Poker Pro Takes Bet To Become 'Fluent' In Mandarin In Just One YearJoey Ingram Stands To Win Nearly $50K On Wager |
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Las Vegas poker pro Joey Ingram, one of many in the poker world with a penchant for off-the-wall prop bets, has found a new high-stakes wager to occupy himself with for the next 12 months.
Ingram took to his popular YouTube channel to announce that he has bet $7,500 to win $45,000 if he can learn Mandarin in one year. He’ll have to post a 30-minute video online with “fluent” Mandarin in order to collect.
Ingram said an earlier version of the bet called for him to learn Spanish in one year, but he figured that “would be too easy” and that learning Mandarin was “more valuable.”
“We are going to have five judges to verify” the Mandarin, said Ingram, who indicated that he has no prior knowledge of the language.
The pot-limit Omaha cash game specialist said that he’s considering relocating to China, but he’s not yet sure on his exact strategy to quickly learn what is considered one of the hardest languages for an English speaker.
“I’m going to watch Mandarin movies, listen to Mandarin music, I’m going to go to China and maybe spend some time on the Mandarin grind," Ingram said. “I don’t really know exactly what I’m going to do. I got a couple of really good apps I’m going to be using. I’ll be putting in many hours a day. I’ll trying to find some [Chinese] friends in Las Vegas.”
Ingram said he’d invest some 2,000 hours into the wager.
Ingram said he thinks he’s “a lock” to win the bet, but he later said, “wish me luck, I’m certainly going to need it.” He said the people who bet against him—entrepreneurs Jonathan Bales and Peter Jennings—feel “very secure” with their end of the wager.
A Tweet from Ingram drew some feedback from the poker community, with several observers asking if he’s interested in booking more action. Someone offered him 20-1.
“You might be drawing dead,” poker pro Owais Ahmed said. Former main event finalist Russell Thomas believes the stakes aren’t high enough to provide the motivation required. “The bet is way too small for you to have a chance,” he said.
“$7,400 buyout incoming,” said veteran poker pro David Benefield, who just so happens to have studied Mandarin in Beijing. Few know how hard it will be better than Benefield.
Another observer commented that Ingram’s bet would be worse than that widely-publized McDonald’s prop from earlier this year. In that wager, poker pro Mike Noori had to eat $1,000 worth of McDonald’s in 36 hours. He ended up only eating $100 worth of the fast food.
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