Neymar finishes sixth in a poker tournament

Criticized for simulate faults at the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Neymar competed in a poker tournament and finished in sixth place out of 288 competitors in a Brazilian Series of Poker event.

The Brazilian, who fell in the World Cup against Belgium 2-1 in the quarterfinals, converted his entry of $ 1,877 in a profit of 21 thousand 308 before being eliminated in the High Roller final, organizers said.

"I am very happy to play in this tournament for the first time and to reach the final with great players," said the Paris Saint-Germain star moments before the final began. "This is a new experience for me."

Ney entered the tournament with five of his friends and was the only one who managed to pass the second day.

The final table was scheduled on Tuesday night, but the participants agreed to postpone a day for the attacker to attend a friend's wedding.

He returned to compete on Wednesday, but after four hours of play he was eliminated after betting heavily on two hands he lost.

Poker has become a relaxation game for Brazilian soccer players.

The grand entrance of Phil Hellmuth disguised as "Thor" in the WSOP Main Event

As he wants best tradition, Phil Hellmuth made his spectacular entry on the third day of the WSOP Main Event, on a historic day not only for the World Series but also for the whole poker world: with 4,751 members, a surprise day 1C it is the most numerous flight in the history of the most famous tournament.

Phil responded in great style to Randall Emmett who had tried to challenge him on day 1A.

Poker Brat presented himself disguised as Thor, the god of thunder, surrounded by an army of models dressed as Viking warriors. Everything makes color in the WSOP and undoubtedly Hellmuth theaters are never lacking and they turn the spotlight on the poker world. This is the Main, this is a unique tournament!

The 7 golden rules of Daniel Negreanu for beginners

Daniel Negreanu offers his advice to beginners, those who want to get high in poker but are starting. Enjoy with its 7 golden rules.

If you were to play your first big live tournament and you could ask Daniel Negreanu for advice, what questions would you ask him?

Before starting the main event of the PokerStars Championship Monte Carlo 2017, Canadian professional Negreanu, one of the best players in the world and probably the most charismatic in the world, sat at a table with a group of recreational players.

This meeting was not scheduled or registered in the official schedule of the tournament, it was only a first contact and welcome before the tournament, with good atmosphere, even laughter, while enjoying the good Mediterranean climate of the Principality on the terrace of the Salles des Etoiles on the roof of Monte Carlo Casino.

We were able to take a seat with all of them (recreational and Negreanu) to listen to the questions and answers. We will not expose all of them, but we will focus on the key points that Daniel urged his listeners, with their own words.

1. Do not show (the letters) if you do not have to

There is no reason to show your cards, it does not matter if you had a good play or you were just bluffing. People will analyze how much you have wagered, how you acted in doing it and collected all the details of the hand.

At some point they will use this to confront you. Wait to teach the cards to your opponents until you have more experience (then you will know when and how to do it).

I like that my table mates know what I am capable of doing, but in spite of it, I would not use this type of attitude with everybody, I would always do it or not depending on who is sitting at the table.

I also recommend not playing too much or forcing the situation (overplay) with some hands. AQ is a clear example since it is a very delicate hand.

Do not do 4bet with her because if you get an even stronger bet (or even all-in), your hand is dead. What do you think would force you with a 5bet or all-in your rival?

2. The reading of the rivals is based on small details

Everything depends on noticing something and taking it into account (write it down mentally) for the future, but you should know that it is not always the same for each player, they are always different details and aspects. It is not easy to read the rivals and it takes a lot of time (and maybe also experience).

Be careful not to laugh at you, do not be fooled. I often do "reverse tells" (tells the contrary of the usual or what I want to show). Once, I went bluffing and put my hand on my face. This tournament was televised and my action was shown on television.

The opponent saw my bet and everyone saw that he had tried to bluff. For a year, whenever I had the nuts (the best possible move) I made that same gesture, with the rivals watching my bet again and again.

3. Do not go bluffing

I do not bet bluff, ever. Well, except that time with Isaac Haxton. One thing is to go semifarol, with outs and options to take your hand if they see your bet and another go bluffing, something you should not do when you are a beginner.

4. Do not play loose too early

If you think you should see many flops when it's cheap, you're wrong, doing that is playing poker badly.

Do not dedicate yourself to limping when the blinds are low. With blinds 25/50, there are only 75 points in the pot that you can take, that's all.

Later, when they come into play before, there is much more to gain when you see the flop, that is the time to open your hand when entering the boats (play loose).

5. Get them to recognize that you play tight

If you have not played a hand for quite some time, make sure that your tablemates are aware of it because only then you will get benefits for it.

If the other players at the table do not realize that you have not played a hand in a long time, you will not be able to get anything from that game strategy.

6. Have a goal and a reason

You must have a clear goal, but I also firmly believe that you should not only know what you want or where you want to go, you also need to know how to get it and why you want to do it.

Think, for example, of a poker tournament. Why do you want to win it ?, for the money? Perfect, but ... Why? What are you going to do with it?

Or do you simply want to feel fulfilled? Well, but why is it so important to you? If you do not have a clear reason why you want to win the tournament (in this case), it will be more difficult to achieve your goal.

I've seen billionaires who only talk about making more money, people who will never get ruined or stop being rich who protest because a coffee costs them five dollars (or euros), why do they even worry about so much money?

These people believe the lie that more is always better. They think that if they have more money they will be happier, forgetting that this is not the case.

7. Fail

Failing is important, everyone does it. Yes, I have also failed.

More than once in Las Vegas I was making money, thinking I had the game, as well as the table, totally dominated and only 24 hours later I was bankrupt, I had lost so much that I had to walk back to my hotel.

Those walks were very important to me. I'm still benefiting and I continue to learn from them.

Keys to make a right decision, according to a former poker player

Annie Duke is world famous for being a former poker champion, winner of tournaments such as the World Series of Poker (2004) and the Heads-Up Poker Championship of the United States (2002). Few know that before becoming famous for his skills in this game, he earned a Ph.D. in cognitive science at the University of Pennsylvania.

In a talk with the BBC, the expert in this popular game argued that "poker is a unique place to observe and understand the decision-making process".

For this, everything we have to solve happens in an environment like this game. And with the idea of ​​contributing to this topic he wrote the book Thinking about bets; how to make smart decisions when you do not have all the data.

As mentioned in the title, the former champion observed that at the time of making a decision "there are many hidden things in sight, much information that we do not have or do not know and when it comes to predicting the future, luck also intervenes" .

This happens both in poker and in life, therefore, the strategies used by players to solve their dilemma, can be very useful to address everyday challenges.

Under the premise of helping others from his experience, Duke also created an organization called How I Decide, to which young people come to develop critical thinking and the ability to make decisions. And it gives some premises that also contribute to those key moments of our life:

- Do not think in black and white or in right and wrong. What we have to decide belongs to the future, therefore we do not have all the knowledge about how things will be and, in these cases, luck can intervene. On the other hand, if we already have the preconception that something is right or wrong, we are conditioning ourselves and it is certain that we will reject any new information presented to us.

- Seek to be precise and not have the absolute truth. If we start with the idea that only what we hold is the right thing, we will never go in search of another truth and we will surround ourselves with those who think like us. If we look for precision, invariably we must open ourselves to other opinions, which will broaden our panorama and perfect our own thinking.

- Exchange with people who think differently. Help integrate groups that complement our thinking in front of unknown situations or when we realize that our opinion is partial.

- Do not be afraid to say "I'm not sure". If instead of frightening us, embarrassing us or reserving the state of insecurity, we open ourselves and express our doubts, surely there will be someone who will bring us their thoughts and this can help us to make a better decision.