The worlds greatest athletes have all gathered in Paris, France for the Summer Olympics and while poker isnt an Olympic sport – or maybe even a sport at all – WPT.com couldnt help but take the opportunity to imagine what it just might look like if some of the worlds best poker players were representing their country in Paris. In the true Olympic spirit, each countrys organizing committee was tasked with filling a five-person roster consisting of a specialist in each of the following The five players would also be accompanied by a coach from their country. Each player would compete ONLY in their respective discipline, earning not only individual glory – medals available for each event – but also team points that lead to gold, silver, and bronze medals for the top performing country. With that in mind, weve put together teams from Canada, Japan, Brazil, Argentina, Great Britain, and the United States with insight from some of the top journalists in poker. Today, we present to you the 2024 Brazilian Olympic Poker team, with insights from Gabriel Grilo of Super Poker. No Limit Hold’em Tournament Brunno Botteon When it comes to online No Limit Hold’em tournaments, few modern players can match the success of Brunno Botteon. Most notably, Botteon finished second to Damian Salas in the International version of the online WSOP Main Event in 2020, recording a career-best cash of $1,062,723. In all Botteon has accumulated well over $10 million in career online tournament earnings, including a WCOOP title in 2021, a $764,665 payday for winning the $1,500 GG World Championship in May of this year and several other notable titles. “Botteon is definitely up there, especially if we’re talking about an ‘Olympic cycle’ of four years,” said Grillo. “He’s not the most active player right now, but he is definitely worthy of the spot. I’d say Felipe Boianovsky and Pedro Padilha are also two fair names to consider in this category.” In this format Botteon will have to contend with some true giants in the game of poker. The biggest question would be whether or not his limited live experience could play a factor, although 2023 was far and away the most active period of live tournament results in Botteon’s career thus far. Pot Limit Omaha Tournament Joao Simao When it comes to Pot Limit Omaha, few Brazilian players can match the credentials of Joao Simao. In 2022, Simao won his second career WSOP bracelet and recorded a career-best result of $686,242 in a half Pot Limit Omaha, half No Limit Hold’em event. Simao also has a PokerGO Tour PLO win, a $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha side event win at the 2019 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure and a third-place finish in the 2024 WSOP $10,000 Pot Limit Omaha Hi-Lo Championship. “Also a great choice,” said Grilo, “He’s been known for his PLO skills for many years and has the results to back it up, even if he’s kept a lower profile for the past few years.” Simao is well-established with 15 years of results and over $7.2 million in live tournament earnings on his resume, making him a clear choice as a No. 1 in this format. But Grilo points to another Brazilian on the rise in PLO to keep an eye out for, who just so happened to finish fourth in the 2022 WSOP PLO/NLH event that Simao won and took down a WSOP PLO bracelet of his own at WSOP Paradise back in December. “Another name would be Dante Goya Fernandes,” said Grilo. “He’s known as one of the biggest Brazilian PLO players, won a bracelet last year, and has great results online, too.” No Limit Hold’em Cash Game Romulo Dorea For some American poker fans, the first time they read the name Romulo Dorea was when he made the final table of WPT Voyage back in April, finishing in sixth place. But Dorea built up a significant following as a full-time poker vlogger. Born in Belem, Brazil, the 29-year-old moved to Chicago to play college soccer and now travels between Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Florida, and Texas playing in cash games and vlogging about his adventures to more than 100,000 in Portuguese to a predominantly Brazilian audience. Dorea has proven himself capable of performing when the cameras are on and the lights are bright. “I think Romulo is a fair name if we consider the live cash game scene in the US, and he also excels as a content creator,” said Grilo. Grilo also pointed towards a strong secondary option in this format. “The biggest Brazilian name is Mateus Carrion de Moraes, aka ‘Zinho,’ said Grilo. “He has a cash game stable and plays higher stakes.” Mixed Game Tournament Yuri Dzivelevski When it comes to listing the most successful Brazilian tournament poker players in the world, it’s difficult not to consider Yuri Dzivelevski in the No. 1 spot. He’s a five-time WSOP bracelet winner with $6.6 million in total lifetime live tournament earnings. All but one of those WSOP wins came in a non-Hold’em format, and Dzivelevski also has a runner-up finish in the $50,000 Poker Players Championship. When it comes