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Today in the 3-Bet we find an intriguing list of names on the newly released Bluff Power 20, an awesome in-depth feature on former poker pro and “world’s top NBA gambler” Haralabos Voulgaris and a behind-the-scenes look at the recent $25k NBC Heads-Up Championship care of Jason Somerville.
1) Scheinbergs, Negreanu in Charge on Bluff Power 20
The much-anticipated Bluff Power 20 was released yesterday with an intriguing set of names taking spots on the annual industry survey of the most influential people in poker.
Given the seismic shifts over the last year it’s no surprise eight of the 20 names are different from 2012 and the founder of the great poker hope of 2013, PokerStars, remains king.
PokerStars founder Isai Scheinberg was alone at the top last year but his lingering indictment and the expanded role of his brother Mark has the two sharing top spot this year.
PokerStars pro Daniel Negreanu remains the top player at #6, up three spots from last year. The only other player on the list, surprisingly, is Antonio Esfandiari at #20.
Notables to drop off this year included Annie Duke, US attorney and Black Friday villain Preet Bharara and Tapie Groupe overlord Bernard Tapie.
Check the full Power 20 here. If power players aren't your bag, check our list of the 20 Most Fascinating People in Poker.
2) Haralabos Voulgaris: World’s Top NBA Gambler
You might know former poker pro Haralabos Voulgaris from High Stakes Poker or last year’s Big One for One Drop, but Voulgaris is most heralded these days for his prowess as an NBA sports bettor.
A Nate Silver-esque genius in the world of betting, Voulgaris has made his living off an advanced computer-generated NBA prediction model co-created by him and a certified math genius.
No lie. It sounds like the storyline for a bad sitcom, sure, but it's true. And ESPN has just posted a great in-depth article about it that will also appear in its March 4 analytics issue.
In short, it’s awesome and Haralabob is awesome. An excerpt:
“By 2009, once they’d added this mysterious additional model to Ewing’s inner workings -- version 2.0 -- they started making bets based on the scores it produced after the All-Star break.
"’We just, like, crushed the second half of the season,' Voulgaris says. Since then, as each subsequent season has passed, Voulgaris’ confidence in Ewing has increased. So too has the frequency of his wagering. In a season, he now regularly puts down well over 1,000 individual bets.
“’I mean, I don’t want to sit here and brag,’ he says. ‘But this is literally, like, the greatest thing ever when it comes to sports betting.“ Read the full piece here.
3) Behind the Scenes at $25k NBC HU with Jason Somerville
Want to see what it's like behind the scenes at the $25k NBC Heads-Up Championship AND what it’s like to play OFC in your hotel room with the most powerful poker player in the world?
Poker pro Jason Somerville has an awesome two-for-one deal for you, then, with his new Vblog from inside the NBA HU:
Visit www.pokerlistings.com