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Today in the 3-Bet we find a lively discussion about players “snubbed” by the NBC Heads-Up selection committee, Liv Boeree analyzes Lance Armstrong’s interview tells and Phil Ivey, the best poker player in the world, finally figures out how to send a tweet.
1) NBC Heads-Up "Snubs" Draw Heat
The $25k NBC Heads-Up Challenge returns this month after a one-year hiatus and, by all means, it's a great move forward for poker. Sure, it only got a reprieve because of an NHL-size hole in NBC's schedule, but any poker on TV is good for the industry.
The final list of 64 players was released last week, though, and some were less than pleased with the selections.
Among the many worthy players left off the list were high-ranking GPI pros David "Doc" Sands and Tom Marchese plus European superstars Phillip Gruissem and Marvin Rettenmaier. Sands took to Twitter to voice his displeasure:
Very annoyed that I didn't get invited to play in the NBC heads up event. Absurd to me that they don't auto-invite the top 10 in the GPI
— David Doc Sands (@Doc_Sands) January 18, 2013Dan Fleyshman echoed the sentiment:
@kevmath Regardless of how nice Matt Matros, Rob Salaburu, Matt Salsberg may beit's dumb when theres clear choices like Doc Sands/Marchese
— Dan Fleyshman (@DanFleyshman) January 19, 2013As with any invitational event there's always a few deserving players left out but the NBC Heads-Up event is about entertainment and name-value as much as talent.
Given Sands' slow-paced style and his girlfriend Erika Moutinho's popularity from her Main Event run, Sands might not even be the top pick in his own house.
2) Liv Boeree Analyzes Armstrong's Live Tells
The epic Oprah-Lance Armstrong interview dominated the headlines last week and naturally drew analysis from news outlets around the world.
One of the more interesting approaches came from The Telegraph newspaper in the UK, who brought in a couple of experts to give their take on Armstrong's behavior.
One of those experts? PokerStars pro Liv Boeree, who used her poker experience to break down some of Armstrong's non-verbal cues:
"I’m usually not listening to what is coming out of someone’s mouth, instead I am looking to see what their body is telling me through physical tells. When watching the interview with Lance my first impression is of his nervousness and tension.
"Of course he’s understandably apprehensive about the interview. His posture is fixed; he’s visibly tensed through his shoulders and core and barely shifts from that throughout the entire interview. His fingers are usually tightly interlaced, a method of controlling oneself.
"... My opinion is that Lance, whilst admitting some incredibly hard and damaging truths after years of ingrained lying, has not given Oprah or the public an entirely open or complete set of answers."
A sport psychologist at the University of Wolverhampton also has a pretty interesting take.
Check their full analysis here.
3) Phil Ivey Sends First Real Tweet. Maybe
The @philivey Twitter account has always been a bit of a running joke in the industry as it's always been pretty clear it wasn't really Ivey pecking out his own social media missives.
So much of a running joke even that a popular hashtag meme - #RealIveyTweets - had a brief moment in the sun.
The laughing stock days are over, however, as Phil Ivey, the greatest poker player to ever live, says he's finally mastered the technical means to send his own tweets. Or so it seems.
I just figured out how to send a tweet myself lol
— Phil Ivey (@philivey) January 20, 2013He followed it up with a few more believable, "Ivey sounding" tweets, but there's still a few suspicions out there he's just hired a better social media ghoster:
Sweating game.. Big difference between laying 3.5 and 4
— Phil Ivey (@philivey) January 20, 2013I don't believe you tweet and no one else does either.. Take a picture and prove it.. @philivey
— Allen Bari (@allenbari) January 21, 2013Either way, Phil or not, it looks like he lost a bundle on the AFC Championship. Follow "Phil" on Twitter here.
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