Off Topic: Bluffing Manny Pacquiao, Daniel Cates goes on tilt, Faraz Jaka on CNN

The Brave Bluff

It is a little known fact that Manny Pacquiao (Filipino world champion professional boxer) enjoys playing poker, but then celebrity poker games are often kept rather quiet. One celebrity story from a poker game has emerged recently by way of Justin ‘BoostedJ’ Smith. He tells the tale of sitting down to play poker against one of the greatest boxers of all time, and shoving a huge $100,000 or more into the pot on the river, with nothing.

Manny repeatedly asked to see his hand after having just folded his aces face up, and Smith relented, showing that he had complete air. Manny promptly jumped up out of his chair and quickly strode over towards the young pro. He needn’t have been concerned though, as Manny is a gentleman who has great respect for skill and courage. He simply wanted to give him a congratulatory pat on the back, while laughing at the audacity of a visibly relieved, Justin Smith.

Poker can also be a brutal game (Photo CNN)

Daniel Cates goes on tilt

We’ve all been there, when you run pocket kings into pocket aces and feel hard done by. At the Aussie Millions this week it happened to Daniel ‘jungleman’ Cates twice in quick succession. While frustration and disappointment are understandable, his childlike tantrum is certainly not.

After throwing his cards at Jeff Rossiter, the player who had been dealt aces, he then proceeded to throw fistfuls of chips across the table at his opponent. He also loudly swore before storming off across the casino, creating quite a scene.

This is not the first time that Cates has made himself look foolish and unprofessional, and has recent form in this department, both online, and live. This took place during the Aussie Millions $100,000 Challenge event, which is now down to the final table stage.

The Wandering Millionaire

Faraz Jaka has been a successful feature of major poker tournaments for many years, with titles and final tables to his name. You would probably think with this kind of success he would have bought himself a nice house to live in, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. He actually has no fixed address, and sleeps on sofas for the most part, such is his devotion to travelling the poker circuit and seeing different parts of the world. He recently appeared on CNN and gave an interview about his chosen path in life, and speaks of having a purpose which is greater than the sum of reaching a few small goals.

Faraz lives a life of freedom, pursuing poker, and it clearly brings him happiness on a day to day basis. He spends time meditating regularly and has been able to visit people from every walk of life while on his travels. Having played 103 tournaments across the world last year while living out of two suitcases, Faraz Jaka is undoubtedly committed to his purpose, and remains keen to travel the world throughout 2015, with the bare minimum of personal possessions.