to online poker, Dzivelevski is a six-time PokerStars WCOOP champion with over $15 million in total online tournament earnings. “No argument here,” said Grilo. “Yuri is the biggest name in the history of poker in Brazil and plays all games really well.” There’s also no questioning his work ethic or ambition, which could be vital attributes when it comes to driving Team Brazil forward. I always say that Ill overcome Phil Hellmuth by the time I reach his age, Dzivielevski told Jeff Walsh in July. Its in jest, but theres a grain of truth. Bracelets are awesome because of the memories you create. I play poker as a job, for the money, but winning bracelets turns it into more of a special activity, giving me awesome memories that Ill have forever. Heads-Up No Limit Hold’em Thiago Nishijima** On a Team Brazil that seeks to balance between several generations of players, Thiago Nishijima brings another veteran presence into the equation. With live results that go back well over 15 years, Nishijima is a WSOP bracelet winner with $2.2 million in lifetime live tournament results and a number of other WSOP and WPT Main Tour final tables under his belt. He also has a $1,558,000 PokerStars WCOOP title back in 2009, with well over $4 million in lifetime online tournament earnings. Nishijima has taken a step back from traveling the worldwide tournament circuit in recent years, with all of his live results dating back to 2019 coming at events in Brazil, but his heads-up bonafides are undeniable. “When the Global Poker League happened, he was chosen as the heads-up player for the Sao Paulo Metropolitans,” said Grilo. “Thiago doesn’t really grind nowadays, but he’s still a big name in Brazilian poker history. He used to be the only Brazilian to play the $25K Heads-Up Championship at the WSOP.” Coach for Team Brazil Andre Akkari When it comes to poker in Brazil, the first name that comes to mind is likely Andre Akkari. He was the second Brazilian player in poker history to win a WSOP bracelet when he recorded his $1,500 No Limit Hold’em victory in 2011; Alexandre Gomes was the first Brazilian bracelet winner, in 2008. Akkari continues to be a serious challenger in any event he plays, recording an EPT Barcelona final table in August 2023 and a second-place finish in a $2022 WSOP $2,500 Nine Game Mix event. While he’d be a worthy player in most of the events, Akkari’s experience and connections within the Brazilian poker community are unmatched. Just as we’ve seen celebrities and world-famous athletes flock to watch other games during the 2024 Paris Games thus far, it wouldn’t come as any shock to see the legendary Neymar in attendance for an Akkari-coached Team Brazil. “You can never go wrong with Akkari, as he’s probably the most important name in Brazilian poker,” said Grilo. Coaching staffs run deep in most sports, and Akkari could also pull from a deep pool of candidates in terms of setting Team Brazil up for success. “You could also put Felipe Mojave there as somebody with a big following and respect from the community,” said Grilo. Stats courtesy of The Hendon Mob/GPI

Its a new career-high cash for New Jerseys David Coleman after the online grinder-turned-live high roller took down the third of three $2,000 WPT Alpha8 Trifecta events at Wynn Las Vegas for $730,300. Coleman, who spent the majority of the final table near the top of the chip counts, bested the field of 117 entries – the largest of this summers WPT Alpha8 high rollers with a nearly $2.8 million prize pool – for his first World Poker Tour victory. With the win, Coleman’s reported lifetime live earnings have surpassed more than $6 million. I lost some pots early on but it was pretty smooth overall, he said immediately after the win. I cant complain. I had the chip lead pretty much the entire final tableso it was pretty smooth.” As expected the WPT Alpha8 final table was, once again, stacked with some of the most notable players in the pokers high roller scene including Andrew LuckyChewy Lichtenberger, Pavel Plesov, Roman Hrabec, and Isaac Haxton among others. Coleman, who came up through the ranks in New Jerseys regulated online poker scene, acknowledged the tall task of tackling a live field filled with such talent. This is a stacked field with a lot of competition so youve got to bring your A game and stay focused, Coleman said. You know, just play as best as you can, try to limit the mistakes, and hopefully get lucky. In addition to the $730,300 score, Coleman locked up his seat in the WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas in December. The WPT Alpha8 Trifecta leaderboard, which awarded points to players based on final table and in-the-money finishes, gave away eight $10K seats to the Top 8 players including previous winners Brock Wilson and Daniel Sepiol. For Coleman, taking down the tournament was both a cause for celebration as well as a moment of relief. Amazingevery time you win a poker tournament its like a weight off your shoulders and it feels amazing. Im so happyno words.

