Professional football contracts are incredibly lucrative these days, with many players earning more per week than most of us can earn in a decade, know the players that play poker as well
However, a player’s career can also be incredibly short, with just a few years at the top in which to secure their future. This leads many of them to look for alternative ways of making money.
Some decide to join the pundits on TV, with the likes of Gary Lineker doing rather well for themselves. His recent 23% pay cut still left his BBC salary at £1.34million per year, and that’s before he starts advertising crisps on TV. Meanwhile, former Liverpool star, Robbie Fowler has been quietly building his own Monopoly board, with a property portfolio estimated to be worth around £31million.
Top Of The Table Football Players: Footballers That Play Poker List
Playing their cards right
These days, an increasing number of players are swapping feet on the pitch for hands at the poker table, turning a team bus hobby into a money making second job or post-football career. For them, the turn and the kicker take on a whole new meaning as they try to score on a whole new green playing surface.
Some soccer stars, such as Teddy Sheringham, the former Tottenham and England star who was a golden boot winner, have made their new game very profitable, with his lifetime earnings coming in at around $300,000 (£225,000). This includes a respectable 14th place at the World Series of Poker Main Event, which netted him $60,000 (£45,000) in one tournament.
For others, it is more about the excitement and action than the prize money. Even with their relative success at the tables, the likes of Brazil’s Ronaldo and his Portuguese namesake Cristiano Ronaldo, are unlikely to be excited by their prize money. Ronaldo would hardly need to break a sweat to earn the $42,000 (£31,000) he won in a recent tournament in the Bahamas, but his finish in the top 4% would have made it well worth his while.
A serious second job
Away from the big money European leagues, a side hustle like poker can make a significant difference to a player’s salary. Ronaldo would not get out of bed for the kind of pay check earned by Minnesota United defender Brent Kallman. Yet it is his relatively low salary from football that makes the Kallman’s $196,000 (£147,000) lifetime winnings all the more important to him.
Kallman made headlines in 2018 by collecting a bumper payday of $62,110 (£46,580) in a single game at the WPT Seminole Rock n Roll Poker Open. In a tournament that began with 900 players, he was just two seats away from making the big-money final table of six. This thrilling run backs up his other major wins, including $33,951 (£245,470) for third place on the Mid-States Poker Tour in 2013 and $25,512 (£19,140) for his win at the Council Bluffs Main Event the following year.
Kallman’s poker skills are even more impressive when you consider that unlike many of his poker playing soccer contemporaries, he is still an active player, criss-crossing the States to play the game. To practice his passion, he has to look for poker in US that are accessible along the way. With such a talent for the game, it seems unlikely that any of his teammates will risk giving him a game on the road.
While his schedule may be demanding, at least Kallman gets the chance to learn and grow from both of his passions. “It’s one of the processes you go through to getting better,” he explained after his WPT win. “In soccer you play games, you make mistakes, and you go back and learn from them. It’s the same thing in poker.” If his recent form is anything to go by, he will be learning plenty at the poker table to take back to his load spell at El Paso Locomotive.
ALSO READ: Disappointed to hear reports of racist abuse at Edgbaston, says Ben Stokes