Today in the 3-Bet we bring you highlights from Vanessa Selbst's front-page AMA on Reddit, a confidence-inspiring new development in the ISPT saga plus a non-poker project from someone we last saw at the 2006 WSOP Main Event final table.
Any suggestions for a future 3-Bet can be left in the comments.
1) Vanessa Selbst AMA Hits Reddit Front Page
Vanessa Selbst is the highest earning female tournament player in poker history. And that's not even close to the most interesting thing about her.
Internet readers seem to agree.
Selbst opened up yesterday in an “Ask Me Anything” thread on Reddit.com, and users hit her with so many questions it catapulted the conversation to the site's front page.
Topics range from what it was like being the first openly gay person in poker to the kind of hard-core hand discussion usually reserved for Two Plus Two.
The highlights include:
Q: Hey Vanessa- What is the biggest challenge of being a queer woman in the professional poker world? Have you experienced outright homophobia from your peers/fans of poker?
A: Um, being queer is awesome because it means I get to be in an amazing relationship with a woman, and it also means I get an extra community of really f-ing cool people.
If all that means that I have to block a few more trolls on twitter every week than I otherwise would have to, then so be it, I'll take it any day of the week. No one that is actually intelligent has ever given me any sort of trouble, so it's mostly no problem.
Q: Who do you think is the best poker player in the world atm?
A: Phil Ivey, always Phil Ivey, will perhaps forever be Phil Ivey.
Check out the full AMA on Reddit.
2) Dusk Till Dawn Signs €1m ISPT Guarantee
Few events in poker have sparked more skepticism than the International Stadiums Poker Tour that's set to kick off at Wembley this May but an announcement made today may give poker players a reason to believe.
UK poker operator Dusk Till Dawn has put its name on the event and is guaranteeing a first-place prize of €1 million.
DTD owner Rob Yong released a statement:
If Wembley is a success, I believe ISPT could be replicated in other iconic venues across the world generating huge prizepools and giving poker fantastic mainstream exposure, just look at Wembley’s official web site – ISPT is alongside the FA Cup Final, Champions League Final and Bruce Springsteen’s Concert.
This event is a ‘win win’ for the UK poker community; it will either be a great success with thousands of players, or there will be a massive overlay.
A Q&A is scheduled for today at Wembley and a transcript will be posted on the BlondePoker forum.
3) WSOP Blast from the Past Makes New Music Video
The connection to poker on this next one is tenuous but we're including it because we always love to see people using poker winnings for something beyond their next buy-in.
Back in 2006 Korean-American Douglas Kim finished seventh at the WSOP Main Event, pocketing almost $2.4 million.
And by the looks of his latest project, he's leveraging his Asian heritage just as much as his poker-tournament windfall.
Kim enters the ever-growing world of parody music videos with this distinctly non-poker version of Ben Folds' song “Rockin the Suburbs” and even if we're not fans of the song itself, Kim succeeds in the video production.
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