When the World Series of Poker Main Event started hitting mainstream popularity in 2003, the television broadcasts were built on two kinds of players – the seasoned professionals, and the amateurs getting to live out their dreams right alongside them. And as much as fans at home liked shouting at their TVs, imagining how they would’ve played a hand better, the underdog story of Chris Moneymaker is what helped build the foundation for poker as it is today. Few players could stake a stronger claim to underdog status with less than 300 players remaining on Day 5 of the 2024 WSOP Main Event than Apple Landerman. The 50-year-old who calls Lahaina, Maui, Hawaii home has been all over the world. He’s spent time living and working in Austin, Lake Tahoe, Las Vegas, and Costa Rica, chasing a variety of different pursuits and passions. Tournament poker is simply the latest stop on that journey, and in his first-ever WSOP Main Event he’s managed to build a considerable stack to this point in the tournament. Beyond poker, change has been a constant for most of Landman’s life. But one year ago, long before he entered the brightest spotlight poker has to offer, Landerman was living the most drastic shift of his well-traveled life – the Maui fires, which claimed more than 100 lives and destroyed more than 2,200 buildings, including Landerman’s home, in the devastation. “You know, you lose everything you owned for 30 years, but the thing about it is all your stuff doesn’t mean a fucking thing when you lose friends and people in that community,” said Landerman. In the immediate aftermath Landerman, who was a firefighter in Austin for eight years, volunteered in the efforts to try to save as much as could be saved on the island of Maui. “I was helping water after the fires with the other guys,” said Landerman. “We were watering the trees afterward. Kind of the first thing about rebuilding the town was keeping what survived alive.” Over the last few months, Landerman has spent a lot of time traveling, including a long stretch in Costa Rica. That’s where he picked up poker, a game that he’d largely seen on TV and online, and he dove in head-first. He credits the vlogs of Daniel Negreanu and Brad Owen for helping to rapidly improve his game. “Poker is a fun game,” said Landerman. “I’m so intrigued by it. I love it. It’s so fascinating, and truly I hope one day I get to thank Daniel Negreanu for truly getting my ass here. I mean, he’s given me confidence just through listening to him. The knowledge he has on that YouTube channel is amazing.” Landerman’s next stop was Austin to visit a friend, and with an abundance of excitement and confidence the pair hatched a plan to get Landerman into the WSOP Main Event. “I was on an extended vacation hanging out with my buddy in Austin, and we decided that I would put up half the WSOP Main Event buy-in and he’d put up half, and we just did it. Well, if you’re gonna do that, invest in me, I’m gonna respect that and come play, try some tournaments and see if I’m even worthy. And so then I came to Vegas.” Landerman ended up in Vegas in late April and started firing tournaments – the first live events he’d ever played in his life. He rattled off 10 final tables and two victories in nightly events at South Point and Wynn Las Vegas across late April and early May, and that convinced him that he was indeed ready to try his hand at playing the WSOP Main Event. He returned to Maui briefly to lock a few things up, and then dove headfirst back into tournaments over the last few weeks. Landerman got his first career WSOP cash in the Seniors Championship, fired a few more South Point tournaments, and then joined the WSOP Main Event field on Day 1C Friday. Six days later, Landerman had locked up some significant pay jumps as he built his stack to over 3 million. He ended up landing a seat on the main “mothership” stage in front of all the TV cameras. He struck an image of a seasoned veteran, wearing sunglasses and a hat – a hat that carried significant meaning. It’s the one he wore as part of the championship roster of the Maui Adult Baseball League’s ‘Upcountry Dirtbags,’ for whom Landerman is a pitcher. It helped form part of his lucky outfit, a reflection of his lifelong love of baseball and a healthy dose of superstition that comes with playing the game for that long “I’m rocking that good vibes,” said Landerman. “With the hat, the championship hat, and I’ve been in the same clothes for five fucking days, because one of the baseball little things is you don’t want to change your dirty uniform when you’re on a hot streak.” Through all of his adventures and trying times, Landerman maintained an overwhelmingly positive outlook that helped sustain him for such a long stretch in the WSOP Main Event. “I’ve got so much support, it’s so rad,” said Landerman. “So many people back from Maui, from Austin, Texas, from Tahoe, from Costa Rica, South Carolina. I’m playing for so many more people than