A few days ago we wrote a story about a very unusual bet that was underway in Las Vegas. The premise of the bet was that a guy named Rich Alati was challenged to sit alone in pitch-black darkness for 30 days straight. If he pulled it off his friend, fellow professional poker player Rory Young, would pay him $100,000.
Alati accepted the bet.
On November 21st he entered a room in an undisclosed Vegas location. The room contained a mattress, a toilet, a refrigerator, bathtub and a shower. The room would be pitch-black 24 hours a day. Even the light bulbs in the fridge were removed. Total darkness and isolation. No electronics. No light-emitting devices. No drugs or alcohol. No communication with friends and family.
On the plus side, Alati would be given any food he wanted. But! To keep him confused, food would be delivered at odd intervals so he could not use his meals to keep track of days or time.
With all of that in mind, how long could you last? Think you could make it the full 30 days to receive $100,000? If not, how much would it take?
MICHAEL BUHOLZER/AFP/Getty Images
As we mentioned previously, Rich entered the dark room on November 21st. And last night he called it quits. He made it 20 full days in the dark room which is longer than I expected and way longer than I would have lasted.
The good news is he is not walking away empty handed. Rory actually intervened last night and offered Rich an early buyout option.
For making it 20 days, Rory agreed to pay Rich $62,000.
Probably a pretty good deal on both sides. For Rich, he gets nearly two-thirds of his money while also ending the nightmare. For Rory, it certainly seems like Rich was going to attempt to last the full 30 days. So he may have just saved himself $38k.
