Whether as a second career or as a hobby or to pass time in the offseason, there are famous football players who also make good Poker players.
The similarity between both games, like the obsessive nature of poker players and football players, makes it easier for a player to cross that divide and become good at playing poker.
Let’s take a look at some of these players then.
Tony Cascarino
Tony Cascarino, a retired Republic of Ireland international footballer, is an avid poker player who has had tremendous success on the UK poker scene.
Tony Cascarino was present at the beginnings of the internet poker boom and was invited to participate in the Celebrity Poker Club poker event in 2004.
Shortly after, he reached the final table of the Irish Open, Europe’s oldest poker event, and signed a sponsorship contract with online poker site Littlewoods.
Tony Cascarino was a regular on the live poker scene and poker tables for a number of years, and he had a lot of success. He won the Grosvenor UK Poker Tour Bolton main event in 2008 and finished sixth in the tour’s Grand Final the following year.
He replicated his final table appearance in the Grand Final a year later, making him a remarkable two-time GUKPT major event champion.
Tony has also cashed in the EPT London Main Event three times and won a $1k side event at the Caribbean Poker Classic in Saint Kitts in 2006.
Teddy Sheringham
Sheringham is a former Manchester United, Tottenham Hotspur and England international striker, is regarded as one of the most complete front men in Premier League history.
Throughout his illustrious career, the three-time Premier League and one-time Champions League champion scored 288 goals.
He’s transformed his great eye for goal into a clinical eye for huge bets at the poker table.
Sheringham left professional football in 2008 and has since become a well-known character on the poker circuit.
His most notable accomplishment was reaching the final table of the EPT Vilamoura’s €5,000 No Limit Hold’em Main Event.
He came in fifth place, collecting €93,121. It has been stated that his total poker earnings are close to €300,000.
Gerard Pique
Pique is a three time Champions League winner, a World Cup winner and an European Championship winner. He is one of the most accomplished players of his generation and one of the Greatest football players of his generation. He is also pretty good at Poker
He competed in the European Poker Tour (EPT) Barcelona in 2011, 2013, 2016, and most recently in 2019, finishing second for €352,950, his greatest live cash. He was accompanied by teammate Arturo Vidal, who also ran hard and ended fifth.
Piqué evidently likes playing poker. In a 2016 interview with PokerNews, he remarked that playing poker and soccer gives him the “similar sensation in your stomach, a little bit of jitters,” since in poker and soccer “you know how to play, but you never know how the cards will be, so you have to react to each circumstance”.
Now retired, there will definitely be more appearances at Poker cash games and poker tournaments from Pique.
Neymar Jr
‘The Paris Saint Germain and Brazil international player who is also Pique’s great friend is one of the most famous names football who is also a poker player. Just recently, Neymar was spotted playing poker after their loss to Bayern Munich a few weeks ago.
When he isn’t scoring goals for Paris Saint-Germain or Brazil, Neymar Jr enjoys playing poker. He has participated in multiple European Poker Tour tournaments as an ambassador for online poker site PokerStars, cashed in two distinct events during the 2022 EPT Monte Carlo festival.
In truth, Neymar had a successful poker year in 2022, finishing 49th in a $1k Super Bounty event at the World Series of Poker, which had over 2,200 entrants.
Francesco Totti
Francesco Totti is an Italian football legend who spent his entire football career with AS Roma and is their greatest player of all time. He is a World Cup winner and is unquestionably a role model for all future Italian footballers, but that’s not all.
Totti is a poker fanatic who was not shy in sharing his enthusiasm for the game. He became the ambassador of partypoker Italy in 2010 and has played several cash games since then.
Ronaldo
Popularly known as “R9”, the Brazilian football legend is a World Cup winner and one of the greatest goalscorers in the history of football.
His most well-known poker accomplishment occurred in a PokerStars tournament in the Bahamas, when he won $42,180. It is said that Ronaldo played at this poker tournament instead of being a part of the Ballon D’Or ceremony.
Jan Vang Sorensen
Sorensen may not be the most famous former professional footballer on our list, but he has had one of the most successful poker careers of any ex-footballer.
Sorensen had a successful career with Danish Superliga team Odense BK.
Regrettably, his playing career was cut short when he suffered a catastrophic knee injury at the age of 30.
Sorensen shifted his focus to poker.
Since then, the Dane has won two World Series of Poker bracelets in the 2002 $2,500 Pot Limit Omaha and 2005 $5,000 Seven Card Stud tournaments, one World Poker Tour final table finish, and one European Poker Tour money finish.
In his poker career he has made over $2 million in winnings.
Gianluigi Buffon
One of Italy’s most well-known players, famed goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon, popularly known as ‘Gigi,’ is known to spend his spare time playing poker. Beginning as a random player, the Italian shot stopper began to earn recognition in the poker circuit after registering major triumphs in online tournaments.
That also led to the goalkeeper’s poker abilities gaining the attention of PokerStars, who invited him to be a part of Team Pokerstars alongside the likes of Chris Moneymaker and Daniel Negranu in 2010.
Gigi Buffon afterwards became the brand ambassador for PokerStars in Italy. He also competes in different online and live tournaments.
