Durrrr Prop Bets Ivey: $1m to be a Vegetarian for a Year*

Posted by Dave McCarthy | Filed under Bloggers Corner

On March 7, viewers of High Stakes Poker on GSN witnessed Tom “durrrr” Dwan bet Phil Ivey $1m that Ivey couldn’t go a year without eating meat. The episode was filmed in 2009 and the bet apparently started sometime in January 2010.

*UPDATE: According to a March 8 2+2 post which was confirmed by another poster and then picked up by Pokernews.com later that night, the bet is over. You can still read the history and my recipe for spaghetti sauce, to which Mr. Ivey can now add sausage or meatballs.

Around the 6 minute mark of this clip from the March 7th episode of HSP, you start hearing Durrrr and Ivey talking about fish. Durrrr offers $500k for Ivey to go an entire year without eating meat (including fish). Ivey counters that that’s not worth it, but he’d do it for $5m. Eventually they settle on $1m for one year.

At one point, Durrrr asks Ivey what would happen if Ivey “accidentally orders a steak and eats it.” While Ivey asks for a clarification of how one would accidentally order a steak and eat it (Durrrr means if he forgot about the bet), reputed ladies man Gus Hansen refers to a bet proposed earlier: $2m to abstain from sex for a year .

“I’m just wondering,” Hansen asks, “for my celibacy bet there. What happens if I [lengthy censor’s deletion].”

Daniel Negreanu adds, “[Lengthy censor’s deletion] and then you realize, ‘Oops! Sorry! Sorry!’”

While American censors are a bit prude, I don’t think Gus said, “What happens if I French-kiss a girl.”

According to Durrrr in a February 9 episode of the Million Dollar Durrrr Challenge , Ivey offered him $50k to back out of the deal, but Durrrr refused, thinking Ivey will offer as high as $383k.

Phil, in case you’re chipping (and reading this blog entry), I thought I’d provide the following recipe for spaghetti sauce, surely a dietary staple of most vegetarians:

Sauté a few cloves of finely minced garlic, some finely chopped fresh basil, and some crushed red pepper in olive oil over low heat (too high and it’ll burn the garlic and turn it bitter).
After a few minutes, turn up the heat to medium-high and add a large chopped onion, two chopped carrots, and some butter.
Once the onions are translucent (about 10 minutes), add 3-4 pounds of chopped tomatoes. 2 28oz cans of whole plum tomatoes will do the trick, but if you can afford fresh tomatoes, that’s better. If it’s the difference between winning and losing $1m, I’d go with fresh tomatoes.
Bring to a simmer while adding salt, and then using either a hand blender or a food processor, puree the sauce. (Note: I like carrots because it makes the sauce a little sweeter and also thickens it. If you don’t have a blender, your best bet is to omit the carrots and use a little tomato paste instead.)
Cook for at least 45 minutes at a gentle simmer. Tomatoes need that long to lose their acidity.

Also, Phil, you should note that tomato sauce keeps for a really long time. The name, “marinara sauce” comes from the fact that Italian sailors (mariners) used to bring the sauce with them on lengthy voyages since it lasts so long. So you can double (or even triple) the ingredients and just freeze the leftovers.

Note: If anyone has any questions about this article, Poker from the Rail, or tomato sauce, please feel free to email me at DaveFromTheRail@gmail.com.

Permalink | March 8th, 2010 Play Online Poker at Full Tilt Poker

8 Responses to “Durrrr Prop Bets Ivey: $1m to be a Vegetarian for a Year*”

Gifts for Dad Says:
March 17th, 2010 at 11:28 am
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Herman Antonovich Says:
March 20th, 2010 at 4:27 pm
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Arla Estock Says:
May 2nd, 2010 at 12:56 pm
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Casey Fratus Says:
May 27th, 2010 at 4:33 pm
I adore Italian food! That recipe looked delicious.
Jason Says:
June 7th, 2010 at 9:37 pm
NO! Don’t put the basil in so soon! It will likely burn and not contribute any flavor. Put it in just before serving, and chiffonade it, don’t chop it. Add some finely chopped shallots at the beginning to substitute for the basil. Also add chopped parsley at the end.

Edit by AlCantHang: Why thank you very much Jason for the tip.
Igre Says:
October 18th, 2010 at 5:14 am
Gambling is my game and poker is my specialty.
Phil Says:
November 4th, 2010 at 10:23 pm
Make sure you practise the veggie before you loose Durrr. Haha what an awesome bet, watch your weight at the same time.
Laren Galloway Says:
December 21st, 2010 at 1:25 pm
LOL. I need that bet at the moment.