during the 2006 WSOP Circuit Championship at Harrah’s New Orleans. Prescott could have been out $700,000 if Smith won the tournament, while Smith would have owed Prescott $1 million if Prescott won. In the end, Peter “Nordberg” Feldman defeated Smith heads-up in the $10,000 buy-in Circuit Championship; Prescott finished seventh.