Poker’s Olympic Dream Teams: U.S.A.

The worlds greatest athletes have all gathered in Paris, France for the Summer Olympics and while poker isnt an Olympic sport – or maybe even a sport at all – WPT.com couldnt help but take the opportunity to imagine what it just might look like if some of the worlds best poker players were representing their country in Paris. In the true Olympic spirit each countrys organizing committee was tasked with filling a five-person roster consisting a specialist in each of the following: The five players would also be accompanied by a coach from their country. Each player would compete ONLY in their respective discipline, earning not only individual glory – medals available for each event – but also team points that lead to gold, silver, and bronze medals for the top performing country. With that in mind, weve put together teams from Canada, Japan, Brazil, Argentina, Great Britain, and the United States with insight from some of the top journalists in poker. Today, we present to you the 2024 Canadian Olympic Poker team, with comments from prominent Canadian poker journalist Mike Patrick. No Limit Hold’Em Tournament Kristen Foxen Fresh off her 13th place finish in the 2024 World Series of Poker Main Event, Kristen Foxen is a strong choice to represent her country at the Olympics in the No Limit Holdem Tournament discipline. She sits 13th on Canadas all-time money list with more than $8.3 million in earnings – all but $5,400 coming in NLHE tournaments – and all 12 of her career wins, including four WSOP bracelets, are in the Cadillac of Poker. Foxen, who started her career as an online cash game grinder, also plays the high roller events inside the PokerGO studio in Las Vegas against some off the games most elite competition so finding comfort underneath the spotlight of the Olympic stage are unlikely to phase her. Already incredibly well established, Foxens run in the WSOP Main Event just a few weeks ago cemented her status on the team as the No Limit Holdem tournament representative,” said Patrick. “Its critical to run hot at the right time in tournaments, and as well as she played and as hot as she ran, Foxen gets the nod.” Pot Limit Omaha Tournament Ari Engel One of the most decorated players in WSOP Circuit history, Ari Engel might be disappointed to learn that the Pot Limit Omaha event at the Olympics is the standard four-card version and not Big O, but hes still got the chops to go medal hunting in the Great Game. Three of Engels 17 WSOP Circuit rings are in Pot Limit Omaha (and another three are in Omaha variants) and he has a total 150 live cashes in Omaha tournaments, with 94 of those coming in events that at least had PLO in the mix. No matter the number of cards in the game, Ari Engel will crush it, so he earns his spot on the team for PLO,” said Patrick. “And if an injury were to befall Negreanu, he could be plugged right into that decathlete spot as well.” While the other players donning the red maple leaf might have a higher profile in major events, Engel hasnt exactly been hiding for his entire career. In 2016, he won the Aussie Millions Main Event for $1.12 million and he also has a pair of WSOP bracelets including the $10,000 Omaha 8-or-better Championship in 2021. No Limit Hold’em Cash Game Timothy Adams Choosing a Canadian player to enter the Olympic cash game arena is a little bit like shooting a fish in a barrel, but Timothy Adams gets the call here. Mostly known for his tournament prowess – he is second on Canadas all-time earnings list with $38.5 million – Adams has been known to show up in high stakes streaming cash games streets where he finds himself up against a mix of businessmen and stone cold killers. While Adams can also be seen frequenting many international high-stakes tournaments, be they Tritons, EPTs or otherwise, right alongside those events are some of the highest-stakes cash games in the world,” said Patrick. “Youll find Adams right in the midst of those games, crushing his competition and adding to his bankroll for those tourneys. If cash games are the main course and tournaments are dessert, Adams is eating very well while saving enough room for those tasty after-dinner poker treats.” No matter how high the stakes get, Adams isnt going to find himself in an uncomfortable setting. Of the 194 career NLHE tournament cashes on his resume, 88 are in events with a buy-in of at least $25,000. Mixed Game Tourney Daniel Negreanu It would be hard to imagine the Canadian Olympic Poker Team not having Daniel Negreanu on it. Arguably the biggest poker star in the world, had the team been picked prior to the 2024 World Series of Poker, there was a chance at least that he was left off the roster. However, his win