PokerNews Top 10: Which Poker Player Would Make the Best James Bond?
Friday, Nov. 9 marks the day for the highly anticipated James Bond flick, Skyfall , where Daniel Craig will take the lead as James Bond, proving that being bad ass never goes out of style.
So we got to thinking, is there a poker player who would make the best James Bond? Here's what we came up with.
10. Jean-Robert Bellande is a man who does it all: businessman, promoter, player, and TV contestant. Give him a pen and a rubber band and he can find a way to build a tower. If \"Broke Living\" JBR can't find a way to get unstuck in the coming years, then we suggest he apply to become an agent in Her Majesty's Secret Service.
9. No one suggests sophistication better than Tony Dunst. Always in proper attire, he takes the cake for best dressed on and off the felt -- perhaps picking up a thing or two from the Bond franchise on how to dress to impress.
Even if Dunst wasn't such a well-dressed young man, he still would be a no-brainer for our top ten -- his online handle is \"Bond18.\"
8. When he's not biking across European nations alongside fellow Team PokerStars Pro Bertrand \"ElkY\" Grospellier, Eugene Katchalov spends his time winning everything in poker. The Ukranian native is fluent in more than one tongue, which is necessary if you're going to be an international man of mystery.
7. If Christian Bale had a counterpart Olivier Busquet would be the man. But for now, he fits the qualities of Bond: mysterious, sophisticated, and classy. Busquet is also a killer at the table, particularly in heads-up sit-n-goes.
6. Antonio Esfandiari really can be the most interesting man in the world, jet setting and experiencing the finest things. He even gives Bond competition by appearing as a cameo in season seven of Entourage and the movie, Freelancers.
5. If Phil Ivey was a Bond movie, he'd be \"License to Kill.\" When Ivey sits down at the poker table, he wants to win every chip in play. He wants to break all of his opponents. There are few poker players as icy as Mr. Ivey.
4. With a great physique from his days as a professional footballer, Sam Trickett makes the list as a man with style, class, and someone who can wear black better than the rest. He's also the only Brit on the list, which makes him the most likely to become a 00 Agent.
3. Known as the Great Dane, Gus Hansen was once voted People Magazine's top 50 sexiest men alive. Enough said.
2. With a knack for style, Sammy Farha has even left Norman Chad with a man crush saying, ��Sam has such a cool look �� when I die, I��d like to come back as Sammy Farha.�� If we had to pick one poker player to calmly navigate their way through a gunfight with an unlit cigarette dangling from their mouth, it would certainly be Sammy.
1. Who better to dress the part than an already sexy and skilled Patrik Antonius, who surely taught Bond everything he knows. If the position of Bond doesn't work out, then Antonius could surely be a Bond villain - perhaps even a more handsome Goldfinger.
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Lead image courtesy of Forbes.com