Dec 17, 2016
Top 5 Bill Perkins Baller Moments
By RTR Dennis
As a highly successful hedge fund manager and venture capitalist, Bill Perkins doesn’t have to worry about money. And this allows the amateur poker player to do some baller things that the rest of us can only dream about. That said, let’s look at the top 5 baller moments from Perkins.
1. A $1.2 Million Bike Prop Bet with Dan Bilzerian
In 2016, Perkins and Dan Bilzerian — two guys with more money than they know what to do with — got together for a legendary prop bet. The conditions were that Perkins and Bilzerian would each put up $600,000 on Bilzerian’s ability to bicycle from Las Vegas to L.A within 48 hours.
This doesn’t sound like such an insane feat, given that Bilzerian had two full days to cover the 300-mile distance. But considering that much of the journey is through mountainous desert, it’s a tougher-than-expected trip.
Nevertheless, Bilzerian completed the 300-mile trek in just 33 hours, and Perkins had to pay him $600k.
2. Giving Out Poker Prize Packages from His Yacht
While Perkins’ net worth isn’t public knowledge, we guess that he must be worth several hundred million to throw around money like he does. Given his incredible wealth, it’s little surprise that he owns a yacht.
Perkins enjoys running his Twitch stream (The Thirst Lounge) from his yacht, including the time that he gave out 13 prize packages for the 2017 PokerStars Championship Bahamas.
Acting like he was a poker site, Perkins delivered prize packages that included a $5,300 Championship Bahamas buy-in, stay at Atlantis Paradise Island Resort, and airfare. Add all of this up and Perkins was giving out around $10,000 per package to his Twitch audience.
3. A $5 Million Rowing Bet with Bilzerian
The only reason why this one isn’t further up the list is because it hasn’t taken place yet. But Perkins has put up $5 million against Bilzerian’s ability to row across the Atlantic Ocean, from America’s east coast to the UK’s west coast — 3,500 miles.
The goal here is to increase the difficulty since Bilzerian completed the last prop bet so easily. And forcing ‘Blitz’ to row across the Atlantic Ocean definitely accomplishes this.
Few who’ve attempted the feat have finished the journey. For every Charlie Pitcher, who made the trip in 35 days in 2010, there are a number of others who’ve had to be rescued, including a Norwegian doctor who was saved after 84 days at sea. Of course, these people probably also didn’t have $5 million waiting at the end of the rainbow.
4. Finishing Third in the WSOP One Drop High Roller
Perkins’ function in the poker world isn’t just to give prize packages away and make prop bets. He also regularly competes in cash games and tournaments.
His best finish to date is a third-place effort in the 2013 WSOP $111,111 One Drop High Roller, which netted him $1,965,163. Perkins also took fourth in the 2013 EPT London Super High Roller, which earned him £290,100. In all, he has over $2.5 million in live tournament winnings.
5. Making a Prop Bet So Good that Antonio Esfandiari Peed in a Bottle
The prop bets with Bilzerian are far from the only ones that Perkins has made in his poker career. He made a wager with Antonio Esfandiari at the 2016 PCA, where Esfandiari had to lunge everywhere he went for 48 hours.
Heading into the finals hours of the second day, Esfandiari knew that his legs would give out if he had to lunge much more. So he peed in a bottle, rather than lunging all the way to the bathroom. The move got him disqualified from a tournament and drew the ire of the poker community, although he did complete the bet and win $50,000.
Perkins would later call this one of the better prop bets he’s made, given the extreme circumstances that Esfandiari had to go through to complete the challenge.
As you can see, poker is never a dull game when Bill Perkins is around. That said, we hope to see many more baller moments from him in the future.