Pixbet’s Boss Loses $200K in a Triton Poker Tournament

Triton Poker is famous around the world for organizing and televising high-roller poker tournaments that some of the most experienced poker players like to compete in. Earlier this month, Triton Poker confirmed that the experienced high-roller and businessman, Ernildo Santos will represent Brazil in one of the most anticipated and popular poker tournaments at Triton Poker SHRS North Cyprus, the $200K NLH Luxon Invitational.

The event was scheduled to take place between May 18 and May 20 and attracted a wide field of seasoned poker pros and veterans including the likes of Ivan Leow and Stephen Chidwick, among others. Given the $200,000 buy-in, Santos’ participation was estimated at approximately BRL1 million, which reaffirms the scale and popularity of the event.

Representing Brazil, Santos, who also happens to be CEO of Pixbet, a leading sports betting and casino operator in the country, successfully made it through the first day of the high-stakes poker tournament. He advanced along with more than 50 other poker enthusiasts and professional players. By the end of the first day, Santos was still a part of the game after holding plenty of chips, as reported by iGaming Brazil.

However, as the $200K poker tournament advanced, the number of players kept decreasing. This is no surprise as with most high-roller tournaments, only the top players secure a share of the prize based on an established payout scheme. When there were just about 30 players left, Santos was eliminated from the $200K tournament. The businessman and entrepreneur was also unable to offset his loss because he was eliminated too soon which prevented him from securing a position with a share of the winnings.

Santos isn’t the only high-profile public figure to lose big money to poker. Earlier this year, Paris Saint-Germain’s striker, Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, streamed himself losing a million while playing online poker. Via a live broadcast on Twitch, Neymar was seen losing a million dollars. He claimed that the money lost to poker was his own and acted like he was about to cry. After calming down, Neymar started to joke about his poker misfortune.