With the 2010 World Series of Poker (WSOP) less than two weeks away, poker players around the world are making all kinds of last minute preparations – accommodations, travel plans, playing schedules – before descending upon Las Vegas.
Over on the Two Plus Two forums, a few online players are drawing up final plans of their own, but they don’t involve houses, hotels, or airplanes. For today’s generation of young, forum-posting poker pros, it’s all about prop bets. With each passing year, prop bets are generating more and more buzz more for the WSOP and with good reason, as there are hundreds of thousands of dollars in side action.
The most intriguing bet to emerge from the 20-page thread thus far is being levied by former Bodog Poker pro Justin “ZeeJustin” Bonomo. As of this writing, he has clearly stated that the bet isn’t finalized, but he intends to have action booked by the eve of May 28th. Essentially, Bonomo is laying 10-1 odds that at least one person living or staying at the Panorama Towers condominium building will win a WSOP bracelet this summer. Billed as “The Panorama Prop Bet,” the wager is exclusive to the Rio and Las Vegas, which means WSOP Europe events do not count.
The parameters of the bet state that owners, renters, and even people crashing for a week are all eligible for Bonomo’s side bet. Before the bet is set in stone, however, he’ll complete a list; in order for a player’s win to count, their name must be on the last draft. So far, his preliminary list includes the names below:
Jennifer Tilly, Phil Laak, Antonio Esfandiari, Barry Greenstein, UB.com pro Joe Sebok, David Williams, Shirley Williams, Isaac Haxton, Scott Seiver, Aaron Been, Steve O’Dwyer, Alex Melnikow, Ben Lamb, Tyler Netter, Eric Froehlich, Brock Parker, Nick Binger, Micheal Binger, Nenad Medic, Matt Gianetti, Lauren Kling, Mike Sowers, Maria Mayrinck, David Baker, David “Viffer” Peat, Alexandra Vuong, Liz Lieu, Stephen Chidwick, Jon Van Fleet, David “The Maven” Chicotsky, John Aguiar, Allie Prescott, Shaun Deeb, Jeff Sarwer, EPT San Remo winner Liv Boeree, Noah Boeken, Lex Veldhuis, Evelyn Ng, Jimmy Fricke, Matt LaGarde, Ray Coburn, Noah Glimmer, Jay Farber, Dan Bilzerian, Victory Poker front man Dan Fleyshman, Keith Gipson, Brian Rast, Joe Piccoli, Joseph Cheong, and Ryan Fee.
Other players that Bonomo believes might be staying at the luxury condos include Greg “FBT” Mueller, Shawn Buchanan, Micheal Dimichelle, Bobby Baldwin, Shannon Elizabeth, Mimi Tran, Andre Akkari, Hunter Frey, Titan Poker pro Sorel “Imper1um” Mizzi, Johannes Straussman, and J.C. Alvarado.
Bonomo is currently accepting bets based on the rough outline and will be updating the complete list right before Midnight on May 28th. All takers will then have 24 hours to back out once he publishes the final list. Be sure to stay tuned to Poker News Daily, as we’ll be covering all future developments of the “Panorama Prop Bet.”
