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Ep. 183 A Perky Life & Antonio's Affliction
The #ULTIMATESWEAT is over! Jaime and Matt Staples have collected on their $150,000 prop bet versus Bill Perkins, after getting their weight to within 1 pound of each other earlier this week. When they booked the bet a year ago, they were roughly 170 lbs apart.
A few days into their prop bet, back in April of 2017, the oldest Staples brother told Poker Central, “We were hanging out after dinner one night on Bill’s patio and fired up the Twitch stream. Someone in the chat made a nonchalant comment about Jaime and Matt being the same weight. I read it out loud and Bill threw out 50-1 and I threw Matt a look before I asked how much we could book.”
The bet was booked for $3,000, giving the bothers a chance to win a whopping $150,000. On Monday, March 26th, in Reno the weigh-in was scheduled. During Jason Somerville’s Run it Up event, under the supervision of referee Jeff Gross and their acclaimed personal trainer Mike Vacanti, Matt and Jaime nailed it. Coming from 305 and 134 pounds respectively, both brothers clocked in exactly at 188.3 pounds and collected $150,000 from Perkins.
After letting the dust settled, Jaime Staples, Matt Staples, and Mike Vacanti found time to talk to Poker Central about this epic prop bet feat. One that will certainly go down in poker history as one of the most fascinating prop bets ever.
Looking back, Jaime started out, “It was surreal. We’ve been working on this project for a year, so I don’t think it’s really sunk in yet, that this whole thing is over. It 
just became my reality – our reality – so I don’t even know how to feel about it right now, but I’m pretty sure I’m happy.”
BEFORE – 12 months ago in the British Virgin Islands while visiting Bill Perkins.
AFTER – On Monday, right after the weigh-in in Reno.
We did it. We won the ultimatesweat bet and 150k. I feel so surreal right now.
Thanks to @matthew_stapless @bp22 @mikevacanti friends 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
Right after the bet finished, the brothers were seen posing with a pizza – for Jaime – and a salad – for Matt. It’s clear that their goals will shift now, and a long road lies ahead in growing into lifelong healthy routines.
“I didn’t even want the lettuce,” Matt joked about the post-celebration activities, “I didn’t want anything. I’m so fooded-out. It’s nice to get back to something relatively clean now. I’m just excited to see and try to reap the benefits of the muscle that I put on this year. Right now you can tell that I’ve put on some muscle, but there’s definitely a lot of body fat as well. I’m just going to be eating lean, working out, and just seeing where my body is at, but I’m definitely in a cut phase for a while.
Personal trainer Mike Vacanti helped the brothers put together a program to get within 1 pound of each other, and he speaks to the different approaches that were needed for Jaime to lose, and for Matt to gain weight.
“So, they were both on different programs. Matt was strength training much more than Jamie,” Vacanti said.
“Knowing that Matt was going to need to add body fat to get into a weight range where we could win this bet, the goal was to build as much muscle in the process, so that post-bet, in the next four to six months, as he loses however much body fat he loses, 20, 25, 30 pounds, we will have that the silver lining of the 18-19 pounds of lean mass that he gained over this time frame.”
While Matt has already put on a lot of muscle mass, the approach for Jaime was much different.
“Jaime was trying to eat foods that would help him stay as full as he could stay on 1,300 calories per day, which meant moderate to high protein, moderate to high fat, and low carb. This was a macronutrient profile that he at least somewhat enjoyed. So, smoothies, chicken breasts, peppers, beef, eggs, were a few of the go-to options, but it really was about consistency and the fact that they could execute on the plan, more than the plan itself.”
Jaime didn’t do Keto
Jaime didn’t do Fasting
Jaime didn’t do Vegan
Jaime didn’t do a Cleanse@jaimestaples lost 112+ pounds in one year by:1) eating in a calorie deficit
2) tracking his macros #ultimatesweat #twomoredays pic.twitter.com/eeV4Xf0qV8— Mike Vacanti (@mikevacanti) March 24, 2018
As you can see above, there was no magic recipe for Jaime’s weight loss. Vacanti underlines this, by saying that there’s not one product or one method that leads to success.
“Jaime could have been on a ketogenic diet, we could have gone lower protein, higher fat and super consistent with low carb, and he would have made probably equal progress. He could have done fasting if he didn’t enjoy having something in the morning hours to eat. But the point of that tweet was, that you don’t have to do any of these things specifically, as long as you’re meeting fundamental nutrition principles for fat loss, which is eating fewer calories than you burn.”
