On November 21st, poker player Rich Alati walked into a blacked out room in Las Vegas and has not touched sunlight since.
The gutsy gambler, who has won close to half a million dollars (AUD) on the tables of the iconic gaming city, is midway through his creepiest wager yet.
He currently sits inside a bathroom in an unknown apartment with just a bed and a bathtub at his disposal for 30 days.
The creepy stunt is part of a bet devised by Aussie Rory Young, a friend and fellow poker player of Alati’s. The players put up $ 100,000 (A$ 138,000) in what’s known on the scene as a “prop bet”, which is a wager designed to test the mental toughness of players away from the table.
“The conditions are complete darkness, so no electronics, no light-emitting devices, no drugs of any kind,” Young said. “He is allowed any type of food that he wants. He has a bed in there, he has a shower and a bathtub. He has pretty lavish toiletries like Epsom salts, sugar scrubs, that kind of stuff.”
But there’s more to the madness.
In order to further warp the mind of Alati over his month-long stint, Young has made sure he gets his food delivered on an irregular schedule to make it harder for him to figure out how much time has passed.
But it’s not all doom and gloom. Young allowed Alati access to any food he wanted over the course of the month.
His family and friends have been given a livestream where they can check in on him, but no communication with the outside world is permitted. Young revealed Alati’s family were strongly against the challenge with his sister the most vocal.
“They tried to get him to not do it but he doesn’t listen to anybody but himself,” Young told Deadspin. “She tried very hard to get him to pull out and he wasn’t having it. She’s pretty worried.”
Alati’s father express similar concerns but remained supportive of his son pursuing the wacky endeavour.
“I’m definitely concerned,” he said. “But I chose to focus on the positive, wishing for a successful completion of the wager.
“I gave him a chance to talk me through it and hear him out … He’s in a profession where they do things that other people wouldn’t do.”
Alati has roughly two weeks left in his dark cave before he can emerge victorious. Game on.
It’s not the first time poker players have proved their worth in extravagant challenges either.
Instagram playboy Dan Blizerian once won a $ 600,000 bet cycling from Vegas to Los Angeles in under 48 hours. Hedge fund manager and fellow Bill Perkins bet against the 38-year-old and got a rude surprise when Blizerian, dubbed the “biggest jerk of Instagram” entered LA with 15 hours to spare.
The ride, which was estimated to have spanned over 500km, gathered international attention in 2016 with former Tour de France victory Lance Armstrong reaching out to help Blizerian’s effort.
