Monday Merge: JT, Mascots, Call Outs and More

Sports and poker. Poker and sports. While the “Is poker a sport?” debate is an endless endeavor with no true answer in sight, Poker Central is blending the two together. At the start of each week, the “Monday Merge” fuses sports and poker, drawing loose comparisons, and even looser transitions, between the only two things we really care about.

First kiss?? pic.twitter.com/3ZsLRE5r9M

— PGA Championship (@PGAChampionship) August 14, 2017

Unlike golf’s most prestigious major and next month’s Poker Masters series, a jacket doesn’t await the winner of the PGA Championship but Justin Thomas wasn’t complaining about the lack of formal wear this past weekend. The 24-year-old won his first major championship on Sunday, combining clutch shots, big puts and a little luck to get his hands on the Wanamaker Trophy. His ice-cold performance in the final round, coupled with his performance in golf’s fifth major at Baker’s Bay, makes Thomas hard to root against.

Keep your eyes on Hero tonight ??. This weekend was just a warm up. #BeTheNext mascot pic.twitter.com/ls9OVud1vT

— IAAF World Champs (@IAAFWorldChamps) August 7, 2017

I see Uncle Ron and I raise you…Hero the Hedgehog! The official mascot of the IAAF World Championships, that is track and field for those of you not paying attention, has stolen the show with hilarious signs, attempts at gymnastics, rain delay activities and more. Luckily for Uncle Ron, Hero the Hedgehog is under contract with the IAAF until after the Tokyo Olympics, so poker’s favorite rail bird still has a monopoly on the poker world.

So this just happened at #GiantsCamp ???? pic.twitter.com/w3kFtK7gbK

— New York Giants (@Giants) August 14, 2017

I don’t care if we are talking about practice, not a game, practice, what Odell Beckham Jr. did to Janoris Jenkins in practice on Monday afternoon is criminally punishable in all 50 states. The veteran cornerback did all he could, literally all he could, to stop OBJ from catching a fade from quarterback Eli Manning and then best wide receiver in the league, don’t at me, caught it anyway. If I were Jenkins, I’d file a complaint with the Giants social media team, the least they could have done is blur out his number to protect his identity.

Dahntay Jones says Stephen Curry is not a top-10 NBA player.

“I’ve got him on the outside – like 11, 12.” ?? https://t.co/q51025SUNz pic.twitter.com/47ho9RpkNW

— SLAM Magazine (@SLAMonline) August 14, 2017

In a recent interview with SLAM Magazine, Cleveland Cavaliers forward Dahanty Jones said that Steph Curry is not a top-10 NBA player. Jones, who has more or less rode the Cav’s bench for the last two seasons, says that the two-time NBA MVP, is “like 11, 12.” Who is in Jones’ top-10 then? Also, I wonder if Jones and poker professional Tim Reilly, who said, in anticipation of his return to Poker After Dark, that Tom Dwan “couldn’t hold my jockstrap,” would get along?

Rollin’ up to practice like… pic.twitter.com/FPCz0alfg5

— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 11, 2017

Connor McGregor doesn’t stand a chance against Floyd Mayweather but man, if this isn’t swag, I don’t know what is.