in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship, which is considered by many to be the most prestigious WSOP bracelet for professional poker players, made him an easy pick to represent his homeland in the Mixed Game Tournament format. It was his first WSOP win in nearly 11 years and his first one in Vegas in 16 years. The 50-year-old sits atop the Canadian all-time earnings list with $53 million. He has seven WSOP bracelets, two World Poker Tour Titles and a Super High Roller Bowl title, and he’s the player least likely to be phased by any sort of anxiety over havin the world watching. The Mixed Game selection is truly the decathlete of the team, following in the tradition of great Canadian decathletes like Damian Warner, Dave Steen, and Michael Smith,” said Patrick. “Not only did Negreanu show his No Limit Holdem quality this summer in everything from a 100m / $500 sprint, all the way to the 1500m / $10,000 Main Event of pokers decathlon, but he was undeniable to the COPC for dominating the field events, winning the $50,000 Poker Players Championship. Negreanu has topped them all throughout his career from poker’s long jump to discus throw. And thats not even mentioning that he wrote the book on Triple Jumper Draw.” Heads-Up No Limit Hold’em Mike Watson Once again, there is a wealth of options for Canadian organizers to choose from for a category. This time, Mike Watson gets the nod for the Heads Up No Limit Holdem spot. With more than $28 million in lifetime earnings, Watson is also coming in with a little bit of forward momentum from the WSOP having won his first bracelet this year. But that success also comes after Watson posted three seven-figure scores in Triton events, including a win in a $30,000 NLHE event in Montenegro. SirWatts Mike Watson is as good as it gets when it comes to an online resume for a Canadian poker player,” said Patrick. “With over $14,000,000 in online tournament winnings, you dont get to a number like that without being able to close it out. With countless victories to his name, all of which you need to win a heads-up match to claim, Canadas online end boss is the COPCs selection for Heads Up No Limit.” In his live career, Watson is 21-18 when heads-up for a live title, including a World Poker Tour title in 2008, the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure in 2016, and a European Poker Tour title in 2023, along with four Triton Poker Series wins. Coach Mike McDonald While Mike McDonald hasnt been actively playing poker the last few years, it would be a mistake to not have him and his analytical genius on the team. Serving as the coach would give McDonald the opportunity to grab a clipboard and help Canada bring home as many medals as possible. Thrust into the poker spotlight at 18 years old when he won the EPT Dortmund, McDonald has $13.4 million in lifetime earnings and has found success outside of poker, making him the perfect fit to provide guidance for each of the players on the squad.

The worlds greatest athletes have all gathered in Paris, France for the Summer Olympics and while poker isnt an Olympic sport – or maybe even a sport at all – WPT.com couldnt help but take the opportunity to imagine what it just might look like if some of the worlds best poker players were representing their country in Paris. In the true Olympic spirit, each countrys organizing committee was tasked with filling a five-person roster consisting a specialist in each of the following: The five players would also be accompanied by a coach from their country. Each player would compete ONLY in their respective discipline, earning not only individual glory – medals available for each event – but also team points that lead to gold, silver, and bronze medals for the top performing country. With that in mind, weve put together teams from Canada, Japan, Brazil, Argentina, Great Britain, and the United States with insight from some of the top journalists in poker. Today, we present to you the 2024 Argentinian Olympic Poker team, with insights from Fernando Gatto of PokerLogia. No Limit Hold’em Tournament Damian Salas When you talk about building out the core of a team-based poker event, starting with a WSOP Main Event champion is a strong way to go about it. Damian Salas was crowned 2020 World Series of Poker Main Event champion in a hybrid format, and it’s just one of many achievements on Salas’ resume. He also made the 2017 WSOP Main Event final table, finishing seventh, and he’s accumulated $16.5 million in lifetime online poker earnings. As if 2020 wasn’t an impressive enough year for Salas, prior to his WSOP Main Event success he made the final table of the WPT Online World Championship that September, finishing third. Add in his successes in high rollers worldwide, and