Neymar Jr. Trades the Field for the Felt at the WSOP 2024

Every football fanatic should known the name Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, or at the very least, the nickname Neymar Jr. The Brazilian attacking midfielder has been making hat trick magic for well over a decade at this point.

However, the football field is not the only place you’ll likely to find Neymar Jr. As some of you may know, the Brazilian footballer is an avid poker player, even making appearances at the World Series of Poker.

So, instead of focusing on what he can do on the field, in this article, we’ll see what Neymar did at the WSOP 2024.

Neymar Jr. and WSOP 2024

Still recovering from his injury and unable to join the Brazilian national team in the Copa América, Neymar opted to spent his mandatory down time in the United States and at the poker tables. However, WSOP 2024 was not his first stop.

Before jetting to Las Vegas, the football star headed to the Hustler Casino in Los Angeles to play the first edition of the Hustler Casino Live with celebrities. There, he scored the biggest pot of the session — $360,000 to Alan Keating. The video below should give you an idea of how it all went down.

After his win in California, it was off to Sin City to play at the biggest poker event of the year. Neymar played two tournaments, the invitational and Event #68: $2,500 No-Limit Hold’em.

While the Brazilian was eliminated early on, the tournament organizers still caught a chance to chat with the football pro.

As Neymar Jr. reveled, his poker dreams are quite simple and even common – play at the WSOP Main Event. And the ideal opponent to sit across from him? According to Neymar, that would have to be André Akkari.

WSOP 2022 – (Not) His First Rodeo

Somewhat surprisingly, 2024 was not Neymar’s first time at the WSOP tables. His Las Vegas debut actually came two years earlier, at the WSOP 2022, where the Brazilian also earned his first career cash.

Even before his first career cash in 2022. Neymar had the chance to play at the World Series. In 2016, the footballer secured his WSOP spot by winning a PokerStars preliminary tournament. Unfortunately, he didn’t get to shoot his shot due to his national team duties at the Olympic Games.

In 2022, nothing was holding him back. His first run at the money was in the 10,000 Limit Hold-Em Championship. Unfortunately, with some risky moves, Neymar was out before Day 2 even began. However, Neymar came to play, literally.

He took another deep run in the $1,000 buy-in Super Turbo Bounty No-Limit Hold’em freezeout. This time, a bit of luck was on his side. The player finished 49th out of 2,227 entrants, earning his first career cash of $3,959 plus bounties.

Photo Credit: Danny Maxwell

A WSOP 2022 Misunderstanding

As reported in the WSOP tournament updates, Neymar faced a close call with being ejected from the tournament area during the money bubble.

Players were instructed to stay at their tables while spectators were cleared from the room so officials could confirm the remaining player count. Neymar, chatting with friends at the rail, was approached by a security guard who said, “Sorry, folks, I need to ask you to leave, you can’t stay here.” Neymar responded, “I’m playing,” and promptly returned to his seat.

Following the dinner break, Neymar managed to knock out another player and accumulated one of the larger chip stacks in the tournament. However, his progress stalled, and he was eliminated approximately an hour later.

Luckily for the football pro, his first career cash was still waiting for him at the WSOP tables.

Photo Credit: Alec Rome

What the Future Holds

While this WSOP edition wasn’t particularly favorable for the Brazilian footballer, we hope to see Neymar back making waves both on the field and at the poker tables very soon.

Until then, keep yourself up to date with everything poker through our social media below!

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