[StarnetGypsy]

19th June, 2008

As if the action at the World Series of Poker wasn’t enough, poker professionals Phil Ivey and Daniel Negreanu have a running bet on any tournament they play together, if one of them wins the other has to cough up $200,000.

In addition to winning his fourth bracelet in the $2,000 limit hold’em WSOP event, worth almost $205,000, Negreanu will also be adding a payment from Ivey making good on their bet.

“I have a standing bet with Ivey that anytime we both play in the same tournament, we have $200,000 bet on it,” Negreanu said. “It’s interesting, though, because we also have a rule that if you show up late and the other guy is short, it doesn’t count. Well, I showed up with a fresh stack, and he had lost half his stack already, so we were off. Then, he got up to 3,200, and I had 3,600. He said, ‘OK, we’re back on.’ Ha!”

Making side bets on winning a bracelet at the WSOP is actually quite common among the pros who actually have a good shot.

“I hear that no one is better than 5-1 to win one, so I’m going to try to prove them wrong and win some money at the same time,” said Ivey. “I have a lot of big bets on winning a bracelet, so I really don’t have a choice. I have to play every event now. Hopefully, I can win a bracelet in the next couple of weeks, that way I don’t have to play every event.”