After the Daily Star ran with the headline ‘is Melanie Weisner the sexiest professional poker player on the planet’, Lee Davy decided to find out.
The Daily Star wants to know if Melanie Weisner is the sexiest professional poker player on the planet?
It was a question that needed an answer, but I knew had I asked the community for a view, I would have joined Marty Derbyshire in the naughty boy’s corner.
So I asked a different question:
Who is The Sexiest Male Professional Poker Player?
It’s a question, I had poked before, but two years ago I ignored the opinion of the community and nominated the five men who gave me the tingles. This time, I spread the love, and it turns out I wasn’t that far off the mark. It seems I have great taste in men.
Here were my Top Five back in 2014
1. Patrick Antonius
2. Yevgeniy Timoshenko
3. Dario Sammartino
4. Anton Wigg
5. Steve Watts
Let’s see how that five stack up three years on.
Where do The Sexiest Men in Poker Live?
I asked 100 people from the poker community to share their view. 53 replied. They were allowed multiple choices. 67% of those polled were male with 33% female.
41 different men received votes. Of those 41, two of them voted for their partners, so although they have made the cut, we need to take note of the obviousness of the bias. I mean, come on, we know that women don’t find their partners sexy, right?
Loyalty points go to Claire Renault (Fabrice Soulier) and Tatjana Pasalic (McLean Karr).
Votes by Country
Votes by Continent
The 13 Sexiest Poker Players on The Planet
13: Benjamin Pollak (2 nominations)
The French cash game and tournament star picked up both of his nominations from women. It seems his height and his silence were the two most important attractive qualities about him, proving that women much prefer it if men kept their mouths shut.
“He has great height, and he doesn’t say much, and there’s something sexy about that.” Said one anonymous voter.
12: Galen Hall (2 nominations)
Galen Hall was a favourite of the ladies working in the PokerStrategy offices. Well-dressed, charming and intelligent. What more do you want in a man?
11: Rasmus Agerskov Larsen (2 nominations)
I have to say I quite fancy this one myself.
“The guy is just perfect,” said photographer Alin Ivanov. “He’s like a real-life ‘Ken’ doll.’
I was thinking more Ziggy Stardust.
10: Olivier Busquet (2 nominations)
Olivier is another one who always looks smart, is good looking and has the brain to match. He also has the added value of being able to smash someone’s face in if they were to bother you, and I like a man who makes me feel safe.
9: Anton Wigg (2 nominations)
Anton Wigg was one of three choices from Sweden and one of my original picks from 2014.
“For my years on the EPT circuit (RIP), Anton Wigg and I were gym buddies. In my mind, Anton is the sexiest male poker player alive, but that’s because I know what he’s packing.” Said former EPT champ, Ben Wilinofsky.
8: Nacho Barbero (2 nominations)
Surprisingly, Nacho was the only nomination from South America.
PokerNews chief, Frank Op de Woerd believes the Latin American vibe must have an impact with the ladies.
“Nacho Barbero always looks very suave and smooth – that Latin America vibe must work on the ladies I imagine.”
He was also one of many former or current PokerStars ambassadors showing how shallow they are when it comes to choosing male representatives for the site. And there was a time when skill was a necessary ingredient for a sponsorship deal; it’s all sex, sex, sex.
7: Gus Hansen (2 nominations)
Another Dane to make it into the Top 13 and not a surprise. Gus Hansen makes it onto more ‘Sexy’ polls than Kate Upton.
Mike ‘Da Bookie’ Hill thinks Hansen is a pulling machine.
“On balance, the poker pulling machine must be Gus Hansen. He seems to have “that thing” the ladies like! Not that I’m jealous you understand I mean he’s crap at Omaha.”
6 & 5: Jeremy Ausmus & Jeremy Kottler (2 nominations each)
I am going to bundle these two man-mountains of sexy meat into one neat package, only because WPT Champions Club member, Matt Salsberg, can’t seem to decide which one to marry.
“It’s a coin flip between Jeremy Ausmus and Jeremy Kottler.” Said Salsberg. “If I had to choose one it’d be whoever’s richer, which also might be a coin flip. Ausmus is married, though, so that gives him a leg up on the who to settle down with department, Kottler might have commitment issues which makes him more mysterious. Also, I might just have a thing for Jeremy’s since my childhood hero was Ron Jeremy.”
4: Dario Sammartino (4 nominations)
The brooding Italian was another one from my 2014 list. He always looks good, dresses well, and smells like he takes a shower daily. And lately, he has added ‘dead good at poker’ to his sex appeal.
He was a definite favourite with the men and women working on the PokerStars Championships and the World Poker Tour.
“Dario is lovely and handsome,” said the WPT’s Hermance Blum.
3: Ole Schemion (4 nominations)
A young lady from the world of poker who would prefer to remain anonymous thought that Ole Schemion fitted into her version of sexiness perfectly.
“I would say that I am not a person who finds someone attractive just based on how they look. I need to see how they act and how they carry themselves to be attracted to them.” Said the mystery woman, “Ole has a unique style, deep voice and very tall, and I like that in a man.”
Sin Melin agrees:
“Ole Schemion, for sure!”
2: Marc-Andre Ladouceur (5 nominations)
Both men and women alike fancied the Canadian, but he seems to be the main squeeze of the male blogging community. No wonder he gets so many good write-ups.
