Mid-Handicap 'Rampage' Wants to Bet He Can Transform into a Scratch Golfer

Jon Sofen
Senior Editor U.S.
3 min read
Rampage Poker

Ethan "Rampage" Yau is a 15.5 handicap golfer, but he's willing to bet he can become a scratch golfer by the end of next year.

The poker vlogger tweeted out an offer to anyone willing to take his action. But actually winning that bet won't be easy, assuming he isn't better on the golf course than he's leading on potential bettors.

What are the Odds?

Yau is an avid gambler, but it appears the odds are stacked against him to win this prop bet. Many poker playing golfers chimed in to give their take. Chris Moneymaker laid a 100-1 price and said "shop open."

A 15.5 handicap is a mid-handicap golfer, someone who typically shoots between 80 and 94 over 18 holes. This, of course, varies by difficulty of the course. An average golfer is classified as someone with a 15 handicap, while a scratch golfer is an amateur who can consistently shoot for par or better on any golf course. Scratch golfers can reach the green on a 470-yard hole with two strokes, and hit tee shots an average of 250 yards, according to the United States Golf Association (USGA).

For Yau to win this prop bet, he'll need to cut off a significant amount of strokes from that of a 15.5 handicap. And he only has about 17 months of practice and training to become a scratch golfer, a level most longtime recreational golfers never achieve even after years on the course.

"Unless you just started playing in last year, I'd say 1000-1," Matt Salsberg tweeted.

Rampage tweeted out some more details about the potential wager on Wednesday. The WPT Global ambassador informed his X followers that he's received an offer at 100-1 odds, $10,000 to $1,000,000.

Many who've responded to Yau's tweets claim the poker vlogger and high-stakes poker player doesn't have any chance of pulling it off. One follower suggested that Rampage focus on becoming profitable again in poker instead of playing golf.

"It's impossible to win," Yau sarcastically responded.

It's not impossible to win at poker, nor is it impossible to go from a 15.5 handicap to a scratch golfer within 17 months. But in the case of the prop bet, it would be an improbability. He showed off a brief clip of his golfing skills on X from a round on Thursday.

The heavily bankrolled poker player had been on a massive downswing in poker earlier this year that caused him to back out of the Hustler Casino Live Million Dollar Game in May. But he turned in a solid summer in tournament poker with two six-figure scores, both final table appearances.

He took seventh place for $104,424 in the $3,500 buy-in BetMGM Poker Championship at Aria in June. But if he takes on the prop bet, he might have to cut back on the poker to focus on honing his golf game.

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Jon Sofen
Senior Editor U.S.

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