Heads up for tasers?
In one of the more divisive stories to have emerged this week, Antonio Esfandiari has challenged Phil Hellmuth to a heads-up match in which the loser gets tasered and Hellmuth has tweeted that he’d be interested. It’s divisive of course, because half of the poker world thinks Esfandiari will win and the other half is concerned about seeing someone convulsing in extreme pain.
Let’s make this happen in 2019: @MagicAntonio vs PH, loser gets shot w a taser gun! NBC Heads Up format works for me, or maybe we make the levels 10 mins or 20 mins longer? #POSITIVITY #HellmuthVsMagician https://t.co/b1T8cpSG2u
— phil_hellmuth (@phil_hellmuth) May 4, 2019
Who hasn’t imagined a scenario where after losing a huge pot, Hellmuth stands up to start berating his opponent, only to be floored by a taser before the first expletive can leave his mouth? Apparently, this bet offer has been on the table for years, but only now is Hellmuth considering taking up the bet. After Esfandiari tweeted to say tasering Hellmuth is “all I want in my life”, Hellmuth responded by stating that he wants to make the bet happen in 2019.
Hoodies and sunglasses under discussion
Patrik Antonius has revealed his opinion this week that hoodies and sunglasses should be banned. Some players have taken clothing concealment to extremes in recent years, covering virtually all their face and neck with bandanas, huge glasses and other items of clothing. Antonius was speaking to pokernews.com in relation to his plan to create a poker tour and said, “I really want to ban all these ridiculous hoodies…It’s going to be a penalty”.
Ban hoodies and *maybe* even sunglasses? @Patrik_Antonius wants to make it happen https://t.co/uYaYwJCivP #EPTMonteCarlo pic.twitter.com/yGXL6YHPyD
— PokerNews (@PokerNews) May 2, 2019
His comments led to mixed reactions, with most seeming to feel that while he had a point with face covering, the banning of hoodies would be a step too far. It remains to be seen whether this rule will be firmly implemented in Antonius’ tour, and how it will be applied.
Mark-up debate rolls on as Negreanu treats fans
Debate has been raging on Twitter over the last few weeks with some players attempting to police the mark-ups being offered on packages being sold to fans. Shaun Deeb has been especially vocal and recently found himself involved in a war of words with Negreanu, who feels that a free market should be exactly that. Negreanu went on to make an extremely generous offer to fans yesterday, saying that he will sell packages to fans for his WSOP campaign at zero mark-up. He has not yet posted any link to a place where fans can make an investment but is expected to do so in the coming days.
Been a while since I did a YouTube video! In this video, the markup debate, some package talk, Fofty Cent, my WSOP plans, and an announcement. https://t.co/EMi8LBYP0i
— Daniel Negreanu (@RealKidPoker) April 29, 2019
Brian Rast has eloquently weighed in on the mark-up debate in a blog post, in which he agreed with Negreanu’s stance on the free market issue and expanded on his own thoughts about why mark-up policing is wrong, not to mention bad for poker. While he did not direct the post at anyone by name, it seemed clear that the message was at least partly directed at Shaun Deeb.
More: Mark-up Police by Brain Rast
Cates tries his hand at the Bilzerian photo blueprint
LMAO @junglemandan is the new Dan Bilzerian pic.twitter.com/OP8VMx5mOZ
— Joey Ingram 🤙🏻🤙🏻 (@Joeingram1) May 5, 2019
In a picture reminiscent of Dan Bilzerian’s regular photographic updates, Daniel “jungleman12” Cates has posted a picture of himself cross-legged on a table surrounded by fourteen beautiful naked women. While Cates has ticked the Bilzerian box of being surrounded by women, his picture does still lack one or two important additions. Large dangerous animals and weaponry, namely.
Article by Craig Bradshaw
