Antonio ‘The Magician’ Esfandiari has issued an electric heads-up proposition to ninetime World Series bracelet holder Phil Hellmuth. World Poker Tour winner Esfandiari has publicly challenged the Poker Brat to a heads-up game of Hold’em with literally shocking stakes.

The winner will shoot the loser with a Taser gun, which is a ‘non-lethal’ device used by coppers the world over to ‘immediately incapacitate dangerous or high-risk individuals.’ Taser devices use compressed nitrogen to shoot insulated probes up to 25 feet through the air that, upon contact, pump the target with a current that results in an immediate loss of the target’s neuromuscular control. And that’s gotta hurt.

No laughing matter

Hellmuth immediately laughed off the contest, which Esfandiari made live on stage at the closing banquet of Camp Hellmuth (more on the $2,000 poker weekend later). The mischievous Esfandiari said that the challenge was open-ended but Hellmuth, somewhat sensibly, did not accept.

Although Tasers are seen as a safer option to stop troublemakers than most, they have still recorded a number of fatalities. If Hellmuth doesn’t pick up the gauntlet, we might have to… but it’s only sporting to give Phil time to accept. The wuss.