are pro poker challenges mostly negative EV?

trigs

i was just thinking of some of the big name pros' challenges (such as the durrrr challenge and jungleman's stupid heads up one, etc.). then i was thinking that you never see people like ivey or antonius setting up challenges like this (mind you, they might accept the challenges by others).

it got me thinking about just how much +EV are challenges like this? it seems like they're mostly for ego boosts than to make money. perhaps one could argue that in the long term it might be +EV due to media exposure and whatnot. not sure if i buy that though. obviously i don't mind watching and following these challenges, but as far as making +EV choices it doesn't seem like a good idea.

what do you guys think?

anhdy

The durrr challenge i believe is +ev even though he is wagering 1.5m to 500k
Over the course of 50k hands multi-tabling online he has an edge against most players. At the time when he first made it he was the new rising star with alot of ego and momentum he was riding on. he isn't flipping a coin wagering 3 to 1 on tails all day. With his edge its like playing with a slightly loaded dice on 6 and ur opponent picks 1. Over the course of 50k rolls. Its almost inconceivable that ones will come out more. However that was probably probably the case against MOST pros and especially live players. In hindsight he probably wouldn't of done the challenge if he knew how good dan cates was. As for dan's challenge seems kinda dull with no incentive for a player to actually take it up. He just has a problem actually finding someone to play him heads up nowadays

Tcarnage

There is obviously usually an edge from 1 or the other.. I think the 3:1 odds are pretty sick and his -ev long run vs it.. (Even though I think his super solid)

On a side note, when you play a reg for so long, even if you lose the bet, you learn so much from them, and it helps you in the long-run.