With Vacanti providing strong fundamentals, a rigid program for progress, and constant motivation, the perfect circumstances were created to be successful. However, on paper, it’s always a lot easier than in practice.
“It was very difficult,” Jaime reflects on the journey.
“I look back at where I was then and where I am now and I think the biggest difference is, I’ve gained a lot of knowledge through working with Mike as to how I need to approach this, but also the skill set, and the repetitions of executing on that information. I feel like that’s the biggest disconnect for a lot of people, as they’re unable to take what they know, 80% diet, 20% exercise, eating a ton of sugar is bad, and to actually put that in play. I’ve learned that over the year and that’s really what has played out to where we are now.”
ULTIMATE SWEAT VICTORY. Surreal experience today, proud of @jaimestaples and what we able to accomplish this year. Thanks to everyone who cheered us on. pic.twitter.com/xQtO8c09OI
— Matthew Staples (@MattStaplesPKR) March 26, 2018
For Matt, who had to gain a lot of weight for this bet to be even within a winning range, things were a lot different. Having already admitted to never having been “a big eater,” he had to consistently stuff himself well beyond his comfort level.
“Honestly, the first half of the bet was pretty nice. It was pretty fun. You see quick results in the gym because I was a beginner, but in the second half things started to slow down. I had less energy and started to feel the effects of putting on the weight. I’ve definitely felt unhealthy a lot more towards the last few months, but I consistently stayed in the gym the whole time so I think that helped.”
While the bet was not an easy feat by any stretch of the imagination, giving up never crossed their mind, even when they were still nearly 30 pounds apart with two months remaining.
“I don’t think we ever were close to giving up,” Jaime said about keeping the long-term goal in mind from Day 1.
“It just wasn’t really an option in my mind, and I’m assuming it was the same thing for Matt. From Day 1 we were going to win the bet, mentally.”
As Matt visibly nodded in agreement on their mental focus, Jaime brought up the most trying time of the bet, which occurred at the start of this year.
“The most stressful time would have been post-PCA in the Bahamas. We had about 26, 27 pounds to close in two and a half months which was pretty intense. We made quick work of it, went hard, closed that gap, and got back on pace.”
Now that it’s all said and done, the money can be counted, celebrations can be had, and the focus will shift towards potentially new bets, new goals, and a sustained healthy lifestyle.
“What they each accomplished individually in the last year is unbelievably impressive, even to me,” Vacanti praised his friends and students.
“I see how many attempts at losing a substantial amount of weight building a lot of muscle peter out after one two three months. Both these guys obviously now have the challenge of, Matt losing body fat – and I think he would probably admit that that’s less of a challenge because he’s so excited to be in a fat loss phase -, and Jamie who – spoiler alert – on March 26, the day after the bet ended, he was in the gym hitting a full pull day for an hour.”
Jaime Staples’ personal vlog about the weigh-in day.
As a proud father, Vacanti said, “I really like we’re both these guys mentalities are out right now.”
Having dealt with being overweight for an extended period of time, Jaime will now focus on maintaining his healthy habits and potentially making another bet to stay focused.
“I’m not exactly sure where I’m specifically going to go, or what goals I’m going to set, or if any other bets shake out of this. Who knows? Progress is the most important thing. I want to move forward. I want to get stronger. I want to continue to feel better and also integrate a healthy lifestyle into everyday life forever.”
“I know what it’s like to eat 1,300 calories a day for a year, can I sustain being average and being a normal human? Eating a normal amount of calories? Staying on that bandwagon without a bet? And without a brother who’s depending on me? That’s what I’m to be working on.”
Mike Vacanti’s personal vlog of the final day of the weigh-in.
And as far as the money goes? The high stakes poker scene won’t flinch over $150,000, and neither will the local sports car salesman.
“I’m just excited to kind of save it, and to be honest it’s a lot of money, but to me, it doesn’t feel like ‘blow-it money,’” Matt said.
Jokingly, Jaime closed out with, “I wish I wish I could give you the headline and be like ‘I ordered my Ferrari last night, let’s go!’ but for me, it’s building the roll to try and turn that money into more money over time.”
Vacanti, Staples and Staples have promised us that this isn’t the end of their cooperation. So stay tuned to their social channels for more from this trio, their poker escapades, vlogs, healthy living and potential new prop bets. Follow Mike, Jaime and Matt on YouTube for their vlogs, Matt and Jaime on Twitch and Mike, Matt and Jaime are also on Twitter.
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