Heads Up SNG Poker Pro Rumnchess Attempts to Earn $30,000 in 21 Days

March 01, 2011 - Heads up poker pro Rumnchess has entered into a proposition bet on the twoplustwo forums and will be attempting a profit of $30,000 in just 21 days.  The buyin levels that he can play are restricted to a maximum of $350 Super Turbo Speed, $550 Turbo Speed, $500 Deep Stack and Regular Speed and $360 4 man shootout.  He will be playing this challenge exclusively on Full Tilt poker under the screen name Rumnchess.

Asked about his strategy for this bet, Rumnchess said "My strategy is to do everything I can to prepare myself mentally, emotionally and physically to win.  This is something I should always do for poker that I don't spend enough time and focus on.  Specifically, this means eating healthy meals, exercising often (gym 4 days a week) and making sure I get enough sleep every night.  If I try to just tear through this bet with redbulls and 16 hour sessions, I don't have a good chance."  He added, "Every day I will try to do something socially, even if it's just meeting for a single beer with a friend or having dinner with my grandfather.  If I do all of this, I will be playing my best poker and it should be world class.  My results in heads up sngs have not yet shown my true abilities when I am taking care of my body and properly focused."

With the line being set at 5:1 for this bet, we asked Rumnchess what he felt his chances were of winning this bet.  "On paper I look like a huge underdog.  If you sharkscope my HUSNG results they are mediocre at best.  There are a bunch of reasons for this: literally zero game selection, playing during MTT sessions, playing tilted, tired and drunk.  In any event, results are really all that matter at the end of the day and my HUSNG career has not been a successful one.  Lately I've transitioned into MTTs and have found quite a bit of success there, but I know that I am still a very strong HUSNG player.  I'm extremely confident in my ability to win the bet, but of course it's always hard to draw the line between arrogance and confidence.  I think I'm a better than 5:1 favorite, which is why I'm taking the bet.  On paper, I look worse than 5:1, so that is why others have bet against me.  I'm not going to give an exact number, but I believe I am +EV on this bet," he said.  Rumnchess is risking $2,000 on this to gain $10,000, which does not count any profits he'll make during the 21 days.

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Go Big or Go Home. Rumnchess enjoys the lifestyle that goes with taking down big bets.

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Responding to concerns that a player on the other side of the bet might convince a friend or skilled player to sit Rumnchess during this bet, thus making his chances of succeeding more difficult, Rumnchess did not seem too worried.  "I'm not particularly concerned about people in the bet angling me.  Mostly, I have a lot of faith in the 2p2 community, and if someone I did not trust wanted to bet against me I would refuse their action.  It's also not as though one person can single handedly shut me down.  Not only do I consider myself able to hold my own against anybody, but I plan on putting in a lot of volume, so there will be plenty of opportunities to find fish to sit or sit untouched.  I find most regulars don't tend to sit me in general, and I don't expect that to change much, nor will I bet upset if it does.  Poker is all about adjusting, so if someone tough wants to play me a lot, I'll just have to find their leaks, adjust and profit."  He added, "And maybe hope to run good along the way."

As for his reasons for taking the bet, he replied, "I'm taking the bet because even if the sidebet were -EV itself, the bet will be +EV in terms of getting me into good physical shape, eating well, sleeping well and so on.  It might seem silly that I need this bet as a motivator for that stuff, but I just know myself well enough to know that having a specific goal like this challenge will be a big asset."

HUSNG will be following this bet over the course of the three weeks with periodic updates along the way.  Check back for more updates soon.