it’s easy to see how much of an asset he can be. “If Argentina had a Poker Hall of Fame, Damian would be the first induction,” said Gatto. Gatto also suggested that Salas might be the most well-suited candidate to coach Team Argentina, given his success and the level of experiences he could share, but in a toss-up between Salas and the player selected as coach, Ivan Luca, Salas’ time under the bright lights of the WSOP gave him the slight edge. Pot Limit Omaha Tournament Nacho Barbero Speaking of high rollers, no other player from Argentina has found more success in that arena than Jose Ignacio “Nacho” Barbero. He’s No. 1 on Argentina’s all-time live tournament money list, according to The Hendon Mob, largely on the strength of four seven-figure cashes across Triton, PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and the EPT since January 2023. While Barbero can square up with the heaviest hitters that poker’s high roller scene can throw out there, there’s a strong reason why he’s the selection for Pot Limit Omaha. “He’s made several final tables in Pot Limit Omaha,” Grillo noted. “Two of them were at the WSOP, another at Wynn Las Vegas, three at Triton events, and in 2023 he won one of the PokerGO Tour PLO Series events in Las Vegas.” Barbero has shown he knows how to close as well, with recorded victories in 14 different countries including a WSOP bracelet victory in 2022 and a 100,000 Super High Roller victory in Monte Carlo earlier this year. No Limit Hold’em Cash Game Mariano Grandoli When it comes to Olympic eligibility, there can be a level of competition for a skilled player’s International allegiances. Take NBA star Joel Embiid, for example. He was eligible to play for France, Cameroon or the United States, but ultimately chose to play for Team USA. By similar measure, that’s how Mariano Grandoli ended up on Team Argentina. Originally from Rosario, Sante Fe, Argentina, the 25-year-old Grandoli has long since settled in Los Angeles, California. He’s a constant presence on a number of live-streamed cash games, most notably Hustler Casino Live, where he’s appeared on more than 150 different broadcasts. According to Highroll Poker, Grandoli is up $936,210 lifetime on HCL streams, proving he can hang with some of the tougher players in that ecosystem. Grandoli would also bring a lot of eyeballs to Team Argentina and the games in general as a high-profile vlogger with over 163,000 subscribers. “Mariano uploaded his first vlog to YouTube in 2019 and eventually rose through the ranks at the cash games as his popularity grew,” said Grilo. “At Hustler Casino Live, he’s won pots of $148K, $257K, $379K, $611K with a straight flush, and $788K when his Aces beat two opponents Kings. In 2022 he was one of the nominees in the ‘Best Vlogger’ category of the Global Poker Awards.” Mixed Game Tournament Andres Korn Andres Korn has a resume of results that stretches back farther than almost any other player eligible for Team Argentina, with his first recorded live cash coming in the 2006 WSOP Main Event, in which he finished 199th. His results in mixed games are what helped him make this team. “Andres is the only Argentine player to have a ring and a bracelet in the World Series of Poker,” said Gatto. “He is also the Argentine with the most final tables at the WSOP, with nine, and five of them were in mixed games events, where he finished 4th, 8th, 4th, 5th and 7th.” Korn cashed six times at the 2024 WSOP, including final table appearances in the $10,000 8 Game Championship and the $2,500 Mixed Big Bet event. Heads-Up No Limit Hold’em Ezequiel Waigel** When it comes to heads-up poker, you want to have a player who brings both experience and aggression to the table, and that’s what Team Argentina gets in Ezequiel Waigel. His career tournament highlight to date was winning the PokerStars World Championship of Online Poker $5,200 No Limit Hold’em main event in 2018 for $1,5,29,000. While he brings some youth to this overwhelmingly veteran squad, his results already place him among the best that Argentina has to offer. “Ezequiel is one of the most respected Argentine players and has earned $2M online and $2.4M live in his caeer, which places him seventh on the All Time Money List in his country,” said Grillo. “On the live circuit he holds titles in Brazil, the United States and Argentina.” Coach for Team Argentina Ivan Luca Ivan Luca was the first Argentinian ever to win a WSOP bracelet when he broke through for his victory in a $1,000 No Limit Hold’em event in 2015. His $7.3 million in lifetime earnings puts him second all-time on Argentina’s all-time money list, and his successes in high-roller events both live and online show he knows what it takes to beat the toughest players in the world. “Despite his young age, Ivan is one of the most experienced Argentinian players,” said Gatto. He won millions in online poker under his well-known nickname ‘negriin’. After the pandemic, he moved away from live tournaments, but returned at the end of 2023 to play WSOP Paradise and recorded five cashes there, including a 6th place in the Ultra High Roller for $555K.” At 32 years old, Luca has indeed taken a step back from live poker with just one live cash thus far in 2024. Despite the hiatus, Luca’s experience and success makes him an ideal candidate to coach Team Argentina. stats courtesy of The Hendon Mob/GPI

