Neymar Jr. Drops By the WSOP and Wins!

Neymar Jr. dropped by the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas this week and played in a special two-table satellite event where the top prize on offer was a seat in the $10,000 Main Event, which last year drew 6420 entrants chasing a first prize of $7.6 million. The 2015 Main Event was eventually won by Joe McKeehan.

Neymar Jr’s appearance was arranged as part of his duties as a Team Pokerstars Pro, where he uses his superstar status as one of the world’s finest footballers to encourage millions of football fans and his personal fans to the great game of poker.

Neymar Jr. is cool. Everything he does is cool. I recently wrote about the style in which he played his part in the viral poker advert that swept the globe showing off his silky skills with a football, but there is so much more to the player than that.

I feel that if we had not enjoyed the amazing talents of Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo developing their skills to a point where they are spoken of in the same league as all-time footballing greats such as Pele, Maradona and George Best, at the tender age of 24 this young man would already be spoken of as one of the greats in my opinion. As time passes by, I fully expect him to reach this level if he is not there already.

Neymar Jr. suits poker as he is a bit of a rebel as well as a brilliant footballer. His transfer from Santos to Barcelona for €57.1 million in 2013 was a huge transfer at the time and remains one of the largest transfer deals ever. It is also one of the most controversial. There turned out to be irregularities in the documents when it was revealed Neymar Jr’s parents received €40 million that was not initially disclosed. Eventually Barcelona and their vice-president were charged with tax fraud and the whole affair is seen as, let’s say, a good example of how not to conduct a player transfer. Of course there is no proof that Neymar Jr. had anything to do with the transfer itself, but the episode further added to his image as a bit of a rebel. Like I said earlier, Neymar Jr. is cool!

Neymar Jr. was joined in the WSOP satellite by a number of other Team Pokerstars Pros such as George Danzer, Andre Akkari and Felipe Ramon. Those present reported Neymar Jr. having a palpable enthusiasm for the game and he performed superbly, winning the event outright and thus securing his seat to the WSOP Main Event! As well as winning the satellite Neymar Jr. was presented with an honorary WSOP bracelet.

Unfortunately Neymar Jr. is not expected to be able to play in the Main Event as his forage into live poker at the WSOP is just one part of a really busy summer for him. He suffered a setback in the Copa America earlier this month when Brazil was eliminated at the group stage, costing head coach Dunga his job. Neymar Jr. has since been on a bit of a world tour, taking in some Formula 1 racing, being pictured with Lewis Hamilton and enjoy an NBA Basketball game.

Neymar Jr. will be hoping he can transfer his good luck from the poker table onto the football field as he is the star player in Brazil’s U23 squad that will travel to Rio De Janeiro to fight for Olympic gold in August. Neymar Jr. will be expected to play a major part in any success the host country enjoys at the games and everyone at PokerTube wishes him well. His fellow players might want to hesitate before agreeing to play poker with him between matches. Things could get Messi....I mean messy!