Landon Tice and Bill Perkins play the first session of a scheduled 20,000-hand match this Thursday. The 22-year-old Tice entered the heads-up challenge as a heavy favorite, but even Tice admits the 9bb/100 handicap agreed upon by both players presents a significant challenge.
Tice needs to win the match by $720,001 or more to beat the spread in the $200/$400 No-Limit Hold’em match. While that marks a lofty figure, Tice is wagering on himself to topple Perkins, handicap included.
Tice asked Poker Twitter for action on Sunday, looking for even-money odds on beating Perkins against the spread:
The match presents a fascinating matchup of styles. Tice’s obsession with poker makes him one of the biggest rising stars in the game. Since turning pro before even turning 21, Tice has skyrocketed up the stakes in both live and online play.
Perkins stands on the other side of the spectrum in several ways when compared to Tice. The 52-year-old billionaire businessman plays poker recreationally, never shying away from bold plays and decidedly non-GTO lines.
The bankroll sources for both players also differs significantly. Tice will be heavily staked for the challenge, while Perkins can show up to any poker game with an almost unlimited source of his own money.
Perkins, Polk chime in on Tice’s tweet
Tice readily admits that the 9bb/100 spread will be tough to overcome, no matter how big his actual skill level edge is against Perkins. In his latest blog, he wrote that he’s not exactly sure where Perkins heads-up skill stands going into the challenge.
“If Bill is on par with me even with the 9bb/100 spot, and I’m playing as good as I can, then good for him,” Tice wrote.
“Who knows, maybe he’s even beating me prior to the spot,” Tice continued later in the piece. “It would be quite hard to fathom that being the case, but if it’s true, then hats off to his team and coaches who brought him to be able to play some great HUNL.”
Doug Polk commented on Tice’s Sunday tweet, and it appears even the king of the HUNL mountain doesn’t know whether Tice or Perkins makes the better bet at 9bb/100:
“Once im all setup (still a couple weeks out) id love to do a bit of coverage on the event and maybe do some interviews with you guys if you would be up for that,” Polk wrote. “Extra fun to see this having played both of you some and didnt know which side I wanted to bet on. (So I didnt bet).”
Perkins himself wants a big chunk of side action from Tice:
Perkins looks like he wants a $2 million side bet against Tice. Tice responded with a counter offer to take a side bet against Perkins on the outright winner of the challenge:
“Wanna try to work on odds outright? (you'd obviously get the better of it at + money, but i will be negotiating with people revolving the price you'd get,” Tice responded.
In the era of the heads-up challenge, the Tice vs. Perkins matchup could emerge as the most interesting yet. Check back with Poker.org for ongoing coverage as Tice and Perkins begin to play the scheduled 20,000 hands.
Featured image source: Twitter
