PokerGuru Gossip Column: Antonio Esfandiari to Fight Kevin Hart, Daniel Merrilees Challenges Luke Schwartz to a Boxing Match & More
-
- PG News July 31, 2018
-
8 mins Read
It’s been hectic back home with the five-day Deltin Poker Tournament (DPT) hosted in Goa that just wrapped up yesterday. And even while the short-deck poker format at the ongoing Triton Jeju events kept us busy, a lot has been happening in the international poker circuit that you just can’t afford to miss!
In this edition of our PokerGuru Gossip Column, we bring you three juicy updates. Our first story features Antonio Esfandiari, who has confirmed in an interview with TMZ Sports that he will face actor, comedian and poker player Kevin Hart in a boxing match in March 2019.
Next we move to a war of words between poker pros Luke Schwartz and Daniel Merrilees on Twitter that finally had Merrilees challenge Schwartz to a boxing match for £200,000.
Our third and final storyfocuses on Tom Dwan who, after promising his fans in April to be more active on Twitter, was recently seen asking for advice during an event in the Triton Super High Roller Series in Jeju where Dwan bought into the HK$500,000 Event. So here it is folks, get on with checking out these entertaining tidbits tabled only for you!
Antonio Esfandiari Says He’ll Box Actor Kevin Hart in March 2019
Boxing matches seem to be in these days. Poker pro Antonio Esfandiari has now confirmed that he and actor, comedian Kevin Hart have agreed to a boxing match early next year. The 39-year old poker pro broke the news recently to TMZ Sports.
“Kevin Hart and I were playing [poker] the other day, we were hanging out, and somehow boxing comes up,” he said. “So, we made a bet. And, in March, around March, we are going to box in a ring,” sfandiari said.
It may seem like a tall order for Hart who is just five feet, four inches in height and will bout against the six-footer Esfandiari, but Hart looks to be the fitter of the two right now and already boxes as part of his workout routine.
Esfandiari seems to agree. According to him, he had 35-to-one odds to win the fight against Hart because Hart was in a much better shape and is “an athlete and fast as hell.” Right now, it’s not clear whether the two will decide on a pre-determined weight but it is being presumed that the match will be held in Las Vegas.
Watch Esfandiari’s interview with TMZ Sports here.
Daniel Merrilees Challenges Luke ‘Full_Flush’ Schwartz to A £200,000 Boxing Match
It’s been a hot summer and disputes between poker celebs off the tables have been grabbing newspace for sometime now, with a verbal face-off between Shaun Deeb and Will Kassouf followed by the continued conflict between Doug Polk and Fernando ‘Jnandez’ Habegger.
And now, Luke Schwartz seems to have jumped into the conflict bandwagon against fellow Brit Daniel Merrilees. The two were spotted warring on Twitter and Merrilees finally ended up challenging Schwartz to a boxing match!
It began with Schwartz’s statement on Twitter where he said that he was once the best player in the world.
Kinda feeling this holdem game again . I was once the best in the world , can I get that magic back ? @Real_HighStakespic.twitter.com/MFAe31BkPX
— lukeschwartz (@__fullflush1__) July 26, 2018
To this, Merrilees expressed his doubts.
Youre drawing dead bro. Anyone else attest to you being once the best? I dont think so 😂😴
— danielmerrliees (@danielmerrilees) July 27, 2018
Evidently, Schwartz didn’t like that too much, and a war of words ensued.
U are a major pigeon wannabe bro . Yeh between 2008 and 2010 I barely had a losing session in nl against all the best players . Only blom could test … oh nice blow up in the main event maybe one day you’ll get some fan boys u pigeon nobody mug
— lukeschwartz (@__fullflush1__) July 27, 2018
Feel free to come back anytime btw buddy 😅🤣ðŸ™ðŸ€.. this was when id just started playing PLO and youd been playing for years, ya quit pretty quick 🚿#showers#sensible#poker I spent this money well pic.twitter.com/uSHhRvgX5i
— danielmerrliees (@danielmerrilees) July 27, 2018
Josh Green also jumped into the conversation.
