Phil Galfond Must Lose 20lbs and Gain 40k Followers to Win $10k Prop Bet

Phil Galfond has decided the best way to get in shape and increase his social media following is by launching a $10k prop bet – the RunItOnce boss looking to shed 20lbs and gain 40,000 followers in just 90 days!

Galfond took to Twitter to bemoan his own lack of focus when it comes to posting regularly on social media, despite having a YouTube channel and both Twitter and Instagram accounts.

He picked out 4 main reasons for this lapse:

1. I don't spend time on it;
   
2. I don't have a personality that lends itself well to creating exciting content;
   
3. I don't have strategic SM marketing knowledge; and
   
4. I'm way too worried about what everyone will think of each bit of content I put out
   

As for his fitness and health, he revealed:

“If you've followed my career at all, you'll have seen me overweight, in shape, and overweight again. Rinse, repeat. In the last half of 2022, while getting distracted by poker and other obligations, I've "let myself go" once again.”

We’ve probably all been there, but doing something about it isn’t always straightforward or easy, even if, as Phil says:

“I believe that my fitness (and let's be honest, my appearance) is one of the most important factors in my day to day happiness, yet I don't act like it is.”

Galfond has described his plan to address those twin issues as the #102040 Challenge:

He revealed his starting stats and target numbers:

“I'm starting at 121.4k* Twitter followers, 25.7k IG followers, and 18.1k YT subscribers, for a total of 164.5k, and 177.3lbs. Targets are 205.2k* & 157.3lbs. If inactive/bot account decimation happens during this time, I'll adjust the starting number to account for that. Along with all the poker-related content I'll be working on, I'll share my progress on this journey across all platforms in different ways - perhaps more on IG stories than anywhere else, but idk! I don't have a plan yet. Coming up with one is part of the 90-day challenge!”

Galfond’s #102040 Challenge is far from the first weight loss challenge poker players have been involved in, with success, failure, and scandal seen in other challenges!

The Staples brothers, Jaime and Matty, won $150,000 from poker fanatic Bill Perkins when they managed to “meet in the middle” of a weight prop bet. Jaime lost an incredible 52kg while Matty bulked up by 25kg to win the bet at odds of 50-1.

A weight loss prop bet between Mike Matusow and Ted Forrest ended in acrimony when “Mike the Mouth” refused to pay up $2million when he lost.

Six-time WSOP bracelet winner Forrest went from 188lbs (85kg) to under 140lbs (63kg) to win the bet, but Matusow – who had won been $100k by Forrest when he won his own weight loss bet – stumped up only $70k in the years that followed.

Meanwhile, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospelier and Dan “Jungleman” Cates are currently halfway through a $150,000 body fat prop bet

Cates has already lost 17lbs in a bid to get from 18% body fat down to 12% while ElkY has dropped 20lbs on his way from 25.5% down to 14%. If both men meet their targets, the bet will be a wash.

Of course, we’ll keep you updated on the progress of all the prop bets between poker players right here on PokerTube, so stay tuned!