just me. I’m playing for my buddy that spotted me. I want to make my mom proud. Even if I go in and lose the next hand, I’m fucking happy.” If narratives won out over the way poker tends to deliver bad luck and bad news, Landerman would be a standout candidate to become WSOP Main Event champion and take home the $10 million first-place prize. Unfortunately, Landerman’s luck in this tournament would quickly run out during an all-too-brief TV table appearance as he lost all of his chips over the course of two tough-luck hands against Kristen Foxen. Landerman’s been through a lot over the last year, but he lived every second of the WSOP Main Event experience with joy, taking several chances to chat up Jeff Platt and soak everything in as he walked around the tournament between hands. The $50,000 cash for his 245th place finish is far and away his best tournament result to date, and ideally, this won’t be the last time we see Landerman on such a stage. In his exit interview, Landerman toasted his friends back home as he lifted up a celebratory beer and reflected on a tournament well fought and a moment he’ll never forget. “It’s an amazing experience,” Landerman told Jeff Platt. “I’d suggest this to everyone that’s sitting on the couch just like I was last year, and the years before. It’s the most thrilling, unbelievable poker experience of all time. Unbelievable to get to go down in a big ball of flames on TV in front of all my Maui friends. Aloha.”

Jonathan Tamayo has been in this position before. In the 2009 World Series of Poker Main Event, Tamayo played all the way to Day 8 of the tournament before his elimination in 21st place, good for $352,832 – to date still the biggest live cash of his career. And after a strong start to Day 6 of the 2024 WSOP Main Event, Tamayo’s getting a second chance to chase poker immortality and the $10 million first-place prize. In his second time around, Tamayo is clear that this has been a far bigger challenge than his first time in the deepest waters of this tournament. “They’re way better now,” Tamayo said of the competition. “You can’t really mess around that much with no reason. Messing around is going to cost you a lot of money now.” Over the course of his poker career Tamayo’s accumulated over $2.3 million in live tournament cashes in total, along with more than $1 million won in online tournaments. The online streets are where his game was forged, along with significant time spent playing at Turning Stone Casino in Upstate New York during his time attending Cornell University. These days, most of Tamayo’s poker is played in local events near his current home in suburban Houston, and during summers playing the WSOP. When it comes to this particular tournament, the WSOP Main Event, Tamayo has a resource to lean on that few remaining players in the field have. Tamayo’s roommate for this summer, as has been the case for a number of summers, is his good friend Joe McKeehen, the 2015 WSOP Main Event champion. In fact, in his bio on X, Tamayo lists in his bio, “Defensive Coordinator of the 2015 Main Event Champion.” “Oh, it helps, because he’s done it,” Tamayo says of his chance to pick McKeehen’s brain. “He knows how the tournament progresses. He knows how hands progress. He knows how people react, so the car rides are fun. We don’t sit down for two or three hours, but we have 20 or 30 minutes on those rides throughout the year. Even the random conversations help a lot.” When he’s not playing poker, Tamayo’s found considerable success in some of the biggest daily fantasy sports contests in the world. Tamayo has made runs in big contests across most of the major sports, but hockey was where he enjoyed his most notable victory to date. “I won the Fantasy Hockey Championship on DraftKings in March 2019, somehow tied it so I get my name on a big shiny trophy. They also gave us a wrestling belt and it’s back home – it was heavy. I got to walk down the streets of Washington D.C. with that. I never won one of the $1 million prizes – second twice, but can’t complain. It’s just as much of a grind as poker.” If there’s one thing Tamayo’s proven himself capable thus far in the 2024 WSOP Main Event, it’s grinding. After playing on a short stack through the bubble and long stretches of the tournament, Tamayo made a big move in bagging 5.43 million at the end of Day 5. His move to one of the featured TV tables has been a lucrative one. After eliminating Ren Lin from the tournament just before the second break of the day, Tamayo’s stack surged to over 12 million. Considering there are only 11 tables left in the tournament, he’ll be spending a lot of time in the spotlight for as long as he’s in the tournament, and it’s an environment in which he seems abundantly comfortable. “I like the TV tables. I get to be in my own bubble,” said Tamayo. “No distractions. I’m in my own world, and it’s like I’m playing online. It’s nice and quiet for me – people talk, but I’m not listening.”

