Poker is like ‘test cricket’, loved by ‘introverted’ Neymar and man of the moment Chris Eubank Jr

“It’s like test cricket – it can seem slow and then BOOM!” was how the voice of PokerStars, James Hartigan, described the game he’s synonymous with.

However, ironically, it is footballers and boxers who have spent their careers on fast-forward that can’t get enough of the high stakes.

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In fact, cricket appeared to be the only sport not represented during the PokerStars European Poker Tourbarcelona.

The company is the world’s largest real money online poker site, and has counted Cristiano Ronaldo and Neymar as ambassadors.

Ronaldo Nazario, Sergio Aguero, Gerard Piqué, and Rafael Nadal are just a handful of other stars who have featured in PokerStars events.

Neymar, infamously, came under fire for turning up to a tournament hours after a 1-0 Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich while he was on the books at Paris Saint-Germain.

The now-Santos star, who was described by fellow poker players as ‘introverted’ but ‘aggressive’, has never hidden his love for the game.

Benjamin Spragg [aka, Spraggy] exclusively told talkSPORT: “I played against Neymar in Sao Paulo in a cash game. We went down there and did a live stream with PokerStars. That was a lot of fun.

“At the same table actually was Chris Eubank Jr., who I’ve played with many times over the last year or two.”

Rory Jennings, actor turned talkSPORT host, now considers poker to be his main profession with $84,020 in career earnings.

“So many professional footballers I’ve been lucky enough to have a friendship with or at least a relationship with, they’re all so interested in this,” he exclusively told talkSPORT.com.

“I’m very fortunate to be part of a show with Jamie Carragher – One of the first things he said to me the last time I saw him, he’s like ‘How’d you get on at a poker?’ He loves it!”

Jennings, who was keen to hail the ‘incredible atmosphere’ among the poker community, even played against Aguero in Monaco.

“Somebody like Sergio Aguero is such an icon that it’s impossible for me to completely ignore him,” talkSPORT’s poker pro added.

“But I did it on the break. I just shook his hand on the break, and I was like, ‘Look mate, it’s an honour firstly to meet you and a real honour to play poker with you.’

“I shook his hand and left it there – but, at the table, this is the beauty of the game, it’s a real equaliser.

“Sergio Aguero is better than me at everything, but if I’ve got aces and he’s got Kings, he’s in big trouble.

“That’s why it’s a great equaliser and I think poker is the only game in the world that is that.”

Graham Bensinger (YouTube)

‘Spraggy’ continued: “It’s such a fun social game to play on, like team buses.

“I think it’s a really good avenue as well for players who’ve retired to still find stuff that isn’t taking toll on their bodies.”

Not many sports stars would appreciate that more than Eubank Jr, who played poker in Monte Carlo a week after beating Conor Benn.

“I played with Chris Eubank Jr. in Monte Carlo, which was good,” Adam McKola revealed to talkSPORT.

“I think talkSPORT got an interview out of that one as well. So that was good. Took like 15 grand off him, which was nice.

“To be fair, he just fought Conor Benn for seven figures and was splashing it about. So it was understandable when he came up against us.”

His ‘The Club’ co-host Jennings added: “That was a special one. And yeah, I did [win some money from him as well].

“It’s a great night for me, but for him it’s change down the back of the sofa…”

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talkSPORT.com thankfully managed to hold onto the office funds during a one-hour tutorial by pro player Nick Walsh.

Walsh has over 10 years of experience playing both live and online poker and now primarily plays PokerStars Spin & Go, heads up hyper SnGs, and “Neymar Jr Kick-Off”.

“When online came about, the question was, ‘How can you ever play poker online?’, the content creator detailed.

“You need to be able to see people in order to read them.

“What people discovered very quickly is that so much of what happens in the game is happening on the table, where you don’t need to see the person, and then all of that is just additional.

“So the people reading thing is more to do with the way that people size their bets. It’s when they bet on which streets.

“You’ll have people where, like, if they always check the flop, then they have no hand or they’re weak, and then you can punish that, for example, and it’s patterns that you pick up.

“So it’s the pattern recognition that I think makes you extremely good, with how you see people.

“Then once you’ve mastered that online, that’s why a lot of online players wanted to be very good live, because they were beating people and destroying people without ever seeing a face. And then they went live, and they were like, the guy was looking at his wife, he was talking to his kids over here, whatever it was.

“That distraction element, the ability to read people, just made them unstoppable.”