Among the many high stakes poker tournaments held around the globe, the Los Angeles Poker Classic stands out as one of the most popular. Just a short hop from Vegas, the LAPC gains added weight from its association with the World Poker Tour, which brings the promise of a televised final table for anyone who manages to fight their way into the final six. The 2010 LAPC is proceeding as effectively as ever, with the remaining players jousting for an ever increasing slice of the $1.7 million prize pool. But for three professional participants, there was more than just money on the line.

PokerRoad founder Joe Sebok and his good friend Gavin Smith are renowned for their outlandish prop bets. Two years ago at the same tournament, the pair concocted a last longer bet in which the loser would have to get their opponent’s initials tattooed somewhere on their body. Smith lost and now sports a neat ‘J.S’ on his back. Under the influence of more than a little alcohol, the deviant duo concocted another tattoo bet with increasingly insane stakes. Roping in Borgata Winter Open champion Jeff Madsen, they decided on a last longer bet at the 2010 LAPC Main Event, with tattoos once again the theme. The first player eliminated would have the faces of the remaining two players tattooed onto his body and the second to hit the rail would have the winner’s mug plastered over his person. In the cold light of day, all three admitted it was a ridiculously bet. “Nobody wins,” claimed Joe Sebok, with Jeff Madsen adding that he had, “never heard anything this dumb.”

The LAPC begins Day 4 today, but all three prop bettors have been eliminated. The first to go, and recipient of the harshest punishment, was Joe Sebok. His tournament ended in soul crushing fashion, knocked out with cracked pocket Aces in the third level. “[I] may or may not have punched wall as I exited Commerce,” he confided on Twitter later in the day, before concluding that, “my life couldn’t be more awesome, outside of today, and I’ll take the loss like a man.” Gavin Smith was no doubt delighted, telling WPT reporters that, “the primary target was Sebok.” He was also adamant that he would be there to witness the event and was looking forward to hear, “Sebok whimper like a little baby.” Gavin was even more elated when Jeff Madsen hit the rail to confirm him as the last-longer victor. The poker player and sometime rapper was stoic in defeat, telling Twitter followers that he “will happily memorialize Gavin forever.”

Back in the tournament, Daniel Negreanu was grabbing all the headlines. He finished second in chips on Day 2 and, although he couldn’t quite maintain his lead, was still in a strong position come the end of Day 3. 186 players arrived for the third day of the LAPC, playing down to the 72 cash positions. Mark Newhouse finished the day as chip leader, with a stack of 498,000. Negreanu remains well in the mix in 19th place with a 222,500 chip stack. Joining him on Day 4 will be plenty of high class talent, including: Annie Duke (321,000), Carlos Mortensen (305,000), Johnny Chan (218,000), Hoyt Corkins (206,500), and Vanessa Rousso (46,000).