Your showing a 2k hand sample in PLO….. kinda embarrassing.
— Josh Green (@greeno99) July 27, 2018
2k was enough hands for him to realise he was loosing tons, yes. The sample would be far greater if he kept playing x
— danielmerrliees (@danielmerrilees) July 27, 2018
Schwartz’ reply had Merrilees challenge him to a boxing match.
So u won 2 buyins at 50/100
And we pushed at 25/50 after 2000 hands . loooooool huge edge u moron how about I just add u to my slap list for being such an immaculate wasteman— lukeschwartz (@__fullflush1__) July 27, 2018
Lets just do a 200k boxing match in a year pork belly
— danielmerrliees(@danielmerrilees) July 27, 2018
Let’s sign . Why u need a year do it for Christmas . Give a pigeon like you some much needed publicity befor you die out
— lukeschwartz (@__fullflush1__) July 27, 2018
Because maybe you have experience and you probs cant shed that amount of pork by Christmas. Theres also a possibility id confuse you with 🎅ðŸ¼
— danielmerrliees (@danielmerrilees) July 27, 2018
Lol whatever bro happy to wait a year if it means I win 200k . Go get yourself a trainer . Happy to sign and escrow with @plenopads if your serious x
— lukeschwartz (@__fullflush1__) July 27, 2018
While it’s really unclear if the two would really duel in the boxing ring, if Schwartz does take up the challenge, it will be an interesting one to watch, with the winner taking home a whopping £200,000!
Tom Dwan Tweets For Advice During Triton HK$500,000 Event
Poker pro Tom Dwan has been keeping a low profile on Twitter, but announced in April end, that he would start tweeting more frequently again. While he was quiet for a good few months after, Dwan tweeted on his entry in the HK$500,000 event in the Triton Super High Roller Series, currently underway in Jeju.
Wearing sunglasses at a poker table for I think my first time ever.
Triton puts on a good tournament and does a lot of things right, but man their lighting people like to blind you on the tv tables
— Tom Dwan (@TomDwan) July 25, 2018
Dwan survived through to the final 20 players and here is where he tweeted details of a hand, asking for advice.
4handed short deck. 8k ante, 16total (8+8) on the button.
Mikita limps, Alan folds, I call Qto, Ben lamb makes it 80k in the button. Mikita folds.
Bens a very good poker player but claims to not know much short deck (I think it’s at least part true), he plays pretty good though
— Tom Dwan (@TomDwan) July 25, 2018
I could shove could call could fold. But usually calling is best I think.
I call. Flop KdQh6d. I check, Ben lamb shoves (he has a bunch, but I only have 338k).
What should I do?
Only 5pay, about 20left, and I have QT no diamond
— Tom Dwan (@TomDwan) July 25, 2018
I thought it was a very close spot. Sometimes I call sometimes I fold.
After thinking it over and not knowing what to do, I folded.
Not sure if it was right
— Tom Dwan (@TomDwan) July 25, 2018
First in this tournament is 1.2billion.
Maybe that’s why I folded.
(Korean won)
— Tom Dwan (@TomDwan) July 25, 2018
He certainly did not get very useful advice from any of his followers.
BTW Tom, this is exactly what we want from you! Your game is otherworldly to some of us, so getting insight into how you play hands is awesome! Thx!
— Marc Cohen (@MarcGordonCohen) July 25, 2018
Ask for a seat change
— logical fallacies are fun (@junkedit) July 25, 2018
Eventually, Dwan’s run ended on the final table where he clashed with the likes of Jason Koon and Rui Cao and was eliminated in fifth place for HK$1.9 Million. While Twitter is really not the right place to hunt for poker advice, it’s good to see Dwan active on social media!
So that’s all for this edition of our PokerGuru Gossip Column! Check in with us soon, to get many more entertaining updates from the world of poker.
Related Articles:
Related Players
Abhishek Goindi- Categories News
- KeywordsTags: Kevin Hart, Daniel Merrilees, DPT, Deltin Poker Tournament, Luke Schwartz, Online Poker, Antonio Esfandiari, Gossip Column, Live Poker
