Jaime Staples Under Serious Pressure Over Ultimate Sweat #2

PokerStars backed Twitch streamer Jaime Staples has released a video detailing his struggles over the second Ultimate Sweat wager with hedge fund tycoon Bill Perkins. Earlier this year Jaime and his brother Matt beat the odds to get their weights within a single pound over a 12 month period.

Perkins made what people thought was a throwaway comment when he offered the brothers 50-1 odds for a $150,000 prize if they could successfully complete the challenge. And in March this year the pair were victorious.

After the prop bet received an incredible amount of positive publicity, the brothers were once again lured in by Perkins for a much more demanding challenge. This time Jaime and Matt would have 12 months to lower their body fat percentage to a single digit. Not only that, but for another $150,000 prize they would only get 3-1 odds - meaning they would be risking $50,000 instead of the meagre $3,000 they wagered last year.

Under Pressure

Fast forward to today and the pair only have 5 months left to lose the body fat, and, according to Jaime, things haven’t been running smoothly.

Jaime has long struggled with trying to give up smoking and this pattern over the last few months has contributed to issues with anxiety and his weight actually going up - around 42lbs since the conclusion of Ultimate Sweat #1. This has left the success of the latest challenge in serious peril. Personal trainer Mike Vacanti told both brothers that it is highly unlikely that hitting 10% body fat at a weight over 150lbs is pretty much a 100-1 shot at this stage. Although a lot of total bodyweight can still be lost over a 12 - 16 week period.

While this is indeed a long shot, it is still not physiologically impossible. This knowledge seems to have spurred Jaime into a second wind, coupled with the intense motivation of not wanting to let his brother down. The emotions will be running high right now, as Matt is much closer to his goal than Jaime, so the success or failure of the task appears to lie squarely on one man’s shoulders.

Jaime talked about needing to come up with a plan, so the poker community can expect  to see what he can produce over the coming days. He will no doubt be sharing his thoughts on social media, and we can all look forward to chipping in with our own thoughts and also send some messages of support. This is a fantastic feel good story for poker and we should all get behind the brothers to wish them well.