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Posted by Editor | Filed under 2010 WSOP, Mike Matusow, Ted Forrest, Weight Loss

Ted Forrest gave us the name of a luxury condominium development not an address. Shauna and I managed to get into at least two fights while trying to find it. First we argued about who was slowing us down in trying to get out the door. Second, we had a three-way argument with the navigation system about how to find Ted’s place. The closest guidance we could get was to a restaurant with a similar name in Pahrump when Ted called to announce a change in plans.

“There’s a $400-$800 mixed game at the Bellagio I think I want to play so let’s meet at the cage at the Rio in ten minutes.” I was both relieved and disappointed. An opportunity to spend several hours with Ted was bound to be both fruitful and nerve wracking.

So we didn’t get the adventure that we bargained for but the evening was still not without incident. After all, Ted Forrest never has a routine day.

I had already registered when Ted arrived so I tagged along while he entered. Shauna was the first to notice when he presented identification to the cashier. “Ted? You got your driver’s license?”  Last October, we discovered that Forrest was traveling with neither his driver’s license nor passport. I suppose it’s just another Ted Forrest story, but his passport had been seized by U.S. Customs and he wasn’t allowed to get a driver’s license because of a complicated form of identity theft.

Ted said, “Yeah. It took me three trips to the DMV. Can you believe it?” Unfortunately that tale got buried by what followed and, hopefully, can be unearthed at another time.

Ted laid out the terms of the weight-loss bet that he has with Mike Matusow and Justin Smith:

• On May 5^th after they finished a big dinner with drinks at the Commerce, a scale somehow appeared which put Ted’s weight (with food, drinks, and clothing) at 188lbs. Forrest, exact about betting matters, pointed out that his “actual” weight was probably 185 lbs., by his admission “a little heavy.”
• Ted bet $50,000 at 20-to-1 odds (meaning he could win $1 million) that he could get his weight under 140 lbs. by July 15.
• He bet another $100,000, this time getting 10-to-1 odds, that he could get his weight under 140 lbs. by September 24.
• Subsequently, Forrest handed Justin Smith $1,500, which Smith will repay 120-fold if Ted makes a World Series Final Table and with in 24 hours of busting or winning weighs under 140 lbs.

This last bet was the only one about which he showed any concern. “The last bracelet event ending before July 15 ends on the 4^th of July. I’d be a ‘dog to make weight much before that, and a big dog if I make a final couple in the next couple of weeks.”

Forrest was looking pretty fit that night, but I estimated that he had over 30 lbs. to go to win the bets. When he would neither confirm nor deny his current weight, I asked him if he carried a scale for betting purposes. When I told him I carried my own scale but left it at home and was surprised, based on the millions of dollars of weight bets he has made over the years, that he did not, he responded, “I find I get more action without carrying a scale.” (Just a note for you aspiring gamblers out there: if there a written gambler’s code, it can be found in the quotes I’ve collected from Ted Forrest over the past six years.)

As far as I know, Ted Forrest never made it to the Bellagio mixed-game. He found a “practice game” at the Rio, $150-$300 SEOB/OEOB. He signed up, but before sitting down received a pair of phone calls. Starting from a stationary position in the middle of the Pavilion Room, I think Ted paced three-quarters of a mile around the room during the two calls, a time of no more than ten minutes. He was mysterious about his plans for making that abnormally low weight but if it’s possible to walk your way to 140 lbs., I wouldn’t bet against Forrest.

My overwhelming impression of Ted that night was that he radiated confidence. He seemed to think getting his weight under 140 lbs. was no big deal and barely considered the possibility that he could lose even the first portion of the bet (July 15). When I asked if he had any bracelet bets this year, he said, “No. I can win 2 million dollars by the end of the Series this way.”

I sometime think I’ve been writing about poker long enough. There are so many other worlds to explore, understand, share, communicate. Is there a chance that poker has become routine for me after all this time, perhaps that I’ve lost whatever “it” is that makes me a good person to follow the stories poker has to offer? Shouldn’t I stop covering the same beat and find a different kind of fascinating story to share?