The year was 2002. Russell Rosenblum had cashed in exactly one poker tournament in his life, one month prior, when after four days of poker he found himself at the final table of the 2002 World Series of Poker Main Event. The ESPN cameras were on hand to film the action, and despite none of the hole card cameras that would come into fashion in the year that followed and completely change the game, Rosenblum was on as massive a stage as there was in poker with $2 million awaiting the champion. Rosenblum played his way down until six remained, and then ran into Scott Gray’s , failing to improve. After enjoying such success at an early stage of taking poker tournaments seriously, pocketing $150,000 for his sixth place finish, the moment came and went before Rosenblum truly appreciated what had happened. “It’s a thing that Mike Matusow said to me when I almost busted in 2002, long before making the final table,” Rosenblum said. “He goes, ‘Dude, don’t think it’s gonna be so easy to get back here. Don’t screw it up, and actually cherish the moment.’ And at the time, I couldn’t cherish the moment. It’s was the first $10K I ever played, and it was just so overwhelming, every single moment.” Rosenblum enjoyed more success in tournament poker in the years that followed. In 2004, Rosenblum made the final table of the Season II WPT World Championship at Bellagio, finishing in fifth for a career-best $332,660 cash. He cashed in four subsequent WSOP Main Events, in 2010, 2011, 2013 and 2022, but up until this year finished no better than 169th. Now, in 2024, Rosenblum’s the closest he’s been since 2002. He’s played through six days of the 2024 WSOP Main Event, and with 59 players left he’s starting to get a taste of what might well turn into another bite at the apple. “I want to get there,” said Rosenblum. “Believe me, I want to get there. I’m never getting back here again. It’s impossible. But I’m really just cherishing it more – it’s different. I’ll be devastated when I bust, and everybody busts but one man or woman. I’m looking around the room and just thinking, ‘Do I have some shot to get my picture up there?’ But just the fact that I can be here and have a 1% or 2% chance is so cool.” Rosenblum is the last remaining player in the 2024 WSOP Main Event field to have previously made the final table. If he can play through two more days, Rosenblum would also be claiming a piece of poker history. Eight players have had gaps of 10 years or more between WSOP Main Event final table appearances. The current record for such a gap is held by Dewey Tomko, who was the runner-up in both the 1982 and 2001 WSOP Main Events. Using the current nine-handed final table standard, Mickey Appleman (13 years), Phil Hellmuth (11 years) and Erik Seidel (11 years) each waited over a decade for a return appearance at the WSOP Main Event final table as well. As to whether or not that previous experience will serve Rosenblum as he tries to make it back, Rosenblum fairly pointed out the difference between navigating a field of 631 (as it was in 2002) and a field of 10,112. It’s about weathering the storms, putting yourself in as many good spots as possible and then managing your mentality during the tough stretches. “It’s totally different. It’s a complete minefield,” said Rosenblum. “Day 1, some people say ‘I just want to keep surviving.’ But you can’t do that, you’ll never win the tournament. Yesterday, Adrian Mateos, he’s one of the best players in the world, unquestionably. He gets away from pocket kings against aces, and the very next hand he loses everything with aces versus . Doesn’t matter how good you are – there’s an element of luck in this game, which is the reason there’s no big money chess matches. Everybody’s got a shot in this thing, right? “And you’re always dealing with a psychology about these things. Let’s say you have 5 million in chips and you lose 2 million and you’re down to 3. You feel like you’ve lost your tournament, it’s over. I’ve screwed it all up. Across the table, the other guy had 500,000 and he gets up to 1.5 million, he feels like he’s gonna win, right? You have twice as many chips as him and you feel devastated and he’s on top of the world. You have to manage those highs and lows. I came in yesterday with a lot of chips, and I