Matt Glantz has kicked off a poker Twitter storm by offering to contract the Covid-19 coronavirus for $250k, his bizarre prop bet being met with equal parts horror, amusement and – in typical poker community fashion – a discussion of the odds…
Willing to contract the #coronavirus for $250k. Will immediately go into self quarantine as to not to spread or infect anyone else. Will document entire experience daily.
Always put my money (I guess body now) where my mouth is.
HMU to negotiate exact terms. Let's do it!
— Matt Glantz (@MattGlantz) March 7, 2020
Matt Glantz likes the odds
As almost everyone knows, the Covid-19 virus has already killed several thousand people worldwide, with China and Italy among the worst affected.
Big events have been canceled, including Triton Poker’s Jeju stop, while Kings Casino in Rozvadov has banned Italian players from staying or playing.
Glantz, however, seems to be of the opinion that much of it is media hype and scaremongering…
https://twitter.com/MattGlantz/status/1236033828180897793?s=20
First up in the replies to Glantz’s $250k offer, there were a number who found the whole thing distasteful, not to mention dangerous…
I think you should sit this one out Matt. Your hot take would literally increase the final death toll. So maybe because most of us will eventually be fine we should just callously gamble with the lives of others AND encourage others to join us?
— Jacqueline Burkhart (@jackiburkhart81) March 7, 2020
“We have vaccines for some of the worst strains of the flu but we don’t have anything for corona. We are seeing a higher than flu rates of pneumonia. John Hopkins University thinks it’s airborne and the flu is not. You have a greater chance of getting more sick with corona vs flu if we take the current numbers’.
Then there were those who pulled Matt Glantz up for offering to do something for a huge sum of money that may well happen anyway…
https://twitter.com/Dudeoflifepoker/status/1236406719934353411?s=20
Matt Glantz isn’t the only well-known poker player with an interest in the coronavirus, Daniel Negreanu tweeting out a joke that went way over the head of at least one Twitter follower…
Had some friends fly in from Wuhan, China last night to play some poker at the house.
Winner got to invite some friends and they all hopped on a plane and came straight over. High fives all around! https://t.co/oV3JEkUqsx
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) March 8, 2020
Well, if you are so concerned for the care of those who would die of hit with the coronavirus, why the hell did you fly in “friends” from Wuhan, China for a poker game Daniel? Are you that hard up for money? You make me sick!
— desiderata9116 (@desiderata9116) March 8, 2020
Back to Glantz, and it appeared that someone was actually interested in taking him up on the somewhat ghoulish offer, ‘Twitter fight promoter’ EmpireMaker2 stepping up to the plate…
100% going to pay you to do this let’s figure ok the best way https://t.co/RikgaZajhL
— EM2 (@EmpireMaker2) March 8, 2020
…but what a difference a week makes when it comes to booking bets…
— Matt Glantz (@MattGlantz) March 8, 2020
Glantz then ran a Twitter poll asking which was the ‘Bigger risk to the US going forward? Coronavirus or Trump?
Bigger risk to the US going forward?
— Matt Glantz (@MattGlantz) March 7, 2020
…but perhaps we should give the final word to former poker pro Andrew Feldman…
Just stop.
— Andrew Feldman (@AFeldmanESPN) March 8, 2020
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