Rich Alati

Poker pro Rich Alati has been living in a dark bathroom since November 21. Assuming he can last until December 21, he stands to win a $100,000 prop bet. Rory Young is betting the $100k against Alati's ability to last in the bathroom for 30 days. Making matters more difficult is that Alati only has a bed and bathtub to keep him company.

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1. Yet here is a real wager currently being played out between two poker pros: American player Rich Alati will get $100,000 from Australian pro Rory Young if he stays in a pitch-dark bathroom, alone.
2. Rich Alati confinement prop bet The last couple of weeks have been abuzz with Rich Alati and Rory Young insane prop bet. Below are the terms of the prop bet:. Alati was to stay in isolation for a whole month (30 days to be exact).

Would you be willing to live a nightmare for $100,000? While the 'I work for Company XYZ… I already am,' is a great joke answer, I am talking about a literal living nightmare. Apparently, poker pro Rich Alati is, and I do not understand it at all. I also can't fathom how he is halfway through it already. Alati, right now (as far as I know), is sitting in a pitch black, silent bathroom with no electronics, no communication with the outside world. He has been there since November 21st and – if he goes through the entire duration of the prop bet – will be in there for a total of 30 days. For $100,000. If he gives up, he must pay fellow poker pro Rory Young $100,000.

It's insanity. Perhaps literally.

Poker players love their prop bets, but I don't think I have ever heard of one this punishing, this sadistic. Go ahead and try to play 36 holes of golf in a couple hours. Lose a bunch of weight. Gain a bunch of weight. But near-sensory deprivation solitary confinement? Fuuuuck that.

Young explained to Pocket Fives that he was playing heads-up at the Bellagio with Alati, when to make conversation, he asked him how long he thought he 'could last in a dark room, with no human interaction?'

The Prop Bet

Alati thought he could do it for 30 days and after some further discussion, they booked the $100,000 bet. They both escrowed $5,000 with a trusted third party and Alati had six months to begin. If either backed out, the other got the $5,000.

Young explained the setup:

The conditions are complete darkness, so no electronics, no light-emitting devices, no drugs of any kind. He is allowed any type of food that he wants. He has a bed in there, he has a shower and a bathtub. He has pretty lavish toiletries like Epsom salts, sugar scrubs, that kind of stuff.

He also has a refrigerator (interior light disabled) and receives periodic food deliveries. The deliveries consist of six days' worth of food, but are delivered at irregular intervals so that Alati doesn't get tipped off as to how much time has passed.

I was thinking about how the deliveries would work, as opening a door or a hatch would clearly let light in. My thought is that there is some sort of antechamber where the food is dropped off, serving as a buffer between the isolation room and the outside world. Perhaps someone deposits the food in the antechamber, knocks on Alati's door, and then he waits a minute before opening his door to get the food. In the meantime, the deliverer has left and antechamber is pitch black.

Young said he was shocked at how quickly Alati accepted the bet, never even asking for odds, and how he did almost zero preparation for the experience.

There are five night-vision cameras recording Alati (he gets shower and toilet privacy), with a select group of family and friends able to watch. I would assume this is to ensure Alati's safety and to make sure he is following the rules, but Young said they are hoping to sell the footage as a reality show down the road.

Thoughts and Prayers for Alati – These Things Don't Go Well

Research has shown that severe isolation like this is a horrible idea and could result in serious mental trauma. Solitary confinement in prison is extremely controversial as many people think it is akin to torture, and the sensory deprivation and isolation there is not as extreme as in Alati's case.

An article in The Science Explorer describes the efforts of cave explorers Josie Laures and Antoine Senni were described, as they willingly spent three and four months, respectively, alone in separate dark caves to research the effects of such isolation in darkness. The way their brains lost all concept of time was nuts. Senni would sleep for 30 straight hours, but think he had taken a short nap. When he finally left the cave, he thought he was in there for two fewer months than he really was.

The two were so lonely and out of sorts that they actually tried to capture rats for companionship. Laures was able to, Senni accidentally killed the one he tried to catch.

In another study, conducted a decade ago in the UK, six volunteers were isolated in a pitch black, silent rooms for just 48 hours. They experienced hallucinations, paranoia, panic, even knowing this was just an experiment with a limited duration.

One subject, a comedian whose normal extroversion made the experience increasingly rough, described looking at a non-existent pile of 500 oyster shells.

'I could see the pearly sheen on the oyster shells as clear as day,' he said.

