Neymar never hid his passion for poker and, for that reason, once again drew attention by playing in the BSOP Winter. However, the presence of the Santos forward at the festival generated criticism from some sports media, who questioned his participation in the event.
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Furthermore, the main reason for the repercussion was the dispute of the BSOP Winter Invitational, with a R$ 25 thousand buy-in, precisely while Santos was facing Universidad Central, from Venezuela, in the Copa Sudamericana. Even so, Neymar emphasized that he only took advantage of a period of leave granted by the club.
Thus, the number 10 published a video on social media to respond to the comments. “I was here preparing for the second training session and remembered that on my day off, many people were talking about me playing poker,” said the player when explaining his participation in the tournament.
Thus, Neymar ended the publication in an ironic tone and once again defended his professional routine. “I worked in the morning, didn’t go to the game, went back to training. I was off. People keep talking, anyway. I’m preparing for training. Can I train or are you going to keep ‘criticizing’ too? Go mind your own business,” declared the forward.
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Neymar maintains a long-standing relationship with BSOP and poker
However, Neymar‘s participation in the BSOP is far from new. The forward has been playing in the series’ tournaments for many years and even reached a final table in 2018. Furthermore, he maintains a friendship with Rafael Moraes, CEO of BSOP, and participates in the organization of the BSOP One by Neymar Jr, a festival named after the star.
However, in addition to the Brazilian circuit, Neymar also recently made an appearance at the World Series of Poker (WSOP). About a week after the elimination of the Brazilian National Team in the World Cup, the player traveled to Las Vegas and played in a tournament of the world’s main poker series alongside friends.
Finally, Neymar‘s profile on The Hendon Mob records US$ 116,632 in prize money in live tournaments. Furthermore, the forward also accumulates good results in online poker, especially in PokerStars series. Thus, the passion of one of the biggest names in world football continues to help strengthen the image of the mind sport.
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