The worlds greatest athletes have all gathered in Paris, France for the Summer Olympics and while poker isnt an Olympic sport – or maybe even a sport at all – WPT.com couldnt help but take the opportunity to imagine what it just might look like if some ofthe worlds best poker players were representing their country in Paris. In the true Olympic spirit, each countrys organizing committee was tasked with filling a five-person roster consisting of a specialist in each of the following: The five players would also be accompanied by a coach from their country. Each player would compete ONLY in their respective discipline, earning not only individual glory – medals available for each event – but also team points that lead to gold, silver, and bronze medals for the top-performing country. With that in mind, weve put together teams from Canada, Japan, Brazil, Argentina, Great Britain, and the United States with insight from some of the top journalists in poker. Today, we present to you the 2024 Canadian Olympic Poker team with insight from esteemed poker writer Paul Seaton. No Limit Hold’em Tournament Chris Moorman In the history of No Limit Holdem tournaments, you may be hard-pressed to find someone who has played more in their career than Chris Moorman. The former #1-ranked online player in the world and the first person to ever reach more than $10 million in online earnings, Moorman has an insatiable, unwavering grind of NLHE tournaments, making him an MTT legend. He has just over $9 million in live recorded earnings including a World Poker Tour title in the 2014 Los Angeles Poker Classic for more than $1 million and a World Series of Poker gold bracelet win in the 2017 $3,000 NLHE for just under $500,000. His live resume is littered with massive six- and seven-figure scores, all of which come as an NLHE specialist, and have lifted him to a spot on the UKs Top-10 All-Time Money List. If there is anyone more consistent, more successful, or more focused than Moorman, we cant see it. If you want more, you go with Moorman. Hes the online tournament crusher and no one has likely played more NLHE tournaments than he has. Plus, hes added in some serious live clout in recent years and has made a mark as a sponsored pro. Hell thrive under the pressure,” Paul Seaton. Pot Limit Omaha Tournament Stephen Chidwick As one of the most respected and accomplished poker players in the world, Stephen Chidwick from Deal, England, would be a top choice for any squad no matter the poker variant. The GPI Award Winner for Toughest Opponent is third on pokers All-Time Money list with more than $59 million in earnings, a good chunk of which hes amassed by crushing PLO tournaments. Case in point, he won his first World Series of Poker gold bracelet in 2019 in the $25,000 PLO High Roller for $1.618 million, the third-highest score of his career. He also holds Pot Limit Omaha titles from 2019s PokerGOs U.S. Poker Open and the British Poker Open as well as finishing in third place in the 2023 $100,000 PLO Super High Roller Bowl for $570,000. While Chidwick is perhaps known more for his NLHE talent, hes proven that hes just as good with four cards in his hand as he is with two. Chidwick won his first WSOP bracelet playing a $25k PLO event when he admits he didnt know the game as fully as he does now. So what kind of threat does that make him now? Who would want to sit across from the man with the most fearsome table image in poker with a gold medal on the line? said Seaton. No Limit Hold’em Cash Game Sam Trickett If Sam Trickett were to take up the cash game cause for the UK, it would be a return to the felt after deciding to spend more time with his family in 2021. But prior to that time, Nottinghams Trickett was not just known as the runner-up in the inaugural $1 million buy-in Big One For One Drop (for more than $10 million) but a cash game savant who would routinely battle in the biggest livestreamed games in the world. From the nosebleed games in the PokerGO Studio to the partypoker-sponsored Sam Trickett Invitational High Stakes livestreamed cash games, Tricketts reputation shifted from a tournament