rarely have a lot of chips. And I came in yesterday not being negative, but just prepared for adversity.” Rosenblum came into Day 7 sitting 32nd out of 59, with a hope that his chips will take another swing forward. He has steeled himself for the potential pain of an elimination while appreciating every hand and moment that comes his way. As much as the WSOP Main Event has changed in 22 years, so too has Rosenblum’s life. Billed as an attorney living in Bethesda, Maryland during the 2002 ESPN broadcast, making his way as a rising legal star in Washington, D.C. Rosenblum now serves as the Chairman of the Board for Lexicon Bank in Nevada, which actively courts poker players as clients and customers. That’s the life Rosenblum will be going back to whenever this run comes to an end, be it a finish in the 50s or somewhere at the final table. The last time Rosenblum was in this position, he was in his early 30s and only had to play four days to reach the final table. Six days in, with two more to go, he’s feeling the effects of 10 hours of poker a day for this many days in a row. But as he puts an eye towards making his way back to the promised land of a WSOP Main Event final table, Rosenblum felt a boost as he watched other players at his table feeling the same way. “The dealer sat down in the box at the start of the day today and goes, ‘How are y’all doing?’ And a couple of the guys just say, ‘Good.’ ‘Good.’ But one guy, he’s gotta be 26, 27 years old, and he says, ‘Good, but I’m tired as hell. And I looked at him. I go, ‘Wait, I thought it’s just me, the old man. Are you kidding?’ He goes, ‘I’m exhausted. I look around the table. Everyone’s 23, 24 and they’re all like, ‘We’re tired.’ The fatigue is brutal. “But life is good. I can’t complain. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying I’m gonna bust this thing and go, ‘Oh, that was fun. I’ll be devastated for sure. But just getting back this deep again, making the final table, that would be really cool. Honestly, it’s impossible.”

On Sunday at noon, in the Paris Ballroom in Las Vegas, high-stakes poker legend Patrik Antonius was named as this year’s inductee to the Poker Hall of Fame. In the modern era of poker, few have ben as bold and fearless as Patrik Antonius, said Executive Director of the WSOP Ty Stewart. A force both online and live, were thrilled to see Patriks high-stakes career acknowledged by legends who have added the first international player to the Poker Hall of Fame in years. From Helsinki, Finland, Antonius, 43, emerged during the poker boom as one of the toughest cash game players in the world who routinely battled, both live and online, with the biggest names in the game before turning into one of pokers brightest stars himself. The induction of Antonius is a stiff rebuttal to the commonly held belief that a defined number of World Series of Poker bracelets is needed to win the necessary votes for induction. Having yet to win a bracelet, Antonius on-camera, on-the-felt results in both cash games and tournaments were enough to turn the tide in his favor and lock up a spot on the walls of the Hall of Fame Poker Room at Horseshoe Las Vegas. Even without a WSOP bracelet on his resume, Antonius tournament results are more than bona fide for the Hall of Fame. With nearly $23 million in recorded tournament earnings, according to The Hendon Mob, Antonius has six seven-figure scores, that include a runner-up finish in the 2018 Super High Roller Bowl Macau for a career-high score of more than $3.1 million. Additionally, hes claimed an EPT Main Event and EPT High Roller title, as well as a Triton title in 2022, and a runner-up finish at the Season IV edition of WPT Five Diamond World Poker Classic in 2005 – just to note the test of time requirement. Ultimately, it was Antonius competitive nature that helped him get to where he is today. From his early days online as a regular in Full Tilts nosebleed Rail Heaven cash games, to becoming a fixture on late-night poker TV including Poker After Dark and High Stakes Poker, Antonius has never been one to back down from pokers biggest stage. Its something his fans have enjoyed for more than two decades and something his peers clearly admire, honoring him, in his second nomination, with a spot in the Poker Hall of Fame.