Jason Mo takes Marvin Rettenmaier up on $100,000 bracelet challenge

The enigmatic Jason Mo has announced that he’s the first – and so far the only – person to take “Mad” Marvin Rettenmaier up on his open bracelet challenge, and for the maximum amount on offer, $100,000. Rettenmeier was Bluff Magazine’s Player of the Year in 2012, and currently plays for Team Party Poker.

It was on the Party Poker blog that Rettenmeier threw out his offer, the terms of which are simple enough. Anyone who believes themselves more likely than Rettenmeier to win a World Series of Poker bracelet is invited to put up an amount of their choice between $1,000 and $100,000, which Rettenmeier will match. As soon as one participant or the other wins a bracelet, the loser pays up. There’s just one catch: the only events which count are No Limit Hold’em events in which both Rettenmeier and the challenger participate.

Mo came into the public eye a few weeks back when he came second to Vanessa Selbst in WSOP Event 2, $25,000 Mixed-Max Hold’em. Since then, he has seemed ambivalent about that fame. On the one hand, he clearly doesn’t want the general public to know much about him, giving no interviews and avoiding tying his real life and online identities together.

On the other hand, he is obviously well-known by his fellow poker players, and playing up his success for those in the know. Rettenmeier, in announcing his bet with Mo, describes him as “one of the top five heads-up players in the world.” Another pro, commenting on the final duel in the $25,000 Mixed-Max, said he felt that Mo held the skill edge over Selbst. Neither of these is a claim to be made lightly.

Aside from making this bold bet with Rettenmeier, Mo has teased his Twitter followers by suggesting he might play in the Big One for One Drop, though this remains to be confirmed. He has also made himself conspicuous on the rail at various events to cheer on his friends, most of them also big up-and-comers, including Dominik Nitsche and Douglas Polk, both of whom have now won bracelets at this year’s WSOP.

*Editor’s note: This Saturday Night Live shit went through my head the entire time I read this post: Just replace cowbell with Jason Mo.

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