Landon Tice Starts Strong but Faces an Uphill Battle Against Bill Perkins

June 4th, 2021 | by Kaycee James

One of the more unlikely high stakes heads-up matches of 2021 got underway this week when Landon Tice and Bill Perkins anted up on Americas Cardroom.

Landon Tice (pictured) is already facing an uphill battle in his high stakes heads-up match against rich amateur Bill Perkins. (Image: Landon Tice/Twitter)

Tice is out to prove himself as the next poker superstar after being tipped by insiders as a GTO wizard. Perkins, on the other hand, is a wealthy businessman with a passion for poker but a desire to “die with zero.”

The two players are at opposite ends of the spectrum in many ways, but they’ve agreed to meet in the middle for a 20,000-hand showdown. That showdown started on June 2 and, already, sparks are flying.

Landon Tice Gets Ahead but Not for Long

Tice vs. Perkins saw the former get off to a strong start on Wednesday. The American managed to come out ahead by $18,000 after 624 hands of $200/$400 No Limit Hold’em.

However, Perkins hit back in the second session on Thursday night. With almost 1,000 hands played across two tables, he cancelled out the previous day’s losses and moved ahead by just over $61,000.

That’s great news for the hedge fund manager but an impending disaster for Landon Tice and his backers. You see, the kicker is that Tice started with a $720,000 handicap.

The young pro was the heavy favorite going into the match. As such, Perkins was able to negotiate an advantage.

The advantage is that Tice will owe Perkins nine big blinds per 100 hands if he finishes behind. That equates to a potential loss of $720,000 over the course of 20,000 hands.

Moreover, it means Tice has to beat Perkins by at least that much to make a profit. Given that Perkins is ahead by $61,000 in real terms, Tice now needs to win more than $780,000 over the next 19,000 hands.

Bill Perkins is Far from a Fish

Even though Perkins is a frequently one of the weaker players in TV shows such as High Stakes Poker, he does know how to play.

What’s more, he’s a successful hedge fund manager that understands risk and reward.

There’s a long way to go before Tice has to worry but he can’t afford to slip too far behind at any point.

Indeed, even though Phil Galfond has shown that $1 million deficits can be reversed, the circumstances are a lot different in this match.

Landon Tice isn’t Phil Galfond, and he has a massive handicap to overcome. Those to things alone mean the odds are stacked against him.

However, this also means fans are in for a treat. Host site Americas Cardroom is streaming the action on Twitch, so there will be plenty of action to enjoy over the next few weeks.