crusher to a cash game specialist. Tricky may have semi-retired to Ibiza over the past few years but dont let that fool you. Hes still the master of maximizing his edge in a single cash game pot and plays with a freedom of expression that Simone Biles aspires to!” Seaton said. “Tricky will make things tricky for any opponent. Although hes been out of the spotlight for the past few years, he showed up to Rob Yongs Friday Night Poker holiday livestreamed cash game at the end of 2023 to prove that hes still got it. Mixed Game Tournament Benny Glaser If theres a better mixed gamer in recent years, I havent met them,” said Seaton. “Glaser is a WSOP god and would strike the fear of God into God himself unless the big man upstairs has been brushing up on his Eight Game. Glaser is perhaps the greatest modern mixed game tournament player. There doesnt seem to be a single game in poker that Benny Glaser is not elite at. At 35, Southamptons Glaser has amassed nearly $8 million in live tournament earnings, including a runner-up finish at the WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas for a career-high $2.8 million score. While that was in No Limit Holdem, Glaser has shown that he equally excels in Mixed Games, where hes captured all five of his World Series of Poker gold bracelet. Nine of Glasers top ten career scores are in a variant other than NLHE, including final tables in the 2018 and 2021 $50K WSOP Poker Players Championship. He has six-figure scores in Razz, Omaha 8, 2-7 Lowball, PLO, and H.O.R.S.E. He had 11 cashes at the 2024 WSOP, ten of which were in a variant other than NLHE and three final tables. Glaser currently sits 10th on Englands All-Time Money List and should continue to dominate mixed games, not just at the WSOP but wherever they are being offered. Heads-Up No Limit Hold’em Darius Samual Sometimes you just want to ride the hot hand and thats exactly what Team UK would be doing in the case of Darius Samual. The story goes that Samual essentially got off the plane in Las Vegas this summer for the 2024 World Series of Poker, put up half his bankroll to enter the $25K Heads-Up Championship, and blasted his way through an elite field to capture the bracelet and a career-high score of $500,000. Samual proved he has the chops to compete with the best taking out James Chen, 2023 WSOP Player of the Year Ian Matakis, Matthew Wantman, John Smith, Artur Martirosian, and Faraz Jaka en route to the win. The recent WSOP winner of the $25k HU Championship couldnt be in better form,” Seaton said. “Sure he has less experience than some but he has no fear! Hes a wild card but Id be confident he could do some real damage! Its true he doesnt have a lot of documented experience, with his first Hendon Mob cash recorded in 2023, but he did cash nine times at the World Series of Poker and clearly has a knack for heads-up action. Coach for Team Great Britain Barny Boatman A legend of UK poker and one of the original members of the actual Hendon Mob, Barny Boatman has seen it all and done it all when it comes to the game of poker. The 68-year-old proved that he continues to have what it takes to compete with the best when he bested a field of 1,224 entries in the 2024 EPT Paris Main Event for $1.38 million. But more so, Boatman has plenty of wisdom to share in all the games. While his biggest scores are in No Limit Holdem, his career is rife with mixed game scores including one of his two World Series of Poker bracelets coming in PLO. One is unlikely to find anyone in the game of poker with as much experience as Boatman, with nearly $5.5 million in live tournament earnings, his first recorded result dates back to 1998 – and he has recorded results every year since (with the exception of 2020 for reasons outside of his control most likely). A true grinder and ambassador for poker, hes earned the respect of the entire poker community. Theres no one better to lead the way than Barny,” said Seaton. “A PokerStars Team Pro he literally invented the Hendon Mob. Everyone in poker respects Barny Boatman and each and every British player would crawl over broken flush draws for him!” stats courtesy of The Hendon Mob/GPI

