It is common knowledge that professional footballers also like to play cards. At least, that was certainly the case in the time before Fifa appeared on the Playstation.
The Ajax players were known to play a lot of shuffleboard, and at Brabant professional clubs, riks and toepen were the favorite games.
Pros who play poker
Nowadays poker is very popular, also among footballers. Some are pretty good at it too. And if you have a reasonable annual salary and you have some time off, as a professional you can play a tournament with a nice stake. At least with the salary of a professional at a top club you don’t really have to worry about d bankroll. It turns out that some pros are also pretty good at cards. We’ll highlight a few for you.
Neymar Jr.
This virtuoso, who is currently playing for Paris Saint Germain, could regularly be found at the Barcelona casino during his time at Barcelona, where he sat at the poker table. And often not without merit. The people at Pokerstars noticed that too and decided to recruit him as a Pokerpro for this poker site.
In live tournaments Neymar has not performed super well. Still he managed to finish 6th in a fairly big tournament in Sao Paulo with a stakes of about $1,750. 288 people participated and 6th place was good for $21,000.
As a Pokerstars Pro, Neymar is of course also regularly to be found on the virtual tables. This year he participated in the SCOOP. He registered for the $2100 NLHE event and finished 12th for a nice cash of $6700.
Gerard Pique
Neymar’s former colleague, Gerard Pique, can not only defend well but also play a decent game of poker. He has often been spotted participating in the main tournament of the World Series of Poker. However, he has yet to make it to Las Vegas. He has had more success as a participant in the EPT.
In 2019 he achieved his best result there. In the €25,000 event he managed to finish in 2nd place for a beautiful cash of €352,950. Even for a professional footballer a nice n amount. This brings his total in EPT tournaments to over €550,000.
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Tony Cascarino
Tony Cascarino is not known to everyone as a soccer player. Yet he was a big man for the Republic of Ireland. Fair is fair, maybe he poker’s even better than he footballed. He has won more than half a million dollars on the poker scene. His most epic victory came in the 2009 Grosvenor UK Poker Tour Grand Final, when he finished first and claimed the top prize of £168,800.
Several top athletes can play poker quite well
It has become apparent that several top athletes can play poker well. That will also certainly have to do with their mindset. The will to win is of course very much present in these athletes. In addition, they also have the discipline to learn from the great poker players. Put those disciplines together and you have a good combination to win at poker. Examples of this are Boris Becker and the Dutch field hockey player Fatima Moreiro de Melo, who has also played poker for half a million dollars.