The white sport is a popular choice among sports bettors. The integrity of the sport was never compromised as we have no reason to doubt that gladiators such as Novak Djokovic or Roger Federer would do anything but win every tournament imaginable.
But yet, tennis is not without connections with casinos and gambling. Now, we’re not talking about match-fixing or anything like that. It’s more about the passion of casino tables and frequent visits to these establishments. Can you guess which players took their time and money outside of the court?
We sure hope that you do not know, as this article needs to be a great surprise for our dear readers. So, without further ado, we are going to start writing about the biggest gamblers and fans of casinos among the tennis players of the old.
What we can guarantee is that some of the names on this list are going to surprise you. Don’t worry, the good boy of tennis is not on the list. Yes, we’re talking about Novak as he would never. Now, let’s check out the racket gamblers.
Marcus Daniell
Let’s start with the least notorious gambler on this list. Marcus is a fan of online gambling. He is a famous doubles player, who spent some time gambling during a tournament. This is enough to claim that he’s passionate about his casino ventures.
Now, this is not a confirmed tale, as only fans reported that it happened. His game of choice was poker, and we can truly understand that. What’s even better is that everyone claims that he managed to win a huge sum during those few hands he has played.
While there’s no official source on this claim, we live in an era of online gambling so it’s not surprising that one player has put it ahead of his game. If you want to repeat the success that Marcus Daniell achieved you can do it by clicking here.
Hiroki Moriya
Now, we are moving forward and we have one more famous name on our list. Hiroki Moriya is a well-known player from Japan, and his love for gambling is no secret. It was evidenced that he left one of the tournaments where he played to visit a casino.
The fun was bigger at tables than it was on the court for Moriya. In addition to going to casinos physically, it is known that he also gambles online. Considering that Hiroki is on the tail end of his illustrious career we can only expect that he’s going to spend more time at the tables than he’ll at the court.
Rafael Nadal
This is a heavyweight category of tennis. Nadal is one of the best players of all time, and there was no way for him to hide his passion for gambling. As one could guess, a tennis strategist such as Rafael found his second love in poker. He is often pictured in Monte Carlo casinos but also it is known that he likes to play a few hands online.
It is known that in 2014 he lost quite a massive sum at a Monte Carlo casino to a certain Vannessa Selbst. We bet that Nadal didn’t know that he was pitted against one of the best female poker players. Rafael showed once again the greatness of his sportsmanship and stated that the game he lost was one of the best poker games of his life.
Jimmy Connors
Another one of the greats. Connors loved gambling as much as he loved the game of tennis. The sad part of Jimmy’s story is that he quickly became addicted. The story goes that he played every time until he had no money left.
He rarely left the casino before he ran out of money. He even wrote a book called The Outsider where he detailed his time in casinos and his constant battle with addiction. The funny part of this whole ordeal is that Jimmy bet $1 million on himself for an exhibition match against Martina Navratilova.
This was back in 1992, and since then Connors has come a long way and claims that his gambling addiction is behind him. Today, Connors doesn’t bet, doesn’t visit casinos, and has not become a part of the online casino trend.
Boris Becker
Even the birds on the branches know about Boris Becker. The German superstar is truly one of the greats of the game. Today, interestingly, he is an ambassador for the famous gambling brand Pokerstar. He’s been at it for one and a half decade, starting their partnership back in 2007. In addition to being an ambassador, he is a frequent guest at the events they organize.
So, he was a part of the European Poker Tour. He is no rookie as it is estimated that he earned close to $80,000 playing at various online tournaments. But, the harsh truth is that he lost quite a lot.
It is said that Becker was banned from a few casinos due to his heavy gambling habits. What’s even worse, he spent some time in jail due to the amount of his accumulated debts. So, one could say that Boris had his ups and downs when it came to both his tennis career and his gambling outings.
Patrik Antonius
Here is an interesting character. Patrik Antonius is a former tennis player. While his tennis career wasn’t an illustrious one, as he had to quit early on due to an injury, what he did in the world of poker resonates today. Antonius has a poker career almost two decades long and is still going strong.
While he doesn’t have a World Series of Poker bracelet to his name he managed to cash in from his poker outings as he cashed in almost $1 million from poker alone. In the meantime, he tried as a model and tennis coach, but his career and name are nowadays mostly tied to poker.
Summary
As you can see, tennis and gambling have met at many crossroads. Some of the biggest names in the white sport are closely tied to casinos and gambling. We can expect even more crossovers as it is possible to have a successful career in both.
So, in the future, we can expect some of the high-profile names to try their hands at poker or blackjack. Maybe Nole and Roger are the next in line? Who knows?
