"Maniac" moniker appropriate for UB competition winner

What would you do to earn free entry to a bracelet event at the World Series of Poker? Would you get a tattoo? Would you marry a complete stranger?

If your name is Gregg Mardirosian or Justin Leichter, you might have to do both.

The two Florida residents won UB.com's "Craziest Last Longer Bet" competition and earned airfare to Las Vegas, hotel accommodations and entry into a $1,000 no-limit Hold'em event on July 1.

The player who gets knocked out first will have to get the UB logo and his losing hand tattooed somewhere on his body. He will then have to meet and get married to a woman in Vegas before returning home to Florida. All of this has to be documented.

Mardirosian, a 31-year-old disc jockey who goes by the moniker "DJ Maniac Magee" (RHTTV.com), says Leitchter was the one who alerted him of the promotion.

"It is a dream of his to be playing in the WSOP and when he heard about the contest he knew good and well that I was crazy enough to be in it with him," he said. "We initially thought to risk walking home and then realized everyone and their mother would suggest that bet and tried hard to think of something so out there that we'd be sure to win."

Leichter, a 32-year-old entrepreneur, says the idea of marrying someone out of the blue was influenced from a Hollywood blockbuster.

"I thought some more, and while watching 'The Hangover' I thought what is better than an impromptu Vegas wedding, and just for good measure, if that is not enough you have to get tattooed so you will always remember this and you always be reminded when someone asks you what the tattoo means," Leichter said.

Leichter is the more experienced of the two players. He says he been playing online for about seven years, and came in second in one his first tournaments, winning about $1,600. He plays at UB nearly every day and has been reading up on large tournament play.

"I am confident I will be the winner, I believe I am the better card player with more experience, but then again you never know what can happen," he said. "I think if I just stick to my game plan and play how I usually play I will come out victorious."

Mardirosian says he didn't register or start playing on UB until he found out about the promotion. He sticks to no limit Hold'em tournaments, which should suit him well at the WSOP.

"I've been on UB playing a few tournaments to try to shake the rust off because I haven't been playing much poker recently," he said. "I also hit a few sit-and-go tournaments at the Tampa Hard Rock the other day when I was down there visiting my dad for Father's Day."

UB launched the promotion in May. Players who wanted the VIP package from UB had post a video with the tag "our video for the www.UB.com last longer bet." Team UB picked the ten best videos and voting opened to the public on June 8th.

The competition was fierce. Other "last longer bets" included painting the UB logo on cars, going vegetarian for a year and tongue-kissing five UB pros.

Michael Arnese and Tom Lipko won the same promotion on Absolute Poker and the first of the two Carbondale, Pa. residents to be sent packing has a week to walk back home. If they fail to do so, they will have to pay the cost of the $1,000 entry to the winner of the bet.

Mardirosian and Leichter have been friends for almost 15 years. They both started playing poker around the age of five with their respective grandmothers. They both got into online poker after Chris Moneymaker's win at the 2003 WSOP Main Event.

Neither Mardirosian nor Leichter seemed too concerned about the tattoo portion of the bet. They both said they didn't know where they would get the tattoo should they lose.

The idea of marrying a girl in Vegas, on the other hand, is a little more concerning for the duo. Alcohol will likely be involved regardless of who loses.

"We are going to have to go somewhere where they are really drunk," Leichter said. "(Or) who knows, we may meet the girl of our dreams."

"(I) figure the first step will be drinking heavily, then I'll walk down the Strip proposing till I get a yes," Mardirosian added.

Both men will be flying out to Vegas on June 30th. One will return to Florida a very changed man.