Soccer star Neymar makes brief appearance at WSOP
Brazilian soccer star Neymar made a brief appearance at the World Series of Poker this week.
The 30-year-old forward for Paris Saint-Germain entered the $10,000 Limit Hold’em Championship but didn’t last past Day 1 of the event.
He then joined a $10/$25 No-limit Hold’em cash game at Paris Las Vegas and hosted a private “Neymar & Friends” tournament held Monday at Bally’s. The latter featured 16 top Brazilian poker players for a prize pool of $10,000.
Neymar appeared at the WSOP in 2015, railing the remaining Brazilian players on Day 5 of the $10,000 Main Event No-limit Hold’em World Championship.
He won a satellite into the WSOP Main Event in 2016 but was unable to participate because he played for Brazil at the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, leading the host country to the gold medal.
Neymar is a cultural ambassador for PokerStars and for several years has represented the online site, which is only legal in Michigan, New Jersey and Pennsylvania in the U.S.
Through his sponsorship, Neymar has played in several tournaments around the world and amassed $28,172 in career live earnings, according to HendonMob.com.
Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.