Five of Brazil's Best Poker Players

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Sep 12, 2018 5 min read Last updated Sep 13, 2018

On Friday, September 7, Brazilians celebrated Brazil Independence Day with military parades and patriotic displays. Here at PokerNews, we commemorate this day by looking at five of Brazil's best when it comes to poker.

1) Joao Simao

It wasn't easy picking a top choice, but partypoker Ambassador Joao Simao got the nod for his achievements in online and live poker tournaments as well as his current relevance.

Simao ranks fifth on Brazil's all-time money list in live tournament cashes with more than $2.1 million to his name. His two biggest scores came during the partypoker MILLIONS Germany at King's Casino in February 2018.

He first finished runner-up in the €25,500 Super High Roller for €251,250 ($307,772). A few days later, he followed this up with a fourth-place performance in the €5,300 Main Event for €280,000 ($345,274).

This isn't to say that Simao has never found gold as according to The Hendon Mob he has shipped four tournaments including the PCA $2,200 No Limit Hold'em - 6 Handed side event for $81,720 in 2015 and the partypoker WPT Caribbean $10,000 High Roller in 2016 for $88,500.

Simao is perhaps best known for his prowess in online tournaments. According to PocketFives where he is known as "joaosimaobh", he has amassed nearly $7.6 million in cashes and was ranked number one in the world on three separate occasions in 2016.

On PokerStars under the screenname "INeedMassari", Simao has notched nearly $4.5 million in tournament cashes including victories in a WCOOP, TCOOP and SCOOP events to capture the PokerStars COOP Triple Crown.

Simao also has amassed over $2.1 million in scores on partypoker under the "joaosimaobh" screenname including seven wins in Powerfest events. His biggest online score also came in a Powerfest event when he took fifth place in the $25,500 buy-in Powerfest #301 - $2M Gtd Super High Roller for $193,500.

Joao Simao Poker Stats ^{(September, 2018)}

Twitter: @joaosimaobh

2) Alexandre Gomes

Alexandre Gomes is Brazil's most successful live poker tournament player with more than $3.6 million in live tournament cashes.

He burst onto the live poker scene with a runner-up performance in the WSOP Circuit Atlantic City $5,150 Main Event for $202,433 for his second ever cash recorded at The Hendon Mob.

Two years later in 2008, Gomes recorded his third cash in a huge way by shipping a WSOP gold bracelet in a 2,000 No Limit Hold'em side event in 2008 for $770,540.

The following year was an even bigger one for Gomes. He kicked off 2009 with a fourth-place finish in the PCA $10,000 Main Event for $750,000. He followed this up with his biggest score to date when he shipped the WPT Bellagio Cup V $15,500 Championship Event in July 2009 for $1,187,670.

Gomes, who was once a PokerStars Team Pro, has also beasted it up in online tournaments as well with nearly $1.7 million at PokerStars alone. His biggest online win came in 2012 when he shipped the SCOOP-01-H: $2,100 NL Hold'em [6-Max, $750K Gtd] for $282,240.

Alexandre Gomes Poker Stats ^{(September, 2018)}

Twitter: @allingomes

3) Felipe Ramos

Felipe Ramos has been one of Brazil's most consistent players for over a decade and ranks second in live tournament cashes with almost $2.6 million.

The Brazilian's first major win came in 2010 when he shipped the WSOP Circuit Emerald Casino ZAR 10,000 Pot Limit Omaha event in South Africa for ZAR 257,635 ($36,879).

In November 2017, Ramos secured what was his biggest cash at the time of $220,000 when he took fifth place in the partypoker Caribbean Poker Party $5,300 MILLIONS Main Event.

During the Caribbean Poker Party, Ramos amassed his 13th Hendon Mob flag of the year and ended 2017 with the most flags out of any poker player in the world. His efforts didn't go unnoticed as he was also recognized as the 2017 GPI Player of the Year Latin America.

In February 2018, Ramos nailed down his biggest score to date when he took fifth place in the partypoker MILLIONS Germany €51,000 Super High Roller for €180,000 ($220,472).

Although it is unknown how much online earnings Ramos has amassed, he is also well known as an online tournament player. Ramos was known as "mojave14" on PokerStars before he joined forces as an ambassador to the company in 2015 at which point his screenname was changed to simply "mojave".

At the beginning of 2018, Ramos announced he was parting ways with PokerStars but would still be an ambassador to the game of poker.

Felipe Ramos Poker Stats ^{(September, 2018)}

Twitter: @FelipeMojave

4) Andre Akkari

Andre Akkari was a shoe-in to make the list both for his accomplishments as a poker player and an ambassador to the game.

The PokerStars Team Pro has accumulated nearly $2.2 million in live tournament cashes for the third most among any players in Brazil. His biggest haul came in 2011 when he shipped a WSOP $1,500 No Limit Hold'em side event for $675,117.

Akkari is also known for his online prowess having amassed $3.5 million in online tournament cashes at PokerStars alone under the "aakkari" screenname. He has shipped some of the biggest online tournaments including the Sunday 500 and the Sunday Warm-up.

Andre Akkari Poker Stats ^{(September, 2018)}

Twitter: @aakkari

5) Thiago Nishijima

Thiago Nishijima rounds off the list of five of the best Brazilian poker players. It wasn't a matter of if Nishijima would make the list but where on the list he would land.

Nishijima has massed almost $2.2 million in live tournament cashes, placing him fourth on the Brazil All Time Money List. His first major win came in 2009 when he won a €1,000 EPT side event for €77,700 ($102,164).

In 2015, Nishijima found WSOP gold when he won Event #38: $3,000 No Limit Hold'em for $546,843.

Nishijima also has almost $4.5 million in online tournament cashes of which almost $3 million came from PokerStars where he plays under the "xthedecanox" screenname. His biggest online win came in 2009 when he shipped the WCOOP-16: $1,050 NL Hold'em, $500K guaranteed for $249,280.

Thiago Nishijima Poker Stats ^{(September, 2018)}

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