Kylian Mbappe wasn’t happy with Neymar’s late night poker game, but the professionals loved it.
The Paris Saint-Germain superstar received some heat for turning up to a tournament hours after a 1-0 Champions League defeat to Bayern Munich, but he may have a future career after football.
Mbappe insisted his teammates must ‘eat and sleep well’ after the incident, which also saw Neymar spotted at a McDonald’s, but he later denied it was directed at the Brazilian.
Despite the drama it created in football circles, there was a very different vibe among his fellow competitors at the European Poker Tour table.
Neymar made the cut early on, and after staying the full night on Wednesday, he qualified for Thursdays second event, but eventually finished 49th in the EPT Paris Mystery Bounty.
It’s far from the first time that the 31-year-old has been photographed at a poker table, he also regularly takes part in virtual tournaments and may just have a future in the game.
RMC Sport in France spoke to a number of his professional competitors, who certainly didn’t disagree.
“He has the potential,” said competitor Thomas Eychenne. “He has the mind of a competitor because he played at the highest level in football.
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“From the moment we play at the highest level in an area, I think that we already have a very important advantage over our competitors. He has gone through difficulties in football and he has the weapons to fight despite technical failures.”
Speaking about Neymar as a person, Eychenne continued: “I found him rather introverted. He is not someone who will talk a lot and be very open. But I can understand it, he is extremely in demand.
“I will say that he is someone who is shy in his appearance. In the sense that he tries not to be seen too much.”
Discussing his experience, another pro, Julien Sitbon, said: “We’re talking about Neymar what! The notoriety he has…
“Every time he is on a trip, there are bodyguards and people who are there to watch out for him.
“He has his staff who take care of him. He has precisely these players he is close to and his brother too. It’s a small group of six, seven or eight people who are always together and who are there around him.
“He’s someone who plays a lot of hands, so I would describe him as rather aggressive. Afterwards, I didn’t play him enough to know if he was aggressive or passive, but he plays a lot of hands.
“But I think he is focused because he is a competitor. In everything he does he wants to be good. He likes poker, sure, so I think he’s trying to be focused to perform as well as possible.
“He is sponsored so he is not the one who pays for his tournaments, and he does not do hundreds and hundreds of them.
“I think it is more a pleasure for him and he really takes it at heart because he’s playing normally. He’s not there to throw money away, far from it. He’s playing really well.”
Sitbon also talked about Neymar’s effect on the game, and how positive it can be.
“For the poker community, it’s great, it creates enthusiasm,” he said. “Everyone is happy to have him.
“There are lots of people who take photos, who have shirts signed. He’s still quite open and quite cool.
“We know that he is passionate, he is really there because he loves poker. He is not there only to fulfil his contract.
“It’s obviously a pleasure because it’s still Neymar, one of the biggest football stars in the world and a top PSG player.
“We’re all happy to have him at the table. And if Lionel Messi also wants to come and play, or Kylian, they are welcome! It remains an advantage and a privilege to be able to play with them.”
Alexandre Reard added: “In my opinion, it will only remain positive. Neymar is still a personality. He is really very, very pleasant at the table. And so it can only be positive. There’s really no problem with that.”
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