 The Duke of Hamilton supplied Bryan's stake to fight Johnson in a contest for a prize of 500 guineas held at Wrotham, Kent.Although it is thought that he held property worth £5,000 by the end of the 1780s, and had earned the equivalent of US$125,000 in 1789 alone (including money earned from betting on himself), Johnson had to rely on friends to provide his stake because he had spent all of his money.He was a gambling man and an "easy mark", attracting people who gladly took his money from him.