The worlds greatest athletes have all gathered in Paris, France for the Summer Olympics and while poker isnt an Olympic sport – or maybe even a sport at all – WPT.com couldnt help but take the opportunity to imagine what it just might look like if some of the worlds best poker players were representing their country in Paris. In the true Olympic spirit, each countrys organizing committee was tasked with filling a five-person roster consisting of a specialist in each of the following The five players would also be accompanied by a coach from their country. Each player would compete ONLY in their respective discipline, earning not only individual glory – medals available for each event – but also team points that lead to gold, silver, and bronze medals for the top performing country. With that in mind, weve put together teams from Canada, Japan, Brazil, Argentina, Great Britain, and the United States with insight from some of the top journalists in poker. Today, we present to you the 2024 Brazilian Olympic Poker team, with insights from Gabriel Grilo of Super Poker. No Limit Hold’em Tournament Brunno Botteon When it comes to online No Limit Hold’em tournaments, few modern players can match the success of Brunno Botteon. Most notably, Botteon finished second to Damian Salas in the International version of the online WSOP Main Event in 2020, recording a career-best cash of $1,062,723. In all Botteon has accumulated well over $10 million in career online tournament earnings, including a WCOOP title in 2021, a $764,665 payday for winning the $1,500 GG World Championship in May of this year and several other notable titles. “Botteon is definitely up there, especially if we’re talking about an ‘Olympic cycle’ of four years,” said Grillo. “He’s not the most active player right now, but he is definitely worthy of the spot. I’d say Felipe Boianovsky and Pedro Padilha are also two fair names to consider in this category.” In this format Botteon will have to contend with some true giants in the game of poker. The biggest question would be whether or not his limited live experience could play a factor, although 2023 was far and away the most active period of live tournament results in Botteon’s career thus far. Pot Limit Omaha Tournament Joao Simao When it comes to Pot Limit Omaha, few Brazilian players can match the credentials of Joao Simao. In 2022, Simao won his second career WSOP bracelet and recorded a career-best result of $686,242 in a half Pot Limit Omaha, half No Limit Hold’em event. Simao also has a PokerGO Tour PLO win, a $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha side event win at the 2019 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and a third-place finish in the 2024 WSOP $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Championship. “Also a great choice,” said Grilo, “He’s been known for his PLO skills for many years and has the results to back it up, even if he’s kept a lower profile for the past few years.” Simao is well-established with 15 years of results and over $7.2 million in live tournament earnings on his resume, making him a clear choice as a No. 1 in this format. But Grilo points to another Brazilian on the rise in PLO to keep an eye out for, who just so happened to finish fourth in the 2022 WSOP PLO/NLH event that Simao won and took down a WSOP PLO bracelet of his own at WSOP Paradise back in December. “Another name would be Dante Goya Fernandes,” said Grilo. “He’s known as one of the biggest Brazilian PLO players, won a bracelet last year, and has great results online, too.” No Limit Hold’em Cash Game Romulo Dorea For some American poker fans, the first time they read the name Romulo Dorea was when he made the final table of WPT Voyage back in April, finishing in sixth place. But Dorea built up a significant following as a full-time poker vlogger. Born in Belem, Brazil, the 29-year-old moved to Chicago to play college soccer and now travels between Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Florida, and Texas playing in cash games and vlogging about his adventures to more than 100,000 in Portuguese to a predominantly Brazilian audience. Dorea has proven himself capable of performing when the cameras are on and the lights are bright. “I think Romulo is a fair name if we consider the live cash game scene in the US, and he also excels as a content creator,” said Grilo. Grilo also pointed towards a strong secondary option in this format. “The biggest Brazilian name is Mateus Carrion de Moraes, aka ‘Zinho,’ said Grilo. “He has a cash game stable and plays higher stakes.” Mixed Game Tournament Yuri Dzivelevski When it comes to listing the most successful Brazilian tournament poker players in the world, it’s difficult not to consider Yuri Dzivelevski in the No. 1 spot. He’s a five-time WSOP bracelet winner with $6.6 million in total lifetime live tournament earnings. All but one of those WSOP wins came in a non-Hold’em format, and Dzivelevski also has a runner-up finish in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship. When it comes to online poker, Dzivelevski is a six-time PokerStars WCOOP champion with over $15 million in total online tournament earnings. “No argument here,” said Grilo. “Yuri is the biggest name in the history of poker in Brazil and plays all games really well.” There’s also no