'Then I felt as though the room was taking off from underneath me. For the first time, I realized that the lack of stimulation was driving me close to insanity. I felt nothing but numbness, as though I was losing the will to live.'

One of the researchers explained the hallucinations in a BBC documentary on the experiment:

In the dark room, people would be hallucinating because there is absolutely nothing to focus attention on. Now, in the absence of information, the human brain carries on working and processing information even if there's no information to process. And after a while, it starts to create that information itself.

The subjects also saw their mental acuity decrease severely after only being isolated for two days. They performed much worse in cognitive tests after the experiment than they did beforehand.

That Rich Alati is somehow still in his dark room is amazing. Hopefully he won't have to spend too much of the $100,000 on therapy if he makes it through.

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The solitary confinement prop bet between Rich Alati and Rory Young has had the poker world talking during the last couple weeks. Would Alati stay in his isolation room for 30 straight days? As it turns out, the answer is no. On Monday, the infamous $100,000 prop bet came to end as Rich Alati re-entered society. But Alati was not the loser.

After 20 days, it was actually Rory Young, who was free to live his life as normal, complete with both natural and artificial light, who asked for the bet to end. According to Darren Rovell of The Action Network, when Young went to deliver Alati food on Monday, he saw Alati 'was still in good spirits' and, likely figuring Alati was going to make it the full 30 days, asked for a buy-out.

Young Saw the Writing on the Wall

For those not hip on all forms of gambling lingo, a 'buy out' is when one party agrees to pay the other part of the dollar amount agreed upon in exchange for ending the bet early. It's basically crying 'uncle' while saving a little money. The winner of the bet doesn't win as much as he might have, but he also doesn't have to continue with whatever ridiculous challenge is in play.

In the case of the isolation bet, Young decided that he would rather give up a large chunk of change two-thirds of the way through the bet than risk giving up more a week and a half later. Young told Rovell that he offered Alati $25,000 to end the bet, but Alati pressed for more, so the two finally agree on $62,400 in exchange for Alati walking out of his 'chamber,' as they called it.

'At the last food drop, he was stronger than ever,' Young. 'I underestimated his mindset, his resolve. I'm not disappointed I made the bet, I thought I had the better side, but he has exceeded all my expectations.'

Alati is a Sicko

Prop bets are a common thing in the poker world, but this one was one of the more controversial and potentially dangerous. Alati was required to remain in a pitch-black room by himself with no contact with the outside world for 30 days. That's all alone, so ability to see, alone with his thoughts for a month. If he did it, he would win $100,000 from Young. If he gave up, he owed Young $100,000.

According to Rovell, Alati and Young signed an 11-page contract. Rovell revealed several details, as follows:

• The document has a waiver that absolves Young from responsibility for anything that Alati endures including 'death, disability, blindness, diminished vision, loss of any eye function' as well as mental and emotional trauma.
• The room where Alati is staying, referred to as the chamber, features a mattress, shower, bath, laundry and trash basket, and a fridge with the lights removed.
• Alati is not allowed to use drugs, any communication/light-emitting devices and must not have any object that conveys time or date.
• Alati submitted to a blood or urine test before entering room and Young may take a sample from him every time there is a delivery. Tests are allowed to show Alati's pre-workout supplement and amino acids, but nothing else that's not in proportion.
• Alati will get food delivered in between three- and six-day intervals. It has been randomized so Alati can't figure out how long he's been in the room.
• Alati can request certain foods, but Young may decline those requests.
• The loser of the bet pays the expenses for the wager — upwards of $7,000.

There were two aspects of the mechanics of the bet that I wondered about. First, how did the food delivery work? Young (or whoever delivered it) couldn't just open the chamber door and give Alati the food, as that would involve human contact plus light entering the room. My guess is there was an antechamber serving as a buffer between Alati's room and the outside world. Perhaps the deliverer would put open an exterior door, put the food in the antechamber, knock on Alati's door, then exit the antechamber, closing the exterior door to seal out the light. After waiting perhaps a minute or two, Alati would open his door, take the food – still in pitch darkness – and then retreat back inside.

Second, unless they soundproofed the chamber, I would assume Alati would be able to hear at least a little something from the outside world. If the chamber was in a hotel room (which I don't think it was), he would probably be able to hear vacuuming, people in neighboring rooms, or people in the hallway. If it was in a house or office building, there still might be sounds from the outside leaking in.

And sure enough, to that second point, The Action Network said that a 'faint sound of landscaping' gave Alati the ability to determine day and night cycles, giving him a very good idea of how long he had been isolated.

