As the 2024 World Series of Poker inches ever-closer, the showdown of the summer - a crossbook bet between Landon Tice and Jeremy Becker, with Matt Berkey and Daniel Negreanu taking action on their respective horses, continues to heat up.
Team Tice will head into the summer with a boost of momentum following Tice's impressive performance in the WPT SHR Poker Showdown. Having made the final table of the event, Tice has $176,000 already locked up and will battle for the $839,300 top prize at the HyperX Arena at Luxor Las Vegas on May 29, just as the WSOP gets underway.
Becker took advantage of Tice's recent success to get action down on himself at even money. Patrick Leonard took him up on the offer and the two agreed to a $20,000 wager on the result of the crossbook bet.
DAT Poker Podcast updates
Negreanu provided insight into the negotiation process occurring behind-the-scenes on his DAT Poker Podcast (around the 8:00 mark in the video below). Negreanu took time to fill audiences in on the ongoing discussions surrounding the bet.
On the events that will count towards the bet...
"It's no longer mutually-played [events], if you will. It's an open season.
"All the live events at the World Series, no online. The Wynn, Venetian, all the events around town are going to count, every bullet is going to count as a crossbook. Everything $10,000 or below."
On the crossbook bet cap...
"We're going to do a $250,000 cap (per event) with an additional $100,000 bracelet bonus. One caveat to that is that one needs to be mutually-played for it to count.
"This fixes the issue of any sort of angling."
On the exciting matchup...
"I'm super excited for it. I think it's going to be a really cool storyline for the series - the guy who learns with machines versus the one that just watches a lot of poker and plays a lot of poker, doesn't even own a computer.
"I think it's going to be fun for poker fans to sweat all summer."
Lewis Spencer and Jesse Lonis
Inspired by the Becker vs. Tice action, Lewis Spencer and Jesse Lonis have decided to square off against one another in a similar set up. Spencer announced the bet on Twitter/X, but further details about the wager have yet to go public.
Clearly, the Becker vs. Tice showdown is not only capturing the attention of the community, it's inspiring others to put their money where their mouthes are.
Will any other notable names throw themselves into the crossbook arena? Stay tuned in to PokerOrg as we bring you all the latest summer showdown updates.