questioning his work ethic or ambition, which could be vital attributes when it comes to driving Team Brazil forward. I always say that Ill overcome Phil Hellmuth by the time I reach his age, Dzivielevski told Jeff Walsh in July. Its in jest, but theres a grain of truth. Bracelets are awesome because of the memories you create. I play poker as a job, for the money, but winning bracelets turns it into more of a special activity, giving me awesome memories that Ill have forever. Heads-Up No Limit Hold’em Thiago Nishijima** On a Team Brazil that seeks to balance between several generations of players, Thiago Nishijima brings another veteran presence into the equation. With live results that go back well over 15 years, Nishijima is a WSOP bracelet winner with $2.2 million in lifetime live tournament results and a number of other WSOP and WPT Main Tour final tables under his belt. He also has a $1,558,000 PokerStars WCOOP title back in 2009, with well over $4 million in lifetime online tournament earnings. Nishijima has taken a step back from traveling the worldwide tournament circuit in recent years, with all of his live results dating back to 2019 coming at events in Brazil, but his heads-up bonafides are undeniable. “When the Global Poker League happened, he was chosen as the heads-up player for the Sao Paulo Metropolitans,” said Grilo. “Thiago doesn’t really grind nowadays, but he’s still a big name in Brazilian poker history. He used to be the only Brazilian to play the $25K Heads-Up Championship at the WSOP.” Coach for Team Brazil Andre Akkari When it comes to poker in Brazil, the first name that comes to mind is likely Andre Akkari. He was the second Brazilian player in poker history to win a WSOP bracelet when he recorded his $1,500 No Limit Hold’em victory in 2011; Alexandre Gomes was the first Brazilian bracelet winner, in 2008. Akkari continues to be a serious challenger in any event he plays, recording an EPT Barcelona final table in August 2023 and a second-place finish in a $2022 WSOP $2,500 Nine Game Mix event. While he’d be a worthy player in most of the events, Akkari’s experience and connections within the Brazilian poker community are unmatched. Just as we’ve seen celebrities and world-famous athletes flock to watch other games during the 2024 Paris Games thus far, it wouldn’t come as any shock to see the legendary Neymar in attendance for an Akkari-coached Team Brazil. “You can never go wrong with Akkari, as he’s probably the most important name in Brazilian poker,” said Grilo. Coaching staffs run deep in most sports, and Akkari could also pull from a deep pool of candidates in terms of setting Team Brazil up for success. “You could also put Felipe Mojave there as somebody with a big following and respect from the community,” said Grilo. Stats courtesy of The Hendon Mob/GPI

Its a new career-high cash for New Jerseys David Coleman after the online grinder-turned-live high roller took down the third of three $2,000 WPT Alpha8 Trifecta events at Wynn Las Vegas for $730,300. Coleman, who spent the majority of the final table near the top of the chip counts, bested the field of 117 entries – the largest of this summers WPT Alpha8 high rollers with a nearly $2.8 million prize pool – for his first World Poker Tour victory. With the win, Coleman’s reported lifetime live earnings have surpassed more than $6 million. I lost some pots early on but it was pretty smooth overall, he said immediately after the win. I cant complain. I had the chip lead pretty much the entire final tableso it was pretty smooth.” As expected the WPT Alpha8 final table was, once again, stacked with some of the most notable players in the pokers high roller scene including Andrew LuckyChewy Lichtenberger, Pavel Plesov, Roman Hrabec, and Isaac Haxton among others. Coleman, who came up through the ranks in New Jerseys regulated online poker scene, acknowledged the tall task of tackling a live field filled with such talent. This is a stacked field with a lot of competition so youve got to bring your A game and stay focused, Coleman said. You know, just play as best as you can, try to limit the mistakes, and hopefully get lucky. In addition to the $730,300 score, Coleman locked up his seat in the WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas in December. The WPT Alpha8 Trifecta leaderboard, which awarded points to players based on final table and in-the-money finishes, gave away eight $10K seats to the Top 8 players including previous winners Brock Wilson and Daniel Sepiol. For Coleman, taking down the tournament was both a cause for celebration as well as a moment of relief. Amazingevery time you win a poker tournament its like a weight off your shoulders and it feels amazing. Im so happyno words.

