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Welcome folks to another edition of the Gossip Column! Let us take you on a scintillating ride through ‘Gossip Town’ though not a very positive one with stories of despair, disease and political drama.
Jaime Staples and his brother Matt are an incredible duo who managed to complete an unimaginable weight gain/loss program to win a prop bet now more popularly known as the Ultimate Sweat Challenge against Bill Perkins. Taking it a step further, they had announced Ultimate Sweat Challenge 2.0, but things seem to be going downhill for Jaime recently. Will the duo complete this challenge? Watch the video for Jaime’s latest update.
However, the Staples brothers are not the only ones going through a tough time. Things don’t look good for PokerStars Ambassador Lex Veldhuis who seems to be having heart issues.
While we wish Veldhuis a speedy recovery, we also hope that the political scenario in the U.S. will also reach a state of normalcy soon. Want to know what top poker pros think of the 2018 U.S. midterm elections. Read ahead and find out!
On November 5, live streamer and poker player Jaime Staples, posted a video on his YouTube channel to update his fans about the status of his Ultimate Sweat Challenge 2.0.
Back in March 2018, brothers Jaime and Matt Staples won their prop bet against Bill Perkins where they won $150,000 with 50-1 odds. According to the challenge both brothers had to get to the same weight in a year’s time. It was a tough task since Jaime weighed 304 pounds (137.9 kg) and brother Matt was 134 pounds (60.7 kg).
At the official weigh-in which took place on March 25 at 5 pm at Jason Somerville‘s Run It Up Reno event, Jeff Gross who was the judge, announced that both brothers weighed in on 188.3 (85.4 kg) meaning that Jaime had lost an unbelievable 115.7 pounds (52.5 kg) while Matt had gained an astounding 54.3 pounds (24.6 kg).
We did it. We won the ultimatesweat bet and 150k. I feel so surreal right now.
Thanks to @matthew_stapless@bp22@mikevacantifriends and family, @beccarr94 and of course all of you rooting us on every day. Inspiring me to be better. Thank you ❤️pic.twitter.com/Yg6IpfLv5y
— Jaime Staples (@jaimestaples) March 26, 2018
A couple of weeks after that the brothers announced the Ultimate Sweat Challenge 2.0 and as per the challenge, they would be able to win another $150,000, but the odds changed as they now could lose $50,000.
The #ultimatesweat continues. The new bet is our 50K to Bill’s 150K on both Matt and I getting to 9.9% body fat or less on March 25th, 2019. https://t.co/i34bHJQRPj
— Jaime Staples (@jaimestaples) April 13, 2018
This latest video update, titled “I’m failing…” revealed to fans the very grim possibility of the Staples brothers failing the challenge. Personal trainer Mike Vacanti told Jaime that the odds should now be 100-1 that he would make it to 9.9% body fat.
Will the brothers win? Only time will tell….
Lex VeldhuisTalks About His Heart Issues
Popular poker player and streamer LexVeldhuis hasn’t been feeling too well these days. The PokerStars ambassador recently shared that a heart irregularity was causing him to collapse.
On October 28, Veldhius posted on Twitter that he had collapsed in the street owing to a heart irregularity and his doctor later said it was due to fatigue and stress.
I’m sorry guys I have to cancel my meet and greet today. Im fine, don’t worry, but I collapsed on the street yesterday.
At the clinic they checked my vitals and said my heart showed irregularities most likely related to stress and fatigue.
I’m fine now! But need to go home.<3 pic.twitter.com/SzxAbrErCf
— LexVeldhuis (@RaSZi) October 28, 2018
Just when we thought Veldhuis would settle down by taking adequate rest, he posted a second tweet on November 6, telling his fans on Twitter that he was not feeling all good, and decided to take a second opinion. He was asked to rest till further tests were carried out.
Got a second opinion. None of the necessary tests have been done apparently. Gonna have a full check-up hooked up to a heart monitor this week. Doc ordered me to do nothing till tests were done.
Sorry for saying I’d 100% stream. I really need to have this checked out. <3 pic.twitter.com/mR46uCpHxV
— LexVeldhuis (@RaSZi) November 6, 2018
Veldhuis is hugely popular for his streaming on Twitch. During the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) this year, he pulled in as many as 32,829 concurrent viewers. He was also seen participating at the Triton Poker Series. The committed player definitely needs rest from his hectic routine, we’d say.
U.S Midterm Elections Evoke A Mixed Response From Poker Players
The 2018-midterm elections in the U.S got underway on November 6 and the traditional tussle between Republicans and Democrats could be seen during the polls over various areas. We saw a mixed response coming in from poker players, some were ecstatic and others, disappointed with the results.
Nate Silver was among the ones from the poker community to voice his opinion on the elections. Surprisingly, hardly few outside the poker circuit know that Silver, a known sports and political analyst also plays poker.
In fact there was a period from 2004 to 2007 before he entered the sports and politics media space when Silver made a living out of online poker. Silver now plays occasionally and this year he cashed in a $1,500 NLHE event where he finished 79th for $3,715. So when Silver posted his political opinion on Twitter, he got many reactions.
Good chance that the House, Senate and presidential race will *all* be competitive in 2020.
— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) November 7, 2018
We do remember that Silver had given Donald Trump only a 30% chance of winning during the 2016 presidential election and estimated that Hillary Clinton would be the voters’ favorite. Turned out he was wrong. So when he made his opinion on the election results public on FiveThirtyEight, he did get wary responses. But this time, Silver’s critics were silenced, when his guess that Democrats had 88% chance of regaining control of the House of Representatives and a 19% shot of taking the Senate, proved correct.
Meanwhile, other poker players including Cate Hall reacted to Trump’s claim on victory despite losing the House.
If Trump understood what a Democrat majority in the House meant, he’d probably be pretty worried
— Cate Hall (@catehall) November 7, 2018
Mike Matusow and Mike McDonald also shared their views. McDonald said only one word, and that was enough.
Here’s a fact! Everyone who was GOP and went against Trump lost in house and Senate. What does that tell you! #ElectionDay2018
— Mike Matusow (@themouthmatusow) November 7, 2018
Oops
— Mike McDonald (@MikeMcDonald89) November 7, 2018