Shaun Deeb backed out of a $250K bet over chicken strips

Shaun Deeb turned down a $250K bet over chicken strips

Shaun Deeb turned down a $250,000 bet against Ben Lamb and Daniel Negreanu as part of the $25K Fantasy draft at WSOP 2026. The reason was the player's unwillingness to give up chicken strips for the entire summer series.

Lamb and Negreanu offered Deeb a "team versus team" wager. However, Deeb, putting his chances of winning at 60–65%, refused to give odds to his opponents, who were demanding them. After that, Lamb put forward an alternative condition: a 1-to-1 bet in exchange for Deeb fully giving up chicken strips for the whole summer. Deeb declined this offer too.

Renowned poker player Josh Arieh, sitting at the next table, quickly calculated that this culinary indulgence is costing Deeb roughly $83,000 in pure equity.

As of now, Deeb is setting a pace of 1.7 strips per day, with a projection of about 75 by the end of the series. For comparison, he plays roughly 2.5 buy-ins per day, with the prospect of reaching 100 entries over the entire series.

Among Shaun's favorite spots to order from are Cane's and Dave's Hot Chicken, right in the food court of the Horseshoe casino.

Ben Lamb has already promised to keep a public weekly count of Deeb's strips and buy-ins on his social media platform X throughout the WSOP.