When the World Series of Poker Main Event started hitting mainstream popularity in 2003, the television broadcasts were built on two kinds of players – the seasoned professionals, and the amateurs getting to live out their dreams right alongside them. And as much as fans at home liked shouting at their TVs, imagining how they would’ve played a hand better, the underdog story of Chris Moneymaker is what helped build the foundation for poker as it is today. Few players could stake a stronger claim to underdog status with less than 300 players remaining on Day 5 of the 2024 WSOP Main Event than Apple Landerman. The 50-year-old who calls Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii home has been all over the world. He’s spent time living and working in Austin, Lake Tahoe, Las Vegas, and Costa Rica, chasing a variety of different pursuits and passions. Tournament poker is simply the latest stop on that journey, and in his first-ever WSOP Main Event he’s managed to build a considerable stack to this point in the tournament. Beyond poker, change has been a constant for most of Landman’s life. But one year ago, long before he entered the brightest spotlight poker has to offer, Landerman was living the most drastic shift of his well-traveled life – the Maui fires, which claimed more than 100 lives and destroyed more than 2,200 buildings, including Landerman’s home, in the devastation. “You know, you lose everything you owned for 30 years, but the thing about it is all your stuff doesn’t mean a fucking thing when you lose friends and people in that community,” said Landerman. In the immediate aftermath Landerman, who was a firefighter in Austin for eight years, volunteered in the efforts to try to save as much as could be saved on the island of Maui. “I was helping water after the fires with the other guys,” said Landerman. “We were watering the trees afterward. Kind of the first thing about rebuilding the town was keeping what survived alive.” Over the last few months, Landerman has spent a lot of time traveling, including a long stretch in Costa Rica. That’s where he picked up poker, a game that he’d largely seen on TV and online, and he dove in head-first. He credits the vlogs of Daniel Negreanu and Brad Owen for helping to rapidly improve his game. “Poker is a fun game,” said Landerman. “I’m so intrigued by it. I love it. It’s so fascinating, and truly I hope one day I get to thank Daniel Negreanu for truly getting my ass here. I mean, he’s given me confidence just through listening to him. The knowledge he has on that YouTube channel is amazing.” Landerman’s next stop was Austin to visit a friend, and with an abundance of excitement and confidence the pair hatched a plan to get Landerman into the WSOP Main Event. “I was on an extended vacation hanging out with my buddy in Austin, and we decided that I would put up half the WSOP Main Event buy-in and he’d put up half, and we just did it. Well, if you’re gonna do that, invest in me, I’m gonna respect that and come play, try some tournaments and see if I’m even worthy. And so then I came to Vegas.” Landerman ended up in Vegas in late April and started firing tournaments – the first live events he’d ever played in his life. He rattled off 10 final tables and two victories in nightly events at South Point and Wynn Las Vegas across late April and early May, and that convinced him that he was indeed ready to try his hand at playing the WSOP Main Event. He returned to Maui briefly to lock a few things up, and then dove headfirst back into tournaments over the last few weeks. Landerman got his first career WSOP cash in the Seniors Championship, fired a few more South Point tournaments, and then joined the WSOP Main Event field on Day 1C Friday. Six days later, Landerman had locked up some significant pay jumps as he built his stack to over 3 million. He ended up landing a seat on the main “mothership” stage in front of all the TV cameras. He struck an image of a seasoned veteran, wearing sunglasses and a hat – a hat that carried significant meaning. It’s the one he wore as part of the championship roster of the Maui Adult Baseball League’s ‘Upcountry Dirtbags,’ for whom Landerman is a pitcher. It helped form part of his lucky outfit, a reflection of his lifelong love of baseball and a healthy dose of superstition that comes with playing the game for that long “I’m rocking that good vibes,” said Landerman. “With the hat, the championship hat, and I’ve been in the same clothes for five fucking days, because one of the baseball little things is you don’t want to change your dirty uniform when you’re on a hot streak.” Through all of his adventures and trying times, Landerman maintained an overwhelmingly positive outlook that helped sustain him for such a long stretch in the WSOP Main Event. “I’ve got so much support, it’s so rad,” said Landerman. “So many people back from Maui, from Austin, Texas, from Tahoe, from Costa Rica, South Carolina. I’m playing for so many more people than just me. I’m playing for my buddy that spotted me. I want to make my mom proud. Even if I go in and lose the next hand, I’m fucking happy.” If narratives won out over the way poker tends to deliver bad luck and bad news, Landerman would be a standout candidate to become WSOP Main Event champion and take home the $10 million first-place prize. Unfortunately, Landerman’s luck in this tournament would quickly run out during an all-too-brief TV table appearance as he lost all of his chips over the course of two tough-luck hands against Kristen Foxen. Landerman’s been through a lot over the last year, but he lived every second of the WSOP Main Event experience with joy, taking several chances to chat up Jeff Platt and soak everything in as he walked around the tournament between hands. The $50,000 cash for his 245th place finish is far and away his best tournament result to date, and ideally, this won’t be the last time we see Landerman on such a stage. In his exit interview, Landerman toasted his friends back home as he lifted up a celebratory beer and reflected on a tournament well fought and a moment he’ll never forget. “It’s an amazing experience,” Landerman told Jeff Platt. “I’d suggest this to everyone that’s sitting on the couch just like I was last year, and the years before. It’s the most thrilling, unbelievable poker experience of all time. Unbelievable to get to go down in a big ball of flames on TV in front of all my Maui friends. Aloha.”