When Shauna and I left the Pavilion room, I was immediately struck by how difficult it would be to tear myself away from poker. Guess who was the very first person we saw in the hallway of the Rio Convention Center after we turned away from Ted Forrest?

Mike Matusow I couldn’t make up such a sequence of events, nor could I turn my back on a world where such stories jump to my attention.

Mike was talking with writer Gary Wise. I don’t know what they were discussing, but Matusow was emphatic about whatever point he was making. When Gary said hello and complimented me on my weight loss, Mike shifted gears without taking a breath. “Did you hear about the bet Boosted J and I have with Ted? Has Ted Forrest completely lost his mind? He’s gone totally insane.”

Mike confirmed the elements of the bet. “I can’t believe Forrest wants to try such a crazy thing.”

For once, Matusow was trying to be the voice of reason. “I talked with trainers who said it’s just impossible. IMPOSSIBLE! For someone of Ted’s size, his body will plateau in the 155. It’s going to rebel. What’s he going to do, starve himself to death to win a bet?”

When I suggested $2 million might be sufficient motivation for drastic measures, Mike snickered, “It’s not even $2 million dollars. It’s like $5,000 a month for years and years and years. I told Ted I don’t have the kind of money to pay it off all at one time so he knows he’ll have to take payments.”

I did the math quickly. “Eighteen years?”

“Whatever. I mean, if I had a big score I would pay some down but he knows I’m not going to hand him $2 million. We were all drunk off our asses that night.” (Note: it was clear that Mike wasn’t trying to get out of the bet. He just couldn’t believe Forrest, in the sober light of day, didn’t laugh it off.)

Mike Matusow really did sound like the reasonable one here. Why was Ted Forrest so confident? And why was Ted suddenly so motivated about doing something extreme for the money?

I lost my weight – nearly twice as much as Forrest has to lose, but over six months rather than six weeks – with a program featuring a hormone called HCG. I don’t know if it would work with a non-obese person but, more relevant, I don’t think a doctor would ride shotgun on such a potentially dangerous plan of weight loss.

My heart sunk at the only other possibility: Did Ted Forrest find a doctor to hook him up with some Oz Juice?

Oz Juice isn’t legal in the United States – I assume it’s not approved for medical use anywhere in the world, but that also means there are no records or prescriptions – but I’ve heard that it’s available on the black market. Oz Juice is not something to play around with.

As I understand it, Oz Juice can put your body into a “simulated coma” for ten days. During that time, as in a real coma, your body’s needs and supplies go haywire.  The body’s processes start tearing down muscle cells, which are denser than fat cells. A dose of Oz Juice would allow Ted to completely starve himself during that period and even accelerate his weight loss by losing significant muscle mass. It sounds extreme, but we’re talking about $2 million here.

I just hope for Ted’s sake he doesn’t try more than one dose. Going into two comas can’t be good for your health.

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3 Responses to “Night with Ted Forrest, Part II – Mike Matusow is the Voice of Reason? – #1039 – 2010 WSOP #20”

1. Doug Says:
   June 5th, 2010 at 11:59 pm

   Ted better hit the track and pure Atkin diet (no carbs) to lose that much weight that quickly. Keep us updated!

2. Aaron D Says:
   June 7th, 2010 at 1:36 am

   I hope Ted isn’t going to the extremes of Oz Juice. When I first heard the bet I thought perhaps I had an idea of Ted’s strategy. Lose as much weight through normal means as possible and then a day or two before cut weight like fighters and wrestlers do. College wrestlers and UFC fighters can cut 20lbs or more in a day of water weight through the use of plastic suits and saunas. While not healthy it certainly sounds better than OZ Juice.

3. tld45 Says:
   July 16th, 2010 at 12:32 am

   Wow thats awsome you go Mike!!!

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