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Today in the 3-Bet we find ElkY heading for the heat in Brazil, UK superstar Robbie Williams taking heat and Phil Hellmuth showing exactly how popular he is.
1) Brazil Recognizes Poker as a Sport, ElkY Shopping for Sunscreen
Two big pieces of poker news to report from Brazil this week.
One, the Brazilian Sports Ministry has officially recognized poker as a sport and named the Confederação Brasileira de Texas Hold'em (CBTH) as the official governing body.
According to a statement on the Brazilian Sports Ministry’s website:
“Poker is a competitive discipline, which requires the participant to have intelligence, ability, and intellectual and behavioural skills in order to succeed.
“The CBTH represents the most extended definition of poker, Texas Hold’em and all the other variants of this game including but not exclusively Omaha, Omaha High / Low, 7 Card Stud, 7 Card Stud High / Low, Razz and Mixed Games.”
Two, big-name players are making plans for the upcoming LAPT Grand Final in Brazil.
Among the big names committed to play so far: Daniel Negreanu, Eugene Katchalov, Humberto Brenes, Jose Barbero and Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier.
Brazilian PokerStars pro Andre Akkari, for one, is very excited about hosting ElkY at Carnival:
“ELKYYYYYY IS INDA HOUSEEEE!!!! O Monstro Elky está vindo para o Carnaval no Brasil! Mais um dos gênios do poker na nossa terra!”
More on the LAPT Grand Final and how to qualify at PokerStars.
2) Robbie Williams Taking Heat Over New "Free" Poker Site
Former Take That member and multi-platinum singing icon Robbie Williams is taking heat in the UK as he launched a beta version of a new “sort-of-real-money” poker site.
Players who sign up can win Robbie-related merchandise, tickets for future gigs and the chance to meet their idol.
It’s mostly free to play, but you can also buy extra chips and some tournaments have real buy-ins.
As the site says, "Many tournaments require a buy-in to participate...because if you aren't risking anything then why are you playing!?"
Given Williams' past troubles with addiction, several fans and activist groups are already calling him out for his "lack of sensitivity," going so far as to say it's "deplorable" and "awful."
None, however, have taken issue with the real human suffering caused by his music career. Hiyo.
More from the Sun here.
3) Bo Don't Know Hellmuth
Everybody knows Phil Hellmuth is an egregious name dropper, both in life and on Twitter.
In the past week alone Hellmuth has dropped almost 20 celebrity "friends" into his tweets in his unrelenting quest to share his baller lifestyle.
Poker pro Gavin Smith finally responded by tweeting the question on everyone's mind about the name-dropping:
Does anyone else think @phil_hellmuth drops way to many fucking names, think any (of those) guys tweeter about meeting phil?
The answer:
Amy Tan does. Everybody else, not so much.
Names dropped by Hellmuth in the last week and their tweet reciprocation:
Follow Phil and his celebrity friends here.
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