Notes: Cards>Poker; CTV on Market; Bloomberg on Goldin; Giannis’ Happy Giftees; Last LeBron 23 Jersey

The sports card business got an unusual shout out from an avid fan…on a live broadcast after a poker tournament.

After Jared Bleznick won US Poker Open Event #8 for $189,000 on Friday, the “post game” host expected him to talk about his big win but the fur hat-wearing Bleznick, who is part owner of a Las Vegas card shop and also runs TheBlez.com, a breaking site, gave Jeff Platt a hug and then took the conversation in a different direction.
Watch below.

Not the standard @PokerGO post-game interview. Thanks to Maxx Coleman (@mc4chess) & one Jared Bleznick (@harrington25) for the time #bringitinfortherealthing pic.twitter.com/D67eAYDsO7

— Jeff Platt (@jeffplatt) June 12, 2021

Sports card shops need to constantly keep tabs on prices these days, because collectors and flippers do.

“So they were looking for ‘What do you have on the shelf that you don’t know has gone up in the last 24-48 hours that I can buy and turn around and list for double’,” shop owner Wayne Fraser told CTV, which took to local stores for a story on the boom in hockey and other card sales.  Watch below:

Goldin Auctions and the new interest in high-end sports cards was the subject of a big feature story at Bloomberg.com late last week.

Two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo has made a ritual of taking off his game-worn shoes after games, signing them and handing them over to a young fan.

WISN-TV in Milwaukee caught up to Giannis and some of those youngsters who’ve received a very valuable gift from the big-hearted Buck:

With the news that LeBron James will be switching back to number 6, it looks like Devin Booker is the guy who owns what might well be the last LeBron jersey that carries number 23.

After Phoenix eliminated the Lakers in Game 6 of their playoff series, LeBron inscribed a message to Booker on his gold game jersey and handed it over to the Suns’ young star, who has been a favorite of LeBron’s for a while now.

LeBron gave Booker a signed jersey after the game 🤝

(via @nba) pic.twitter.com/LRtgfmmo96

— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) June 4, 2021

Along with his signature, James inscribed, “Continue to be great” near the number on the jersey.

That’s a nice high six-figure (at least) gift.

Related Stories:

Notes: Bloomberg on Hobby Topics; HOF Happenings; Heritage Hires Maddalena Notes: CTV Hockey Card Story; COMC Seller Changes; Early Mays, Mantle Photos Sell LeBron, Giannis Holiday Gamers Hit Auction Block Morant, Barrett, LeBron, Giannis, Harden Opening Night Jerseys at Auction Notes: Brother Pulls Giannis’ Card; Talking Markets Past and Present; Flyers’ Green Jersey Auction Huge Prices for Jordan, Giannis, Curry, Kobe Cards in Goldin Sale Notes: 40 Autos on Book Card; Aikman’s Jersey Claim; Giannis Grocery Store Signing Topps Brand Manager Discusses Digital Cards, More with Bloomberg

About Rich Mueller

Rich is the editor and founder of Sports Collectors Daily. A broadcaster and writer for over 35 years and a collector for even longer than that, he's usually typing something somewhere. Type him back at [email protected]