Betting on a World Series of Poker Bracelet

“Negreanu, one — Ivey, zero,” Daniel Negreanu shouted just moments after winning his fourth World Series of Poker bracelet in a $2,000 limit hold’em event. He added almost $205,000 to his lifetime tournament winnings, but also added an extra $200,000 to his bankroll thanks to a bracelet-bet that he had with Phil Ivey.

Whether it’s for added excitement or the love of gambling, some pros believe that their edge to win a bracelet is so great at the WSOP that they figure, “Why not bet on it?” This year, there is a wide range of bets between some of poker’s biggest names, all with different stipulations, odds, and prices. Some bets are so lucrative, in fact, that they can eclipse even an event’s first-place prize.

“I have a standing bet with Ivey that anytime we both play in the same tournament, we have $200,000 bet on it,” explained Negreanu. “It’s interesting, though, because we also have a rule that if you show up late and the other guy is short, it doesn’t count. Well, I showed up with a fresh stack, and he had lost half of his stack already, so we were off. Then, he got up to 3,200, and I had 3,600. He said, ‘OK, we’re back on.’ Ha!”

One of the more popular bracelet-bets is simply putting money against a player to win an event at the Series for the right odds. Negreanu said that he offered 5-1 odds. He considers that a steal, since he’s won four bracelets in 11 years and needs to win only one every six years to break even. Ivey, on the other hand, was rumored to have offered odds as low as 1.8-1.

“I hear that no one is better than 5-1 to win one, so I’m just going to try to prove them wrong and win some money at the same time,” said Ivey.

Ten-time WSOP bracelet-winner Doyle Brunson never misses out on side-bet action and has numerous wagers, including one with Ivey. “I laid him 3-1 that he wouldn’t, and he wound up taking less than 2-1, which made me feel like an idiot. But I think he is finding out that the further he goes, the tougher it is to win one of those bracelets,” Brunson said in his CardPlayer.com blog.

Ivey is known for being a high-stakes cash-game player and has admitted to losing patience in long tournaments that feature a first-place prize that is far less than what he could be earning elsewhere. The low buy-in, big-field WSOP tournaments have not always been Ivey’s first choice of poker action.

“I have a lot of big bets on winning a bracelet, so I really don’t have a choice. I have to play every event now,” said Ivey. “Hopefully, I can win a bracelet in the next couple of weeks, that way I don’t have to play every event.”

Another player who has capitalized on a bracelet-bet is Erick Lindgren. Before winning the $5,000 mixed-hold’em event, he offered 4-3 odds on a bracelet. One taker was Barry Greenstein, who has some bets of his own. “I actually have bets that I’ll win two bracelets, and that might seem a little cocky, but this is the first year that I’m not playing in the side games all the time,” said Greenstein. “What people don’t realize is that in the past, I’ve played overnight in the cash games. In most tournaments at the Series in the past, I’ve played on no sleep. I think I have a pretty good edge, and I’m pretty versatile as far as games are concerned.”

Taking advantage of that versatility, Greenstein snagged a bracelet this year in the $1,500 razz event and placed third in the $5,000 deuce-to-seven draw lowball with rebuys event.

“I don’t like to say what the odds are, because I have a very big range in odds on these bracelet bets, and it is whatever I can talk the person into. That is part of the fun.”

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