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The solitary confinement prop bet between Rich Alati and Rory Young has had the poker world talking during the last couple weeks. Would Alati stay in his isolation room for 30 straight days? As it turns out, the answer is no. On Monday, the infamous $100,000 prop bet came to end as Rich Alati re-entered society. But Alati was not the loser.

After 20 days, it was actually Rory Young, who was free to live his life as normal, complete with both natural and artificial light, who asked for the bet to end. According to Darren Rovell of The Action Network, when Young went to deliver Alati food on Monday, he saw Alati 'was still in good spirits' and, likely figuring Alati was going to make it the full 30 days, asked for a buy-out.

Young Saw the Writing on the Wall

For those not hip on all forms of gambling lingo, a 'buy out' is when one party agrees to pay the other part of the dollar amount agreed upon in exchange for ending the bet early. It's basically crying 'uncle' while saving a little money. The winner of the bet doesn't win as much as he might have, but he also doesn't have to continue with whatever ridiculous challenge is in play.

In the case of the isolation bet, Young decided that he would rather give up a large chunk of change two-thirds of the way through the bet than risk giving up more a week and a half later. Young told Rovell that he offered Alati $25,000 to end the bet, but Alati pressed for more, so the two finally agree on $62,400 in exchange for Alati walking out of his 'chamber,' as they called it.

'At the last food drop, he was stronger than ever,' Young. 'I underestimated his mindset, his resolve. I'm not disappointed I made the bet, I thought I had the better side, but he has exceeded all my expectations.'

Alati is a Sicko

Prop bets are a common thing in the poker world, but this one was one of the more controversial and potentially dangerous. Alati was required to remain in a pitch-black room by himself with no contact with the outside world for 30 days. That's all alone, so ability to see, alone with his thoughts for a month. If he did it, he would win $100,000 from Young. If he gave up, he owed Young $100,000.

According to Rovell, Alati and Young signed an 11-page contract. Rovell revealed several details, as follows:

• The document has a waiver that absolves Young from responsibility for anything that Alati endures including 'death, disability, blindness, diminished vision, loss of any eye function' as well as mental and emotional trauma.
• The room where Alati is staying, referred to as the chamber, features a mattress, shower, bath, laundry and trash basket, and a fridge with the lights removed.
• Alati is not allowed to use drugs, any communication/light-emitting devices and must not have any object that conveys time or date.
• Alati submitted to a blood or urine test before entering room and Young may take a sample from him every time there is a delivery. Tests are allowed to show Alati's pre-workout supplement and amino acids, but nothing else that's not in proportion.
• Alati will get food delivered in between three- and six-day intervals. It has been randomized so Alati can't figure out how long he's been in the room.
• Alati can request certain foods, but Young may decline those requests.
• The loser of the bet pays the expenses for the wager — upwards of $7,000.

There were two aspects of the mechanics of the bet that I wondered about. First, how did the food delivery work? Young (or whoever delivered it) couldn't just open the chamber door and give Alati the food, as that would involve human contact plus light entering the room. My guess is there was an antechamber serving as a buffer between Alati's room and the outside world. Perhaps the deliverer would put open an exterior door, put the food in the antechamber, knock on Alati's door, then exit the antechamber, closing the exterior door to seal out the light. After waiting perhaps a minute or two, Alati would open his door, take the food – still in pitch darkness – and then retreat back inside.

Second, unless they soundproofed the chamber, I would assume Alati would be able to hear at least a little something from the outside world. If the chamber was in a hotel room (which I don't think it was), he would probably be able to hear vacuuming, people in neighboring rooms, or people in the hallway. If it was in a house or office building, there still might be sounds from the outside leaking in.

And sure enough, to that second point, The Action Network said that a 'faint sound of landscaping' gave Alati the ability to determine day and night cycles, giving him a very good idea of how long he had been isolated.

COMMENTS

Leave a Comment

LATEST NEWS

Rich Alati Age

filter by

Dan Katz

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• $600

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• $400

• William Hill
• £1,200

• Betsafe Poker
• $1,000

• Bet-at-Home
• €1,500

• Guts Poker
• $/€/£300

Rich Alati

view all

POKER IN YOUR COUNTRY

Rich Alati Poker

• US POKER SITES
• CANADIAN POKER SITES
• UK POKER SITES
• EUROPEAN POKER SITES
• SOUTH AFRICAN POKER SITES

DEVICE COMPATIBILITY

Mobile Poker Sites

Linux Poker

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Mac Poker

GUIDES

Rich Alati Poker

Deposit Methods

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