We all know that poker is a strong crossover game. Players who’ve succeeded in chess, backgammon and “Magic: The Gathering” have been able to successfully transition to the highest echelons of poker prowess. Bryn Kenney, a former Magic player, is even the highest-earning tournament poker player in the world and Bloomberg recently interviewed him about his journey. But what about Super Smash Bros. players?
We’re about to get a good idea very soon. Some of the top Super Smash Bros. players and Twitch streamers like Mang0, Chillindude and Slimeirl are going to participate in an exhibition match for the “King of Twitch Poker” series. The match is taking place on Thursday, Nov. 21, at 5 p.m. ET on Twitch. Other celebrities of comparable fame like Twitch streamer Destiny, Rene Nezhoda from “Storage Wars” and Andy Milonakis, who’s most famous for the “Andy Milonakis Show” on MTV, will also be playing. Milonakis will be hosting the $10,000 invitational tournament on his Twitch channel.
Another 10K prize pool, King Of Twitch Poker, Nov 21st, 2pm Pacific @ACR_POKER #ad streamed on my twitch channel. See you there pic.twitter.com/JrBuBEwK5x
— Andy Milonakis (@andymilonakis) November 18, 2019
King of Twitch Poker
What’s this whole King thing about? It’s an initiative started by Sportsbook to get a bunch of online personalities playing poker, promoting the game and talking about gamer culture. The players are gunning for a piece of the $10,000 prize pool, but they’ll also get a chance to participate in the $75,000 “King of Twitch Poker” main event that’s scheduled to take place in December.
You’ll also be able to qualify for that main event too. While today’s match is just an exhibition, other streamers like MitchJones, GabePeixe, Nicktron and more will host a number of qualifying tournaments over the following weeks. The first entry is free, while re-buys are $2, and the top finishers will qualify to the $75,000 prize pool tournament. Around 120 players are expected to take part in the tournament and they’ll be playing with the streamers who participated in the promotion.
If you want to play against them a bit sooner, you’re in luck. Several of the participating streamers are going to play in the Sportsbook’s Venom tournament on Nov. 27, which has a guaranteed prize pool of $6 million.
“The response to the King of Twitch Poker series has been awesome,” said Michael Harris, spokesman for Sportsbook. “Twitch viewers are showing up en masse to watch some of the biggest names on Twitch battle it out at the card tables. The second event drew double the viewership of the first, and the next events look to keep that trend going with added love from the Smash Bros. community.”
Kenney on Bloomberg
While the Super Smash Bros. pros will be covering the basics about poker tomorrow, another poker legend gave an in-depth interview this week about how he transitioned from “Magic: The Gathering” to the top-earning live tournament player in the world.
Bryn Kenney recently won more than $20 million in the Triton Poker Super High Roller Series in London and now has more live tournament cashes than any player in the United States with $55 million. The Triton Million was the biggest buy-in event in history and Kenney’s finish put him more than $6 million ahead of Justin Bonomo, who’s now second on the all-time cash list with $49 million.
Bloomberg’s podcast “Odd Lots” featured an interview with Kenney earlier this week. In it, hosts Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway talk to him about how he went from being a “Magic: The Gathering” player to one of the top tournament players in the world with more than $55 million.
So if you’re interested in hearing how Kenney was able to translate his Magic skills into magic at the poker table, give that podcast a listen here.
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