Phil Hellmuth is known to engage in various prop bets not concerning poker. Yesterday, the Poker Brat agreed on a tennis prop bet that specifies he must at least return one out of 20 serves versus a pro tennis player. He went through the challenge and was successful not only in returning a serve but made some extra cash along the way.
The rules:
- Return one serve = win $7,000
- Score a point = win $16,000
- Any serve exceeding 80 miles per hour (MPH) doesn't count.
Note that the average speed of a male tennis pro's serve is around 114 MPH, so 80 MPH seems like he's attempting to hit the ball in slow-mo.
The 15-time WSOP bracelet champ posted a total of 5 videos on his Twitter page showing the bet outcomes, and the scenes could resemble a tennis beginner versus an elite pro. On the first serve he hardly grazed the ball with his racket. On the second serve he watched helplessly as the ball soared past him, giving the pro an ace. Afterwards he's getting the hang of it, making his opponent quite nervous. Hellmuth was given a choice to back out of the bet by the tennis pro, who said, "For $3,000, I'll let you off the bet."
On the 8th serve, Hellmuth nailed it. He managed to successfully serve and return the ball, winning a total of $23,000.
Watch the video that earned him $23K:
Phil Hellmuth is no stranger to non-poker prop bets. Last year, he entered a basketball prop bet versus Doug Polk. In the end, Hellmuth stunned them all and went home $10,000+ richer.
