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Poker pro Rich Alati recently won a prop bet where he had to live in a dark bathroom for 30 days. Alati won the wager when his friend, Rory Young, bought him out for $62,400 after 20 days. This is definitely one of the most-interesting poker prop bets of all time. The ongoing Seminole Hard Rock Poker Showdown saw 2 more events crown champions, Elio Fox won $50K Super High Roller, Rich Alati claimed $1,100 NLH Re-Entry. Rich Alati confinement prop bet The last couple of weeks have been abuzz with Rich Alati and Rory Young insane prop bet. Below are the terms of the prop bet:. Alati was to stay in isolation for a whole month (30 days to be exact). Rich Alati has wagered $100,000 in a prop bet that he can stay in a pitch black, silent room by himself for 30 days. If he fails, he owes Rory Young the same amount of money.

Imagine being confined to a small, dark room, with no social interaction whatsoever for 30 days. Not many people would jump at this opportunity. But, in November 2018, a professional US poker player Rich Alati bet US$100,000 that he could survive 30 days alone and in total darkness. He was kept in a small, completely dark room with nothing but a bed, fridge and bathroom. Even with all the resources he needed to survive, Alati couldn’t last the month. After 20 days he negotiated his release, taking a payout of US$62,400.

There are countless negative effects that social isolation and extreme isolation can have on our minds and bodies. Alati was no exception, reporting that he experienced a range of side effects, including changes to his sleep cycle, and hallucinations. But why is isolation so difficult for humans to withstand?

One of the reasons that living in isolation is difficult is because humans are social creatures. Many people that have lived in isolated environments – such as researchers stationed in Antarctica – report that loneliness can be the most difficult part of the job. Yossi Ghinsberg, an Israeli adventurer and author who survived weeks alone in the Amazon, said that loneliness was what he suffered from most and that he had created imaginary friends to keep himself company.

Loneliness can be damaging to both our mental and physical health. Socially isolated people are less able to deal with stressful situations. They’re also more likely to feel depressed and may have problems processing information. This in turn can lead to difficulties with decision-making and memory storage and recall.

People who are lonely are also more susceptible to illness. Researchers found that a lonely person’s immune system responds differently to fighting viruses, making them more likely to develop an illness.

The impacts of social isolation become worse when people are placed in physically isolating environments. For example, solitary confinement can have negative psychological effects on prisoners – including significant increases in anxiety and panic attacks, increased levels of paranoia, and being less able to think clearly. Many prisoners also report long-term mental health problems after being held in isolation.

Natascha Kampusch – an Australian woman who was kidnapped at the age of ten and held captive in a cellar for eight years – noted in her biography that the lack of light and human contact mentally weakened her. She also reported that endless hours and days spent completely isolated made her susceptible to her captor’s orders and manipulations.

Alone in the dark

The effects of isolation can become even more pronounced if you experience it in total darkness, causing both physical and psychological consequences. One impact of being in complete darkness is that it can wreck your sleep cycle. Two of the key mechanisms for sleep cycle regulation, the hormone melatonin and the brain’s suprachiasmatic nucleus, both rely on light to function.

Daylight reduces our levels of melatonin, helping us feel awake. Daylight also helps the suprachiastmatic nucleus to reset our waking time if our sleep cycles start to drift. Without daylight, our 24-hour circadian rhythm can change. This explains why people exploring cave systems, for example, may find that their sleep-wake cycle becomes disrupted. This means that the time they feel like going to sleep doesn’t stay in a regular pattern and can shift each day.

Disruptions to our circadian rhythm can also make us feel depressed and fatigued. This has also been linked to increased cancer risk, insulin resistance and heart disease, as well as other physical problems such as obesity and premature ageing.

People placed in isolation may also experience hallucinations. The lack of stimuli causes people to misattribute internal thoughts and feelings as occurring in the outer environment. Essentially, hallucinations happen because of a lack of brain stimulation.

In fact, Alati revealed he began experiencing hallucinations by his third day in isolation, ranging from seeing the room fill up with bubbles, to imagining that the ceiling had opened up to show him a starry sky. People in total isolation may also feel that there is a ghostly presence or someone watching them.

