The Muck: Phil Hellmuth Takes on the Pros in Tennis Prop Bet
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Phil Hellmuth is notorious for a lot of things, being brass at the poker table being the biggest one. But he's also known to be confident in his own abilities. The 15-time WSOP bracelet winner is not one to back down to prop bets challenging his athletic prowess either, as we saw in this epic drunken basketball prop bet instigated by Doug Polk.
This time around, “rank amateur” tennis player Hellmuth put his money where his mouth was with a tennis bet. He shared the terms of the bet on Twitter:
We hired two pros to serve to us on Monday. I bet $7,000 (so far) I could hit an 80 MPH serve back into play given… https://t.co/JXBPjUWf9Z
— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth)
Hellmuth's Tennis Bet Terms
Hellmuth put up his $2,000 to win $16,000 that he would score a point on a tennis pro with 20 chances to do so. There was another $7,000 in it for Hellmuth at even money just to return one of the serves. The catch was, the serves could not exceed 80 MPH.
And the news spread.
Word of my tennis bet has spread, and someone asked if they could film it: w 3 cameras. I agreed. The plan is to pu… https://t.co/ZcvuMFRNN1
— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth)
Hellmuth, always full of confidence, believed himself to be a “big favorite,” while his own crew bet against him. In fact, he wasn’t getting a ton of encouragement that he would win the bet:
Point Poker Brat
The video documentation was released by Hellmuth this week on his Twitter account. The series of five short videos showed Hellmuth connecting with many of the serves without much trouble, and eventually, returning one that landed well out in front of the tennis pro, who didn't get to it fast enough to put it back on Hellmuth's court.
The moment of truth: my $23,000 return of serve, and point! [First we discuss running it back] $7,000 I couldn’t re… https://t.co/7Hd0Y8e3cw
— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth)
Point Hellmuth.
While the "poker brat" turned "tennis brat" rejoiced at his tennis skill and "luck," some questioned the odds, believing the stipulation of the serve speed and the use of a clay court made Hellmuth a massive favorite. Either way, you can bet Hellmuth laughed all the way to the bank.
