Poker is undoubtedly one of the most popular card games in the world played by people at home or in land-based and online casinos. The best players compete in glamorous tournaments for massive prize pots, often reaching millions of dollars. Many celebrities are also enjoying the game for charity or real money in some of the most famous casino establishments in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and Monte Carlo. Among them are many current and former football stars who can impress not only with their skills on the field but also around the table.

Luís Nazario de Lima Ronaldo

The Fenomeno is defined by many as perhaps the most ingenious footballer of all time. And while his skills as a card shark have not been yet proven, he represents the PokerStars brand in South America, including Brazil. He made that official by signing a contract and acting as an ambassador of the biggest poker playing room. In addition to participating in various advertising campaigns, he often takes part in the Team PokerStars SportStars tournaments in the PokerStars series. In 2015, Ronaldo won more than $42,000 prize from the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.

Lothar Matthaus

The German legend from the recent past is another fan of poker! Lothar Matthaus participated in five FIFA World Cup championships, lifting the trophy once in 1990 and being awarded Ballon d’Or in the same year. Today, he works for Sky Sports and also takes part in other television shows. About poker, Lothar Matthaus never hid that he played poker during its entire career, but only as a hobby. He mentioned once or twice that his favorite poker game is Texas Hold’Em.

Gerard Pique

Gerard Pique, one of the acting FC Barcelona captains, is a huge poker fan. However, he can’t participate in many live tournaments as his career is still ongoing. To date, he can boast of one FIFA World Cup trophy won in 2010 and one English and eight Spanish championship titles. Furthermore, Gerard Pique has won four times the UEFA Champions League, seven times the Copa del Rey cup, and many other titles and awards. The famous footballer has a couple of very good participations in large poker competitions – 3rd place in a local Barcelona tournament (won around $44,000) and 19th place in the EPT series high-roller tournaments (prize of around $24,000).

Teddy Sheringham

The ex-superstar of Tottenham Hotspur, Manchester United, and the English national football team is a pretty successful poker player. In 2001, at the age of 35, he was awarded Footballer of the Year (FWA) and PFA Players’ Player of the Year (PFA). He retired at the age of 42 and is now enjoying life by playing golf, participating in TV shows, and raising children. Teddy Sheringham is also traveling the world playing poker on some of the most impressive tables. His total winnings are already exceeding $500,000, with the biggest one (over $100,000) from the Vilamoura tour part of the EPT series.

Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the best football players of our time and is currently part of the Manchester United team. Besides earning millions from football, the Portuguese is running successful businesses. CR7 boasts five Ballon d’Or awards and numerous others in its professional career. He became a European champion with Portugal in 2016 and had many club cups in its showcase. Cristiano Ronaldo is playing poker mostly online, using the nickname CR7sete. He has been spotted playing Texas Hold’Em and Omaha with his friends, some of which are popular poker professionals (Patrik Antonius, Daniel Cates, etc.).

Francesco Totti

The Golden Boy is one of the most loyal players who has ever carried the colors of A.S.Roma. Francesco Totti spent 25 years playing for the club of its heart. He scored over 250 goals as an attacking midfielder and won the Italian Serie A and twice Coppa Italia and Supercoppa Italiana. In 2010, he became a Party Poker face and took part in many events, concluding that he likes poker and finds many things in common with football. Francesco Totti participated in the World Poker Tour tournament as part of his contract and later in several charity games as well.

Tony Cascarino

The twenty-year football career of the famed Irish striker is quite interesting as he has played for clubs like Chelsea, Olympique de Marseille, Celtic, and Aston Villa. Cascarino has 88 appearances and 19 goals for the Republic of Ireland national football team. He scored almost 250 times for his club teams. Tony Cascarino has said plenty of times during and after his career that he likes gambling as a way to relax. He uses the services of well-established online casinos but is also part of live tournaments. In fact, he won almost £170,000 on the 2009 British Poker Tour, reaching the final table.

Gianluigi Buffon

Gianluigi Buffon is another iconic Italian football superstar! The famous goalkeeper is still active, competing for Parma at the age of 44. Gigi has more than 500 appearances for Juventus and almost 180 for the Italian national team. He has won almost everything significant in football, including 10 Italian championship titles and the FIFA World Cup in 2006. In poker, Buffon has scored some good wins as an online player, which brought him a PokerStars ambassador contract. He claims that he’ll spend much more time playing poker after the end of his football career.

Virtual reality (VR) is the new buzz word for 2017. It is heralded as the next big thing in the gaming world and you would expect PlayStation to sell thousands of their new PlayStation VR accessory this Christmas.

Online betting sites are always keen to take advantage of emerging markets and have produced some stunning virtual reality games that surprisingly come close to capturing the atmosphere, excitement and drama of the real thing.

What Types of Virtual Sport Can I Bet on?

Virtual Tennis – The great thing about virtual betting is that you are never more than a couple of minutes away from the next event. No more waiting till an ATP event to bet, if it’s 4am then not a problem! Virtual Tennis combines great looking visuals with lifelike sound and on occasions you forget it isn’t a real match.

