Inside the cockpit of a high stakes poker player is a dazzling array of knowledge. It’s enough to give you a concussion. Remain in your cave. Don’t attempt to step into that good light.
You will burn.
So, it’s better to watch these bulls in action from a distance, and for the next fortnight the King’s Resort in Rozvadov becomes the ring, and there are red rags everywhere.
The World Series of Poker Europe (WSOPE) has begun, and the primary focus will be on the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Player of the Year race. Likely winners are Daniel Negreanu, Robert Campbell or Shaun Deeb.
All three have spent some time on social media this week, discussing the event.
Negreanu has been bowled over by the service Leon Tsoukernik’s team provides for a man of his stature.
The Canadian star has also begun his vlogging ritual, and you can pick up the slack, right here.
The two-time WSOP POY winner sold a WSOPE package to his loyal fans, and Shaun Deeb, also dabbled in the market. The reigning WSOP POY sold somewhere between 40-60% of his action, and it didn’t take long for the gavel to hit the wood.
Leading Negreanu and Deeb in the POY race is Robert Campbell, and the Australian ace prepared for his WSOPE Rozvadov debut by inking a lyrical masterpiece.
At the time of writing, the WSOPE is ankle-deep into two events.
399-entrants competed in Day 1A of Event #1: €350 No-Limit Hold’em Opener. Both Campbell and Negreanu battled and busted in the first flight, but have multiple opportunities to reinvest. Event #2: €550 Pot-Limit Omaha is also underway with 130 different accents currently struggling to be heard amid the Day 1A noise.
The Beef: Kenney v Timex
This week, Bryn Kenney and Mike “Timex” McDonald take on the roles of hero and villain in ‘The Beef’, and I will layout the story arc, and let you decide who gets what position.
It all began with a Daniel Negreanu poll.
Negreanu then added a daisy to the chain.
McDonald was the first person to disagree with Negreanu. The Canadian star stated his ‘shock’ that having a million bucks allows a person to think it’s ok to give 400% tips ‘while affecting your life precisely 0.’
The Canadian’s response seemed to irk Kenney:
“Mike could have 100 million, and still wouldn’t tip cuz he “doesn’t see the value in it.”
Kenney cited several incidents that cast a mole beneath McDonald’s moral high ground, including a night out in Panama that seemed to tug at McDonald’s ego strings.
McDonald tweeted Ike Haxton and Sam Greenwood asking them if they picked up his tab? He also agreed to repay anyone who was the worse off because of his behaviour.
“It was an isolated incident,” said Timex.
Kenney didn’t agree.
The Debate: The Jordan Peterson Paradox
Twitter is many things (a cesspit being one of them), and one of its selling points is the ability to pass on prime information to your followers.
Haralabos Voulgaris likes to do just that, and this week he posted a video of Jordan Peterson called ‘Sacrifice,’ leading to some dissenting voices.
It’s a fantastic thread.
Central to the debate is the habit of humanity to disregard a positive message once we have thrown someone into the trash with the other rotten eggs.
The Life Outside of Poker: Perkins Offers $100k Reward; Triton Helps The Bahamas
Bill Perkins posted a $100,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in the Joshua Brown murder case. Brown provided crucial testimony in a murder case involving a former police officer and a neighbour that lived in Brown’s apartment.
Brown gave evidence in front of a jury but was then found dead several days later due to gunshot wounds. Perkins immediately posted the $100k reward, and the police arrested three people in connection with the murder with a ‘drug deal gone wrong’ cited as the likely reason.
We covered the story here:
Perkins has also been using his money to help the Bahamian victims of Hurricane Dorian, and he’s not alone. This week, Rob Yong thanked Triton Poker for pledging £100,000 from the Triton Million London charity fund to the Bahamian disaster relief, with more likely to come from partypoker sources.
The Poll: Who Are The Most Aggressive Selfie-Askers
When you reach the highest echelons of poker power, someone will likely ask you to take a selfie. But what nation needs to add selfie-asking manners to their school curriculum. It’s an important question that Daniel Negreanu felt he had to ask this week.
And the answer.
The Quote of the Week
I can’t remember who retweeted this, but it most definitely came from a high stakes digit.
And that’s a wrap for this week’s pinnacle.