While PokerStars Blog would like to offer wholehearted congratulations to the Croatian national soccer team and all of its supporters, it would also like to say this: “@$%&!!!” Yep, England’s World Cup dream is over after defeat in Moscow, and that sucks.
With Gareth Southgate’s 23 young lions now metaphorically on the plane home (there’s still a third-place playoff match to come, but who cares) England needs a new hero. And for some obvious reasons, I nominated this man:
Alex Lynskey: Three Lions on his shirt
That’s Alex Lynskey, a professional player from Melbourne, Australia, who is in the last 21 of the World Series of Poker (WSOP) Main Event. He is playing the biggest tournament of his life in an England soccer shirt.
And after a five-second catch up with Lynskey on the most recent break, it became clear that a disappointed nation has someone it can root for.
PokerStars Blog: “How come you’re wearing an England shirt, Alex?”
Lynskey: “Because I’m English.”
To follow up: Lynskey was born in Yorkshire, in the north of England, and lived the first 10 years of his life there. His parents then moved to Australia and he’s lived about 18 years Down Under.
As you can figure out from that, Lynskey was born in 1990, which was the last time England’s soccer team made the semi-finals of the World Cup. (That similarly ended in defeat, but let’s not dwell on it.)
The slightly late start to Day 7 today–we kicked off at noon rather than the scheduled 11am–allowed Lynskey to watch the first half of today’s match untroubled. Then the second half and extra time he was able to watch on the big screen in the Amazon Room.
“It was f–ing horrible,” he said, an assessment to prove his true colours. “But I doubled up just before it, so OK.” The hand that gave Lynskey his massive stack, which is now around 40 million, came about when he got pocket kings to hold up against Eric Froehlich’s Q♣ Q♥ .
Unlike England, Lynskey did the job and is now the overall chip leader, with 40 million. “It’s coming home, it’s coming home, etc., etc.”
Previous 2018 WSOP coverage:
From the archive: Kassouf is finally silenced
Short stories of long nights at the poker table
The payout process
The regulars, the decorated and the knockers
From the archive: The Fukuburger flood of 2015
Then and now: Jake Cody
From the archive: K.L. Cleeton’s inspiring run
Is Andreas Kniep this year’s Ylon Schwartz?
Inside the ideas factory: Jason Somerville’s Run It Up Studios
Stop, start, break, start, bubble for Matt Hopkins
Then and now: Barry Greenstein
A comprehensive guide to the WSOP bubble
The field converges for bubble day…perhaps
The rough and tumble of Day 2
From the archive: Blood, sweat and other bodily fluids
Untangling the cake riddle to discover the key to Liv Boeree’s heart
Meet Muskan Sethi: India’s presidential poker ambassador
A return of the masses for the long, slow dance
Then and Now: Daniel Negreanu
Records broken and Red Spades flying
“Thanks Daniel” — A letter to Negreanu from Phil Galfond
A flippin’ fantastic way to enter a poker tournament
Jeff Gross: A momentary pause in the perpetual motion
From the archive: Stages
Moneymaker surveys the world he created
Negreanu continues preparations for PokerStars Players Championship
Then and Now: Andre Akkari
An exceptional Day 1A
From the archive: Rio here, Rio there
Then and Now: Maria Konnikova
All systems go on ‘cattywumpus’ World Series
WSOP photos by PokerPhotoArchive.com.
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