Chess Prodigy Magnus Carlsen to Compete in the WSOP Main Event

08:25
05 Jul

The top-ranked chess player in history, Magnus Carlsen, will compete in the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas.

According to a report by Chess24 referencing Carlsen’s interview with a Norwegian news agency, Carlsen will compete in the main event with a $10,000 buy-in. Carlsen is sponsored by the online gaming company Unibet, and it looks like he will wear the site’s logo.

Carlsen, now 31, does not have any career tournament results from the WSOP. It is unknown whether he has ever participated in a WSOP event, regardless of whether it was held in the United States or elsewhere.

He has experience playing poker. In April, Carlsen placed 25th in a Norwegian poker tournament and won $5,681. It is his sole score in any official competition. He has always enjoyed playing with his mates at home.

Carlsen’s performance at the Norwegian Poker Championship in April astounded the chess and poker communities. He eventually placed 29th out of 1050 players after briefly holding the second-place spot.

His play at the poker table was so impressive that even world-renowned poker player Daniel Negreanu took the time to review it in a video that lasted for 14 minutes.

Thanks for the kind words and the analysis @RealKidPoker🎯

Now it’s definitely my turn to analyse a chess game of yours! https://t.co/RqIa1uRcgb

— Magnus Carlsen (@MagnusCarlsen) May 10, 2022

Carlsen’s renowned chess career shows no sign of slowing down, although he is still uncertain whether to defend his FIDE World Chess Championship crown, which he has owned since 2013.

The chess master recently defeated Ian Nepomniachtchi to retain his global crown in 2021.
Nepomniachtchi is presently dominating the FIDE Candidates Tournament, which decides who will face Carlsen next.

If Carlsen could manage the volatility of tournament poker, it isn’t easy to conceive that he wouldn’t thrive at poker if he put in the effort, given his dominance in the game of chess. In reality, he will not always win. With the lines they choose to pursue, players at the super grandmaster level indeed take some risks, but there is much less risk involved.

Carlsen received around $1.25 million for successfully retaining his world championship last year. His winnings in the WSOP Main Event might be far higher. Last year’s WSOP winner received an eight million dollar award.

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