The latest player to be chosen to participate in the new Global Poker League (GPL) is Aaron Paul, known as Jesse Pinkman on the hugely popular series Breaking Bad.
Maria Ho, LA Sunset captain, decided to bring the actor as her second Wild Card Player, in something of a surprise move. Her choice will add star power to LA Sunset. Besides acting in TV Series, Paul started playing poker in the last few years.
In 2014, Paul was spotted at the World Series of Poker (WSOP) as a rail bird as well as a player.
At the time, Paul was reluctant to speak to the media, but he was there mainly to rail one of his friends in the $10,000 Main Event. Last summer, the player/actor returned and joined the Main Event, but did not survive Day 1C.
Paul agreed to join the GPL and said the following:
“I love Poker as a game and mind sport so I’m excited to be part of this new esports League. Representing the LA Sunset together with some of the best players in the world should be a blast”.
Secret Weapon
After the announcement Paul used his Twitter to talk to fans about the draft, he even used the hashtag “secret weapon” to describes Maria Ho’s choice.
Even though, Paul is not an experienced poker player compared to other players in the league, his place on the team is just as important.
Part of GPL’s mission is, according to Dreyfus, to “sportify” poker and the idea is to make GPL an entertainment spectacle.
The presence of an high-profile popular actor in the event contributes to achieving this goal. Paul’s participation can expose the event to new demographics. On his Twitter page only the actor has 2,5 million followers. GPL can use this expose, it seems like LA Sunset did a very savvy move
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