“The sexiest male poker player in the world has to be Marc-Andre Ladouceur, or at least he’s the one I’ve heard the ladies praising the most over the years.” Said Chad Holloway. “He’s got mad poker skills, a superhero physique, and a well-rounded personality – he’s really one of the nicest guys in the game. As the saying goes, women want him and men want to be him. He’s also part owner of a bar in Montreal, so that’s pretty cool. All that aside, I still wouldn’t want him acting behind me (on the poker table)!”
And I am pretty sure after reading this; he wouldn’t want you acting behind him, Chad.
And if you ever wondered how Pascal Lefrancois got into the Montreal Nationals side?
“Marc-Andre is the sexiest poker player,” said his teammate.
1: Patrik Antonius (21 nominations)
My number one pick of 2014 is still the sexiest man alive two years later. And it wasn’t even close. Nearly half of the people who cast a vote went for the man who wouldn’t look out of place promoting Calvin Klein knickers.
“Patrick Antonius,” said partypoker ambassador Sam Trickett, without hesitation. “He hasn’t aged a bit and always looks so fresh. A fine specimen of a male.”
There seems to be an Antonius fetish in the partypoker locker room prompting suspicion that he may be their next ambassador.
“If I was free and single it’s clear I would get all the ladies.” Said partypoker ambassador Roberto Romanello. “But when I first came on the poker scene, Patrick Antonius would have been the main man. He always looked a cool dude on TV with his shaved head.”
“Patrik Antonius.” Said Daniel Negreanu.
“Patrik Antonius is the sexiest poker player in my opinion,” said Natalie Hof.
Simon Trumper sees Antonius as an actor:
“I would have to say Patrick Antonious, who has an image similar to Matt Damon as Bourne or Jason Statham as The Mechanic.”
“Patrik Antonius, always and forever,” said Evan Jarvis.
“Patrik Antonius, because he was the coolest in the high-stakes TV games and the guy I’d love to have been.” Said Dan O’Callaghan.
The Best of the Rest
Dominik Nitsche thinks Rainer Kempe is the sexiest man alive but the skinny German didn’t go for looks.
“I’ld have to go with Rainer Kempe on this one. I mean the man owns a Rolex. How can you say no?!”
PokerNews UK Editor, Matthew Pitt, has no doubt about where his allegiance lies.
“Being blonde, having a lovely figure, being multi-lingual and financially independent, it has to be Martin Jacobson!”
And age was no barrier either.
“I would have to say, Pierre Neuville,” said Benjamin Pollak, “I mean if we were back in the 1970s.”
For others, it’s the way they wear that cardigan.
“Paul Jackson for me,” said Sylvia Hewitt. “He has brooding good looks, innate wit, and excellent taste in jumpers.”
And there was also a big shout out to the nerd-chic look.
“I have a super crush on Jonathan Little cos he’s a mega geek.” Said Kat Arnsby. “I also totally fancy Sam Grafton cos he’s proper clever like.”
We were also privileged to get inside the mind of a woman, and what she thinks about when playing against a super hot man at the poker tables, and that’s as rare as Barbie poop.
“I was playing poker with a hot guy this week, and it transpired he was terrible at poker. The more I realised he was a bad player, the less I fancied him until he 4bet jammed 65 bigs with A4s and my vagina sealed over.”
Thanks for that Kat.
A young man who would prefer to remain anonymous believes Nick Schulman ‘is just sexy in the way he carries himself,’ and called him ‘smooth’ and ‘confident.’ Niall Farrell believes ‘Big Zinno’ is a ‘total ladies man.’ And Mike Hill thinks that Joe Hachem is poker’s equivalent of George Clooney.
Seth Berger believes David Peters ‘is so hot right now’ (and he wasn’t talking about his heater), and Tony Dunst plumped for Jason Koon because the ‘dude is stylish, jacked as hell and good at poker.’
And if you ever wondered why Jared Jaffe gets away with murder when playing on the WPT circuit, now you know why.
“While Jared at first glance may not have the body of Patrick Antonius, an amazing coiffure like Scotty, or the style of a Tony Dunst there is just something about the big Tuna that does it for me and many others. Jared in a word is just HOT!”
And finally, Dutch Boyd doesn’t think that Melanie Weisner is the world’s sexiest poker player.
Far from it in fact.
“Yevgeniy Timoshenko is the sexiest male poker player on the planet. And I’m not gay… but I would have sex with Timo before Melanie Weisner. And you can quote me on that.”
I will.
And not one person voted for our very own CalvinAyre which is a surprise because in 2010 a website called Hot Aussie Chick voted him in at #2 in her Top 20 Hottest Guys of Poker.
Here are the names of the players who received a solitary vote:
Rainer Kempe, Fabrice Soulier, Martin Jacobson, Pierre Neuville, Garrett Greer, Dan Charlton, Niall Farrell, Anthony Zinno, Viktor Blom, Sam Trickett, Jow Hachem, Mike McDonald, Jared Jaffe, McLean Karr, Roberto Romanello, Jonathan Little, Sam Grafton, Nick Schulman, Phil Laak, David Peters, George Danzer, Jason Koon, Jean Montury, Steve Watts, Tony Dunst, Paul Jackson, Bryn Kenney, and Yevgeniy Timoshenko.
What do you think?
Did we get this right?
Who do you think is poker’s sexiest male star?
