Brazialian Soccer Star Neymar Wins Over $350K On Ridiculous Poker Hand
Brazil is preparing to start its run for the Copa América title on Monday against Costa Rica. The team is in the United States for its match, which is to be played at SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles. They'll do it without star Neymar, who tore his ACL in October.
But that hasn't stopped Neymar from competing. In soccer, yes, but not in the world of high-stakes poker. He attended a game with notable players such as NBA star Jimmy Butler, boxer Ryan Garcia and gaming superstar Ninja.
The scenes from the game were quite wild and Neymar wasn't the only one who earned himself some money. Jimmy Butler showed off his bounty after the game.
Kudos to Butler, too, because he didn't seem to enjoy sitting at a table with Ryan Garcia.
The antics were entertaining, but the poker really heated up when Neymar got into a hand against someone named "Mister Keating." His name is Alex Keating and he is a professional poker player. Though, you might question that after watching this hand unfold.
Neymar, for some reason, decided to play 9-5 off-suit with Keating holding A-4 of diamonds. After the flop and turn, Neymar had a pair of nines and Keating held a flush draw. Keating pushed Neymar all-in, and Neymar made a "hero call" with just a pair of nines (middle pair with a terrible kicker).
The two players decided to "run it twice," meaning they would play two river cards. The first river card was a diamond and the second was not. So, the pair split the pot evenly. That could have been the end of it.
![Brazilian soccer star Neymar won over $350K in one poker hand against Mister Keating, who just couldn't stop giving away money.](http://images.outkick.com/static.outkick.com/www.outkick.com/content/uploads/2024/06/668/376/neymar-brazil-poker.jpg?ve=1&tl=1)
Brazilian soccer star Neymar won over $350K in one poker hand against Mister Keating, who just couldn't stop giving away money.
(Getty Images)
But Keating decided he was in the mood to gamble. So he offered to play another river card for $50,000. Neymar accepted. And Neymar won. So Keating went for the "double or nothing" play. Another loser.
Down $100K, but undeterred, Keating continued to push more and more money in. When all was said and done, the pair saw eight river cards. And Neymar won on seven of them. Keating lost his entire stack ($360,000) chasing that fifth diamond (or an ace). The irony is that if Keating had just run the river a single time, he would have taken Neymar's entire stack.
Instead, he lost over $350K. It was a wild ride.
Take a lesson, kids. It's called "gambling" for a reason.