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Daily 3-Bet: Northug Hit & Run, Salter Springboard, Bilzerian = Hefner

Daily 3-Bet: Northug Hit & Run, Salter Springboard, Bilzerian = Hefner

Daily 3-Bet: Northug Hit & Run, Salter Springboard, Bilzerian = Hefner


The PokerListings Daily 3-Bet is a couple of goats on the roof, a dozen luxury cars in the garage and one misjudged human-toss into the afternoon poker news pool.

Got something you want featured in a future 3-Bet? Drop a note in the comments and we’ll gladly take a look.

Today in the 3-Bet we find Olympic champ Petter Northug narrowly escaping a drunk-driving crash in Norway, Jack Salter goes from 2013 Battle of Malta to EPT Grand Final runner-up and poker playboy Dan Bilzerian gets dubbed the new Hugh Hefner.

1) Northug Drinks, Crashes, Runs Home

Petter Northug
Terrible – and lucky – turn of events for Northug.

A scary incident to mention from Trondheim, Norway – coincidentally also in the news last week as a possible home for this fantasy poker island.

The landscape turned into a nightmare instead for Olympic champ and famed high-stakes poker grinder Petter Northug over the weekend.

After reports surfaced of his Audi found smashed on the side of the road it eventually came out Northug was driving drunk and ran home before police arrived. He left a passenger (who was slightly injured but OK) behind. No one else was hurt.

Still drunk when taken in by police Northug initially lied about driving. Later, upon clearing up from his haze, he admitted to driving drunk and sent out a formal statement apologizing.

According to NewsinEnglish.no Northug is willing to accept the full consequences of his actions – including losing sponsors and possible jail time – and get back to skiing as soon as possible.

As for his poker playing? Northug’s last appearance online, according to HighStakesDB, was on April 28/29 where he dropped $28k.

2) Salter Finishes 39th at 2013 BOM, Goes on Tear

If you still grind away in the microstakes but dream of taking a seat among the game’s heavy-hitters – and winning – take inspiration from England’s Jack Salter.

The UK’s newest poker star thanks to his €765k runner-up finish at last week’s EPT Grand Final Salter was, believe it or not, one of 888 players who took a stab at the €550 PokerListings Battle of Malta just last Sept.

Battle of Malta
Can you spot this year’s EPT Grand Final runner-up?

He finished 39th for €2k – and then promptly went on an 8-month tear through mid-to-high buy-in events across Europe and Asia. Among his post-BOM scores:

  • 3rd at UKIPT London ME right after for $95k
  • 2nd in the $10k HKD Turbo at the 2013 ACOP in Macau
  • 1st in the Aussie Millions $5k Six-Max
  • 2nd at EPT Grand Final ME for €765k

All told Salter’s earned roughly $1.3m in tourney cashes since his quick spin down to Malta. Just sayin’.

Want to take a go and see where it leads yourself this year? Get in on the €500k GTD 2014 BOM with an Early Bird discount until May 31.

3) Dan Bilzerian: Loves Goats, Might Be New Hugh Hefner

Since there seems to be an insatiable lust for Dan Bilzerian stories these days – poker related or otherwise – here’s the latest episode of Off the Felt with Dan Bilzerian from All In Magazine.

In case you’ve missed out on the Bilzerian buzz the high-stakes poker player and stripper-/gun-loving bon vivant has been in the spotlight for a variety of reasons over the last year.

He had 20% of WSOP Main Event runner-up Jay Farber, which turned his $2k into $1m. He’s been called the “Most Interesting Man on Instagram.” He appeared briefly in the movie Lone Survivor and filed a lawsuit because of it.

Most recently he broke a porn star’s foot throwing her off his roof into a pool. Otherwise, as you can see in the video below, he’s just an average guy who loves goats and guns and may or may not be the next Hugh Hefner: