Neymar’s poker hobby produced another headline-grabbing result this week, as the Brazilian football superstar finished runner-up in the WCOOP Titans Event on PokerStars, banking $99,075 in a $5,200 buy-in tournament that drew 112 entries. It is the latest in a string of deep runs that have turned the Santos forward into one of the most talked-about recreational players in the game, and it came just days after he also reached the money in a separate WCOOP event, finishing seventh.
How the WCOOP Titans Event Unfolded
The Titans Event is one of the marquee side attractions of the World Championship of Online Poker, PokerStars’ flagship online series that runs every September and draws thousands of players from across the globe chasing bracelets and career-defining scores. With a $5,200 buy-in, the Titans format sits comfortably in the mid-high stakes range of the WCOOP schedule, attracting a mix of full-time grinders and recognizable faces from outside the poker world.
Neymar bagged Day 1 with the second-largest stack among the 13 players who advanced, reportedly logging part of his session from inside Santos’ stadium between football commitments. By the time the unofficial final table convened, he had actually taken over the chip lead, putting himself in prime position to add a career-best score to his growing list of poker results.
Momentum Swings in the Late Stages
The final table played out with the usual swings that define high buy-in online poker, and Neymar’s stack ebbed and flowed as the field thinned. He held strong deep into three-handed play, but a costly pot chipped away at his lead and handed the initiative to his two remaining opponents. Among the other notable finishers were Daniel Petersen of Denmark in fifth for $44,838, Pascal Lefrançois of Canada in eighth for $20,292, and fellow Brazilian Victor Onizuka, who made it all the way to tenth for $14,194, underlining the strength of the Brazilian contingent in the event.
By the time it was down to two players, Neymar found himself all in preflop holding A3 offsuit against the eventual champion’s pocket eights. The hand held for the player known online as “Notmystyle,” a Canadian who took down the title for $129,043 and denied Neymar what would have been a career-defining first title on the biggest stage of online poker’s calendar. Third place went to a player using the handle “Ebaaa11” from Bosnia, who collected $76,066.
Neymar’s Growing Poker Résumé
The $99,075 score is comfortably the largest of Neymar’s poker career and continues a pattern that began when he first started appearing at live festivals in Brazil, most notably the Brazilian Series of Poker, where his presence has drawn both enthusiastic support and criticism from purists who questioned whether a celebrity should occupy seats at high-stakes final tables. Neymar has consistently pushed back against that criticism, arguing that his love for the game is genuine and that he treats his sessions with the same seriousness as any other hobbyist grinding for a big score.
This second deep WCOOP run in the space of a week suggests the interest is more than a passing fad. Reaching the money twice during one of the most competitive series on the calendar, against fields stacked with seasoned online professionals, is a notable achievement regardless of a player’s day job. For context, the average WCOOP Titans field is built almost entirely from recognized high-stakes regulars, which makes Neymar’s run to heads-up play all the more unusual.
A Hand That Decided the Title
The final hand also offered a reminder of just how quickly fortunes change at a poker table. Neymar’s ace-three offsuit was a standard short-stack shove against a wide calling range, but pocket eights held up to end his bid for the title. Readers newer to the game and curious about why certain starting hands are pushed or called in these spots can find a breakdown of hand strength and matchups in Poker Pro Academy’s guide to poker hand rankings, which explains how holdings like ace-high offsuit combinations fare against pocket pairs in all-in confrontations.
Neymar has not publicly commented on the result, but his willingness to keep entering high-profile fields, both live and online, suggests he plans to keep chasing a signature title of his own. With WCOOP running deep into the fall calendar and BSOP festivals continuing to draw him back to the tables in Brazil, another headline run could be only weeks away.
What It Means for Brazilian Poker
Beyond the celebrity angle, Neymar’s result is a reminder of how deep the Brazilian player pool has become in major online series. Victor Onizuka’s tenth-place finish in the same event, alongside a wave of Brazilian bracelet winners and final tables across this year’s WCOOP and WSOP Online series, points to a golden period for the country’s online talent. Brazilian poker media has increasingly framed these results as evidence that the country’s competitive depth now stretches from anonymous grinders to global celebrities alike, all competing in the same high-stakes pools.
For a country whose poker scene has exploded in popularity over the past decade, having one of its most famous athletes consistently competing deep into marquee series like WCOOP only adds to the visibility of the game domestically, even if it continues to divide opinion among those who believe televised final tables should be reserved strictly for full-time professionals.
