Erick Lindgren Prop Bet
I t goes without saying that Erick Lindgren is a man full of gamble. Whether it’s at the poker table, betting on the weekly NFL schedule, or a free throw shooting prop bet with friends, Lindgren always likes to get action when he thinks he’s got the best of it.
But halfway through the 2007 World Series of Poker, Lindgren made a bet that nobody thought he could win.
Out for dinner with some of his friends, Lindgren was upset by his performance and subsequent bust-out in the $50,000 H.O.R.S.E. event earlier that day. Looking for a way to punish himself, Lindgren came up with a unique method. Rather than head home to rest for the next day’s tournament, Lindgren instead told his friends he planned on playing golf all day the next day.
Fellow poker pros Gavin Smith, Peter Feldman, and Chris Bell were at that dinner and felt that just playing golf wasn’t enough. Smith was the first to chime in and offered the man known as “E-Dog’” $100,000 if he could shoot four rounds under 100 at Bear’s Best Golf Course in a single day.
“He had no problem getting action,” said Smith. “Everybody wanted to bet against him.”
But like any good prop bet there were some stipulations that made it interesting – and potentially painful. Bear’s Best is renowned as one of the hilliest courses in Vegas and Lindgren would have to shoot from the pro tees, carry his own bag, and walk the course. No golf carts, no caddies, and no shooting from the ladies’ tees.
So just before 6am the next day, a mere few hours after the dinner actually ended, Lindgren found himself standing on the first tee at Bear’s Best with 72 grueling holes of golf in front of him.
The first and second rounds went by without too much trouble for Lindgren; he shot an 86 and an 84. The third round was a little bit more challenging as he shot a 94. But the fourth round was when Lindgren really began to struggle.
With the first three rounds behind him, Lindgren was in the home stretch but starting to feel it physically. After the 11th hole on the final round, Lindgren really noticed his focus was starting to fade and his body was telling him to pack it in.
“I was in so much pain, I thought I was going to pass out on the back nine,” said Lindgren.
“After five holes, he looked dead. I was sure he wasn’t going to be able to do it,” said Smith. “And then he dug deep and found something that nobody knew he had.”
Despite the pain kicking in, Lindgren shot a 92 on the final round.
Smith,
“What I witnessed was absolutely the most amazing thing of its kind,” said Balsbaugh, who worked on the PGA Tour as an agent before switching to poker. “It combined the stress and pressure of a big bet with the physical nature of it. It was unbelievable.”
Adding to the pressure were the cameras from RawVegas.tv, which followed Lindgren the entire day and documented the bet from start to finish.
“He was focused on what he needed to do. There was cameras out, there were tons of people there; none of that worried him,” said Smith.
After fourteen hours of play in 100-plus degree heat, Lindgren was victorious and extremely sore.
“That was the sickest day of my life,” said Lindgren. “I was able to win the bet, but I was really hurting. I regret it.”
Rather than booing him as he tapped in his final putt, his friends, who were now out of pocket on a bet they figured was in the bag, gave the California native a round of applause and even agreed to take his clubs off of his back for him.
“There are a lot of poker players who might think that they could they do it,” said
“This may have taken a year or two off of my life. I guess we’ll never know the final tally,” joked Lindgren.
Lance Bradley has been working in the poker industry for four years. He is currently the editor of ThePokerBiz.com, where you can read more of his writing and unique coverage of the poker industry.
