Got an article you want included in the 3-Bet? Drop us a note in the comments.
Today in the 3-Bet we find a disappointing World Series of Poker for Jason Mercier not submarining his GPI ranking at all, signs of life in the long-delayed durrrr Challenge between Tom Dwan and Dan Cates and Daniel Negreanu proving again why we can't get enough of him.
1) Mercier Holds on to GPI #1; Matusow and Sung Soar
So 61 events in the 2013 World Series of Poker are done and gone and just nine players remain in the marquee finale. What have all those results and all those cashes, big or small, meant for poker's worldwide player rankings aka the Global Poker Index?
Well, both a whole lot and very little it seems.
The little part is somewhat surprising as Jason Mercier, he of the massive bracelet bets and minimal deep runs, retains his #1 overall spot on the leaderboard. He did make six cashes this summer but his strength for the GPI are his big results spread over the last few years.
The top 10 did shift around slightly, with David "Doc" Sands and Bryn Kenney dropping out of the Top 10 and Joe Cheong and Andrew Lichtenberger moving in.
A few names at the bottom, however, moved dramatically. Bracelet winner Steve Sung soared 2,000 spots to crack the Top 300 and Mike "The Mouth" Matusow, who also claimed a bracelet, jumped almost 1,000 spots to 267 overall.
Writer Eric Danis sorts it all out over on the GPI site here.
2) durrrr Challenge 2 Back on in August
Hey, remember the massive $1.5 million durrrr Challenge Tom Dwan and Dan "Jungleman" Cates started back in August 2010?
The one where Cates ran out to a $1.2m lead (after 20k of 50k hands) and then Black Friday (more or less) shut it down for three years?
Yeah, that one. It's back on again, according to Cates.
In a post on 2+2 last week Cates said he and Dwan have agreed to grind out some hands on a new set schedule, hoping to conclude sometime before apes rule the planet again:
"regarding the durrrr challenge, we agreed to play a min of 4k hands/month, and then 8k hands every 2 months afterwards. If we dont play 4k hands a month in august, then restrictions will be made. I guess restrictions means scheduled times, penalties for not complying... I will be posting here in august/september if this doesnt help state of challenge."
So there you go. After a touchy Twitter fight and a half-hearted attempt to pick the challenge up again, this one looks like it's for real.
We'll keep you posted. Here's a good recap of things to this point (excluding the few recent sessions in April/May)
3) Negreanu Revisits Turtleneck and Chain Days
Some people think Daniel Negreanu, perhaps the most famous and popular poker player in the world, is a bit overexposed.
Guy is out there a lot, for sure. ESPN. TSN. X-Men movies. Sports talk radio. Filming his dates. Pushing "cults."
We say the more the better though. Guy breathes life and enthusiasm -- and the best kind of publicity for poker - every minute of the day.
He also keeps instagramming stuff like this, which only endears us to him more.
Visit www.pokerlistings.com