Virtual Cycling – Cycling may seem a strange choice to bet on but it works really well. Crisp graphics replicate the unique atmosphere of the velodrome. Commentary of the race builds up the suspense as the lifelike riders race towards the finish. As with tennis, the events come thick and fast.

Virtual Soccer – I’m a big fan of virtual soccer, why? Because in the virtual world England are able to beat the Germans on penalties, I saw it with my own eyes. For that reason and that reason alone, I want to live in the virtual world. On a more serious note, the list of available markets in virtual soccer is huge and mirrors well the real betting market. Both teams to score, winning margin, Asian Handicap markets, they are all here.

Virtual Horse Racing – Without doubt my favourite virtual betting sport, why? Real horse racing betting can be very confusing. There are hundreds of different bets and different permutations and if you are a beginner it can be quite daunting, this is where virtual racing simplifies the experience. Instead of pages of options, you just bet on the winner, a Forecast or a Tricast.

The racing itself looks amazing, it just looks so realistic and really does show the improvements in technology to bring such a believable experience. If virtual horse racing sounds up your street, then there is a great guide at www.horseracingbetting.co.uk which gives a detailed look at all the pros and cons of virtual horse racing.

Virtual Motors – If horse racing is too mundane for you then why not try virtual motors! Petrol heads out there will almost smell the petrol and the bikes tear over the muddy tracks. Clouds of virtual dust cover the screen as the bikes slide around the corners, great stuff!

If you have never tried virtual betting on sport, it is highly recommended. Along with the ones I have mentioned there are others such as trotting and greyhounds. As the events are random and not based on real people (or horses), you can bet without biases. A fun way to enjoy betting!

One of the greatest things about football and sports betting respectively is the fact that despite stats having good grounds for suggesting what the outcome of a match should be, no one can tell with certainty what the exact score or even the winner will be. You might have a team that has triumphed over many mighty teams in a winning streak and then, all of a sudden, despite everyone’s expectations, they might lose to an underdog that’s on their way to relegation.

There’s a great example I’d like to give you and it has to do with the European Championship from 1992 I told you about in my welcome post. As you might remember, that European Championship was the first one I remember distinctly and there are a few reasons for that. Firstly, it was the first championship that I was old enough to follow and know what’s going on. Second, it was the first time I actually placed a bet on a sports event or any kind of wager really. Finally, there’s an objective reason for remembering it as well. The curious case of Denmark.

Let me tell you the story of Denmark – how they got to the finals and despite the stats won the championship, snatching the trophy from teams everyone thought were far better-equipped to win it. It’s been 25 years, yet that fairy-tale-like story is still told as one of the most curios moments in the history of European championships. It’s a story of exceptions that make the 1992 Danish team and their win of the Euro 92 remarkable.

The qualifications for UEFA Euro 1992 took place during 1990 and 1991. Denmark were in qualifying Group 4 but didn’t make it through. However, about a week before the Finals in Sweden, Yugoslavia – the winner of Group 4 – was disqualified. UEFA came up with that decision because the country was being torn by a civil war and eventually broke up into a number of states. Denmark, the runner-up, was called to the finals to take Yugoslavia’s place. Denmark’s manager Richard Møller Nielsen had a really short time to get a team ready but this last-minute invitation was a blessing in disguise. Having accepted they would not proceed to the finals, Denmark – both players and fans – had no expectations, hence – no pressure.

At the Finals, they were in Group 1 together with the host Sweden. After a draw with England, a loss to Sweden and a victory over France, they finished as a runner-up in the group which allowed them to advance to the knockout stage. At the semi-final, after extra time and a penalty shoot-out, Denmark knocked out the Netherlands – another favourite for the trophy.

Yet, people still thought it was a windfall and believed the odds were against the Danes. The day of the final came and that’s when I placed my first bet ever – I bet on Germany thinking like so many others that it was a sure thing. Then, on the night of June 26, I watched the broadcast from the Gothenburg stadium in speechless disbelief as Denmark swept away the mighty Germany and became Euro Champions.

Hello and welcome to my brand new blog on sports betting! My name’s Tim and I love betting on all kinds of sports. No matter what you’re thinking of right now, I bet I’ve bet on it before, if you know what I mean.

I’m your regular bloke who has a day job, a family and a huge obsession with football – now, who doesn’t? I love watching footy on TV, working on my fantasy football team and competing with the lads on a few Premier League predictor websites. Most of all, I love betting on sports because nothing really makes my heart thump as wildly as betting on a match.

Think that’s an overstatement? Well, you’re probably not doing sport betting right. I’ll tell you all about how you can maximize the fun and the profits while keeping the money you spend to a minimum. I have other plans for this neat blog as well but you’ll have to wait to find out all about them in due time.

What I’m gonna tell you right now, though, is why I’ve picked that name for my blog. Why Euro 92? Well, that was the first football tournament of national significance I was old enough to watch and appreciate. It was also the very first time I placed a bet on a match. Ah, those were the days! But you’re going to hear more about that, no doubt.

In the meantime, do drop me a line and suggest topics you’d like to read about. Let’s make this a safe place, free of prejudice and sporting feuds. Let’s have a round-table discussion and enjoy the sports that we love.

Welcome and have a good time at Euro92!