Mike Vacanti & His Worries For Matt Staples' Rapid Weight Gain

(Photo: Twitter.com)

Around three months ago, when we first learned about the crazy weight loss prop bet between Bill Perkins and the Staples brothers, many poker fans reacted to the news with a healthy dose of skepticism. The idea that Jaime and Matt, weighing at 305 lbs and 135 lbs respectively, would meet halfway within one pound of each other, seemed a bit too outlandish to be taken seriously even if we account for the one year time limit, insane 50:1 odds, and the $150,000 incentive.

However, now that the first three months have passed, we can clearly see that both Matt and Jaime are perfectly capable of making very fast progress and in the case of Matt Staples - perhaps a bit too fast.

Highs and Lows

It was very easy to imagine the failure of Jaime and Matt before their friend Mike Vacanti entered the picture. Vacanti is a fitness YouTuber who can both talk the talk and walk the walk. He's taking all of the guess work out of the equation and the fact that Staples bros lacked experience going in, was pretty much nullified by Mike's involvement in the bet. Vacanti is the x-factor, and if the bet ends up going Matt's and Jaime's way, it will be largely due to his involvement. That being said, the will and discipline of Staples brothers shouldn't be underestimated, especially in the light of their recent results.

Jaime is down from 305lbs to 269 lbs which is well above the healthy 2-2.5 pound per week weight loss tempo, that should allow him to finish the challenge below 200 lbs. The more weight a person has to lose the easier it is to lose it and going from 305lbs to 269 lbs is much easier than going from 235 lbs to 200lbs. That being said, the overall game plan of losing 2-2.5lbs per week over a one-year period, that Vacanti devised for Jaime is realistic. Similarly, going from 135 lbs to around 185-200 lbs should also be doable for Matt, but his journey will be much more tricky and potentially unhealthy.

Barring the use of performance enhancing drugs and assuming average genetics, Matt can't possibly build more than 20-25lbs of muscle in one year which means that he'll have to put in at least the same amount of fat. The fact that Matt is currently gaining weight at a rate that would catapult him into the 240lbs territory by the end of the challenge is a cause for concern, and Mike Vacanti is worried.

Going from a buck-thirty thin chap to a buck-eighty slightly soft but also buff guy is one thing, adding 60-70 lbs on top of that is bound to be very unhealthy from both the physical and psychological point of view. So much so that even the $75,000 Matt stands to win, might not be worth the effort. 

The Endgame

Bill Perkins vs. Staples bros weightloss bet can end in a few different ways. According to Vacanti, the best case scenario would be for Jaime and Matt to meet around 190lbs mark which would allow them to improve their health, maintain sanity and affect their overall well-being in a very positive way, to the point that even if they mismanaged their water-weight and failed to get within 1lbs of each other, they could still consider themselves winners. 200-215 lbs mark would also be ok, though both brothers would still have some work to do after the bet ends and the loss would hurt considerably more.

If Matt continued to gain weight at his current rate and Jaime stumbled in his efforts, Staples brothers can still meet each other around 240lbs mark, but this really wouldn't be a pretty (or healthy) way to win. In that last scenario losing to the 1lbs clause would constitute a major disaster.

In any case, the bet is becoming more serious and more exciting with each passing week and if you're not following the Staples brothers YouTube vlog channel already, it might be a great idea to rectify that mistake.