JUE 28 DE MARZO DE 2024 - 05:08hs.
Olympic dream

World champion in 2011, André Akkari celebrates poker growth in Brazil

Brazilian André Akkari participates in the Barcelona stage of the European Poker Tour (EPT), organized by PokerStars. In conversation with GZH at the luxurious Hotel Arts Barcelona, in Catalonia, the 47-year-old celebrated the growth of poker in Brazil, where it is estimated that around 10 million people play the sport in the country.

"Poker is a game of logic, the search all the time for the right decision. It's really cool that more people in the country are interested. A lot of people read about poker and take it into their personal lives, studying correct ways to making decisions among friends, family, relationships and even voting. It's a sport that makes you think better about your personal decisions," declared Akkari.

One of the goals of the International Poker Federation is to make the sport Olympic. The entity that organizes the sport in the world fights for the game to be part of the schedule of Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

"The Olympics need to be renewed and it has done so, with the entry of sports such as surfing and skateboarding, as we saw in Japan. I'm a fanatic for any sport. It would be really cool if poker could be part of it," said Akkari, talking about this possibility.

Akkari also celebrated the change in perspective that poker had in Brazil: "The general conception in Brazil confused poker with gambling, which was very bad for the sport. If you weren't passionate about the sport, fight for it, couldn't play. But today that has changed."

The Brazilian will be one of the players in the main event of the EPT Barcelona PokerStars, which started on Sunday (14). The disputes start every day from 7:30 am (Brasilia), 12:30 pm local time.

The final table, when the grand champion will be defined, takes place on Sunday (21), from 8 am (Brasilia), 1 pm in Spain. The competition will be broadcast live via PokerStars Youtube.

Source: GZH