Dan Bilzerian Risks $1.2 Million on LA to Vegas Bike Bet

Brian Corlisse

5 years ago

Dan Bilzerian, Long-Distance Cyclist: another round of high stakes prop betting will see the Instagram King cycle from LA to Las Vegas for $1.2 million. (Image: kinobody.com)

Dan Bilzerian captured the interest of the poker community once again this week after he announced that he will be cycling from LA to Las Vegas for on a $1.2 million prop bet.

The poker playing playboy, who seemingly has more money than sense a lot of the time, is never one to shy away from a challenge. So when hedge fund manager Bill Perkins proposed an endurance bet, Bilzerian was more than willing to talk turkey.

How the two well-bankrolled players got onto the subject of cycling is unclear. But the end result was published on Twitter for all to see.

On Your Bike, Bilzerian

According to Perkins, Bilzerian will have to cycle from his home in LA to the famous Welcome to Las Vegas sign that sits south of The Strip in just two days.

After some back-and-forth over the finer details of the bet, the pair eventually agreed to the following conditions:

Bilzerian must cycle from LA to Las Vegas (which is 320 miles, according to Perkins and Google maps).
Bilzerian must complete the ride in 48 hours.
Bilzerian must start the challenge by March 31.
If Bilzerian completes the challenge successfully, he’ll receive the $1.2 million bet prize.

According to Bilzerian, he hasn’t ridden a bicycle for 18 years, but that doesn’t seem to be a concern for the multimillionaire. Nor do the numerous steep hills that will await him on his desert-ended journey.

The Instagram King offered a similar bet to stunner and fellow poker player Samantha Abernathy recently, but was a tad less generous in his proposition. He was willing to put up a mere $10,000 to the beauty to complete the LA to Vegas ride in 72 hours.

Bilzerian spent ten times that on Powerball tickets not long ago, reportedly snapping up $100,000 worth of tickets for the $1.6 billion jackpot draw. He did not win that one, by the way.

Perkins Way with Wagers

Similarly, Bill Perkins is no stranger to offering big money bets on seemingly ridiculous physical feats. Just last month he landed Antonio Esfandiari in hot water after they agreed to a $50,000 lunge bet at PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA).

The terms of the bet were simple: Esfandiari had to lunge everywhere (instead of walking) for 48 hours. However, after feeling the burn a few hours into the bet, Esfandiari was forced to pee into a cup under the table during a PCA event, rather than lunge to the restroom.

That move earned him a disqualification from the tournament director and a boatload of social media embarrassment.

Fortunately, he did turn the situation into a positive by donating his $50,000 prop bet prize to charity, but not before he was forced to apologize for taking his betting antics too far.

As for Bilzerian’s chances in the latest high stakes prop bet, the community is currently divided.

Jonathan Vivet claims the bet is “easy money” and that he cycles from Reno to Vegas (twice the distance in his words) in 48 hours every other year for charity.

In contrast, TheClayMax isn’t as confident and implored Bilzerian not to go through with it.

“@DanBilzerian please don’t do this Dan, you will most certainly die,” he tweeted.

Is Bilzerian prepared to stare death in the face and cycle off into the sunset with $1.2 million? We’ll have to ride it out and see.