A high-stakes "Tortilla Slap Challenge" between a handful of top poker personalities took place in Cyprus this morning and saw 2022 World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event champion Espen Jorstad coming out on top against the aptly named Nacho Barbero.
The challenge was initially set to take place on Sept. 3 between high-stakes poker regulars Tony G, Rob Yong, Faraz Jaka and Phil Nagy at the Luxon Pay Mediterranean Poker Party. It is based on a wider social media craze that involves competitors holding water in their cheeks and slapping one another with tortillas until one person spits out the water.
Slap Satellite
Originally, the four players were going to buy in to the slap challenge for as much as $5,000 for the opportunity to win a seat into the $10,000 6-Max High Roller Turbo tournament on Sept. 4, with the seat going to "the player who can keep their ‘poker face’ the longest" and not spit out the water.
"Much like at the poker table, players need strategy, skill and composure to stand a chance of winning," stated a press release about the challenge.
It is no secret that plenty of poker players enjoy making crazy bets, so it was hardly surprising when the high-stakes Tortilla Challenge was postponed and restructured "to create opportunity for more players to register into the satellite competition."
"With so many high rollers looking to get in on the action, organisers have decided to increase the stakes and the competition," the press release said.
As part of the restructuring, the challenge awarded a seat into the $25,000 No-Limit Hold'em event on Sept. 5.
The Slap-By-Slap
The tortilla satellite, which was documented in a video uploaded by Poker.org, started out with five players with the addition or Jorstad and Argentina's Barbero, while Jaka backed out due to a scheduling conflict.
Tony G, who had just taken down the $10,400 High Roller for $257,500 after a heads-up deal with Alex Peffly, was first out after taking a slap from Jortad followed by a quick surprise-slap by Nagy. Nagy was next to fall after couldn't keep the water in his cheeks as he anticipated the next slap.
With a handful of crumbled tortillas lining the floor, Barbero took a swing at Yong to eliminate the Dusk Till Dawn owner and begin a heads-up battle between Barbero and the latest world poker champion.
The duo exchanged slaps until Jorstad landed the final blow to win his seat into the $25,000 poker tournament, continuing the Norwegian's incredible 2022 heater.
Wider Craze
The deep-pocketed players are just the latest to get swept up in the social media trend.
The Tortilla Slap Challenge became popular on TikTok and has since seen celebrities like Kevin Hart and Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson taking part in the frenzy. Other celebrities who have gotten in on the fun include Jason Momoa, James Corden, Jimmy Fallon and Demi Lovato.
As the high-stakes entrepreneurs rest their faces after the Tortilla Slap Challenge, check out the PokerNews live reporting team's updates on all the poker action taking place at the MPP in Cyprus.
