The PokerListings Daily 3-Bet is a quick phone call, a slow walk down a long hall and a quiet Uber ride back to the afternoon poker news big game.
Got a tip for a future edition of the 3-Bet? Drop us a note in the comments.
Today in the 3-Bet we find a quick exit for Dan Cates in the $50k PPC, John Racener rips to the WSOP POY lead and Usain Bolt & Kevin Hart call #GameOn.
1) Jungle Out First
The $50,000 Poker Players Championship is one of the signature events of the World Series of Poker and draws out the best of the game's best from all corners of the globe.
Outside of the Main Event it's the tourney poker players want to win to prove themselves a true master of all the games.
Past champs of course include the legendary Chip Reese, Scotty Nguyen and 2-time winners Michael Mizrachi and Brian Rast.
This year's edition got underway yesterday and, as is tradition, played very slow and deep with just 6 of the 93 entrants busting.
The first to go, sadly?
The scintillating Dan "Jungleman12" Cates, who doesn't usually play a lot of WSOP tournaments but somehow tore himself away from the Bobby's Room cash games to take a stab at it.
When you five-bet shove pre-flop for over 200 BBs and run into aces, though, things can end quickly.
Leading the troops into Day 2 is past winner Matt Ashton but a dazzling field is obv. still in the chase with names like Daniel Negreanu and 10x WSOP bracelet winner Johnny f-ing Chan in the Top 20.
Follow along with the live updates on WSOP.com and watch the PokerGo app for the live stream.
2) Racener Jumps Jesus for POY Lead
Remember last week when we mentioned the ominous presence of Chris "Jesus" Ferguson in 2nd place in the WSOP Player of the Year race?
Well, he's still there - although he did briefly take over the lead for a bit.
Last week the man holding off Ferguson for the lead was Ray Henson. Today it's former WSOP Main Event runner-up John Racener.
One of the more focused summer grinders Racener plays all the games and his versatility has shined as he's already piled up 13 cashes and won the $10k Dealer's Choice 6-Max.
He's also nicely over average stack in the $50k PPC heading into today so his profitable summer looks to roll on. Here's the current POY Top 10:
1. John Racener 691.66
2. Chris Ferguson 643.94
3. Raymond Henson 614.87
4. Ryan Hughes 592.87
5. John Monnette 583.92
6. Barry Greenstein 559.63
7. James Obst 555.58
8. Aditya Agarwal 544.99
9. Mike Leah 542.99
10. Daniel Negreanu 541.24
Check the full Player of the Year race here.
3) #GameOn for Usain Bolt and Kevin Hart
It's fast vs. funny. Tall vs. short. Smooth vs. bombastic.
However you want to label it the upcoming 'battle of wits' between PokerStars ambassadors Usain Bolt and Kevin Hart should be pretty engaging.
Dubbed "#GameOn", the two global superstars are embarking on a social media battle that will culminate in a live face-to-face battle at the 2018 PokerStars Bahamas Championship.
What exactly will it entail? We don't know exactly but, according to PokerStars, "#GameOn will embrace the core qualities and skills of poker with challenges to include reading people, bluffing and risk management."
Social media metrics will be the scorecard so Bolt will have his work cut out for him to keep pace with the massive following Hart has on his side.
Follow the two social behemoths on Twitter/Instagram/Facebook to watch it play out. Here's a quick look at how things will shape up:
