Rafa Nadal Wins Charity Poker Game

Saturday December 14,2013 : RAFA SHOWS ‘EM HOW IN CHARITY POKER TOURNAMENT
 
Tennis ace pretty good on the felt too.
 
International tennis ace Rafa Nadal showed equal skills on the poker felt this week, winning a $100,000 charity game at the Pokerstars European Poker Tour Prague despite some tough opposition.
 
The well-tailored and clad 27-year-old tennis star was playing in his first live poker event, having developed a liking for poker whilst laid up with a knee injury.
 
After trying online poker out and appearing as the promotional face of Pokerstars, he was making his first foray into the world of live action.
 
Facing Nadal across the table were professional poker player Daniel Negreanu; Italian downhill star Alberto Tomba; past football legends Ronaldo and Andriy Shevchenko; and Dutch field hockey champion and Olympian gold medalist Fatima Moreira de Melo, who Nadal ultimately confronted in the heads-up.
 
"I had fun. I had a great experience here playing with friends, playing for a good cause, for charity," Nadal said following the event.
 
Asked about the difference between poker and tennis, Nadal responded:
 
"Well, it's different.  We are playing for a good cause and that always makes an event special. But obviously the pressure, in my case, is completely different between when I'm playing in a professional tennis tournament and what I'm playing today."
 
"For me, it's a big honour to be playing with all these stars around me. I want to be competitive. It's my first live poker tournament and that's made me feel a little bit nervous."