While the impact of total isolation can be severe, the good news is that these effects are reversible. Exposure to daylight can normally correct sleep-wake patterns – though this might take weeks, or even months in some cases, before it’s fully adjusted. Reconnecting with other humans can reduce loneliness and help restore us to good mental and physical health. However, some people who have been held in social isolation against their will may develop long-term mental health conditions, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

But some people who have faced the challenge of being alone for an extended period of time may show personal growth – including emotional growth, feeling closer to family and friends, and having a better perspective on life – as a result of their experience. After 20 days willingly spent in total isolation, even Alati said he’s changed – reporting that the experience gave him a greater appreciation for people and life, better attention and focus, and overall feeling happier than before.

Find out more about the effects of isolation and the effect that solitary confinement has on prisoners in our podcast “On nothing”.

The solitary confinement prop bet between Rich Alati and Rory Young has had the poker world talking during the last couple weeks. Would Alati stay in his isolation room for 30 straight days? As it turns out, the answer is no. On Monday, the infamous $100,000 prop bet came to end as Rich Alati re-entered society. But Alati was not the loser.

After 20 days, it was actually Rory Young, who was free to live his life as normal, complete with both natural and artificial light, who asked for the bet to end. According to Darren Rovell of The Action Network, when Young went to deliver Alati food on Monday, he saw Alati “was still in good spirits” and, likely figuring Alati was going to make it the full 30 days, asked for a buy-out.

Young Saw the Writing on the Wall

For those not hip on all forms of gambling lingo, a “buy out” is when one party agrees to pay the other part of the dollar amount agreed upon in exchange for ending the bet early. It’s basically crying “uncle” while saving a little money. The winner of the bet doesn’t win as much as he might have, but he also doesn’t have to continue with whatever ridiculous challenge is in play.

In the case of the isolation bet, Young decided that he would rather give up a large chunk of change two-thirds of the way through the bet than risk giving up more a week and a half later. Young told Rovell that he offered Alati $25,000 to end the bet, but Alati pressed for more, so the two finally agree on $62,400 in exchange for Alati walking out of his “chamber,” as they called it.

“At the last food drop, he was stronger than ever,” Young. “I underestimated his mindset, his resolve. I’m not disappointed I made the bet, I thought I had the better side, but he has exceeded all my expectations.”

Alati is a Sicko

Prop bets are a common thing in the poker world, but this one was one of the more controversial and potentially dangerous. Alati was required to remain in a pitch-black room by himself with no contact with the outside world for 30 days. That’s all alone, so ability to see, alone with his thoughts for a month. If he did it, he would win $100,000 from Young. If he gave up, he owed Young $100,000.

According to Rovell, Alati and Young signed an 11-page contract. Rovell revealed several details, as follows:

• The document has a waiver that absolves Young from responsibility for anything that Alati endures including “death, disability, blindness, diminished vision, loss of any eye function” as well as mental and emotional trauma.
• The room where Alati is staying, referred to as the chamber, features a mattress, shower, bath, laundry and trash basket, and a fridge with the lights removed.
• Alati is not allowed to use drugs, any communication/light-emitting devices and must not have any object that conveys time or date.
• Alati submitted to a blood or urine test before entering room and Young may take a sample from him every time there is a delivery. Tests are allowed to show Alati’s pre-workout supplement and amino acids, but nothing else that’s not in proportion.
• Alati will get food delivered in between three- and six-day intervals. It has been randomized so Alati can’t figure out how long he’s been in the room.
• Alati can request certain foods, but Young may decline those requests.
• The loser of the bet pays the expenses for the wager — upwards of $7,000.

There were two aspects of the mechanics of the bet that I wondered about. First, how did the food delivery work? Young (or whoever delivered it) couldn’t just open the chamber door and give Alati the food, as that would involve human contact plus light entering the room. My guess is there was an antechamber serving as a buffer between Alati’s room and the outside world. Perhaps the deliverer would put open an exterior door, put the food in the antechamber, knock on Alati’s door, then exit the antechamber, closing the exterior door to seal out the light. After waiting perhaps a minute or two, Alati would open his door, take the food – still in pitch darkness – and then retreat back inside.

Second, unless they soundproofed the chamber, I would assume Alati would be able to hear at least a little something from the outside world. If the chamber was in a hotel room (which I don’t think it was), he would probably be able to hear vacuuming, people in neighboring rooms, or people in the hallway. If it was in a house or office building, there still might be sounds from the outside leaking in.

And sure enough, to that second point, The Action Network said that a “faint sound of landscaping” gave Alati the ability to determine day and night cycles, giving him a very good idea of how long he had been isolated.

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