When top-level professional athletes retire, there's one question in need of answering: what's next? As most elite athletes hang up their gloves or cleats prior to the age of 30 (with outliers here and there), the need for a pivot into a new field comes quickly. For some, business ventures initiated during sporting careers demand attention. For others, the broadcasting and commentary space offers a pathway to continue a life in sports.
In other cases, the competitive drive that brought them to the pinnacle of their game dominates their mindset and compels them to find new outlets through which they can channel that drive.
As athletes tend to spend a great deal of time on the road, regular card games between teammates are not uncommon when in transit. With all this in mind, it's not at all shocking to see that several elite athletes have found a new home at the poker table.
We've previously looked at poker-playing celebrity athletes who found success on the felt following a career in the arena, but these sporting maestros turned poker players just keep on coming, so here are seven more. Keep in mind, there's no order to this list, just a bunch of elite athletes who love to get the cards in the air.
Fatima Moreiro de Melo
Fatima Moreiro de Melo took part in 191 international matches for the Dutch Women's Field Hockey Team, scoring 30 goals over the course of her international career. In 2006, de Melo was part of the Dutch squad that claimed victory in the Women's Hockey World Cup in Madrid, Spain. At the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, de Melo won Olympic gold alongside her national teammates as they beat hosts China 2-0 in the final game. In the Dutch national competition, de Melo played for Tempo '34, H.O.C. Gazellen-Combinatie, and HC Rotterdam.
Fatima Moreira de Melo signed on with PokerStars as part of its Sporting Icon Pro team. In 2007, de Melo signed on with PokerStars as part of the site's Sporting Icon Pro team and worked alongside other professional athletes to promote the site and take part in tournament series. Over the course of a decade, de Melo played in both online and live tournaments, amassing a total of $577,274 in live earnings. Known for her talkative and atypical antics at the table, de Melo often put her opponents to the test with big bluffs.
In 2017, de Melo parted ways with PokerStars as the last athlete left standing.
Audley Harrison (Boxing)
Audley Harrison competed at the highest levels of heavyweight boxing from 2001 to 2013, with an impressive professional record of 31-7 (23 wins by KO). In 2000, prior to starting his professional career, Harrison won the gold medal in the super-heavyweight division at the Sydney Olympics, making him the first British boxer to do so.
Britain's Audley Harrison went from battling in the ring to battling on the felt. After retiring from the ring, Harrison became a regular in the California poker scene, playing frequently at both the Commerce and Bike casinos in Los Angeles. Harrison has, thus far, racked up $340,684 in career earnings – a far cry from his boxing purses, but nothing to sneeze at – and has set his sights on claiming a World Series of Poker bracelet at some point in his life.
Back in January of 2023, Harrison joined GGPoker's Jeff Gross to commentate on a GGPoker Super Million$ final table.
Neymar Jr. (Soccer)
While soccer superstar Neymar Jr. may be better known as one of Brazil's greatest exports to the sporting world, he's also a huge fan of high-stakes poker, both online and live. After the thrill of winning Spain's La Liga trophy countless times, the UEFA Champions League, and Olympic Gold, Neymar Jr. needed an outlet to match the adrenaline rush of victory on the highest stage.
Neymar Jr. played under the PokerStars banner for a time. As it turns out, poker scratched that itch for him, leading him to ink an ambassador deal with PokerStars as part of the operator's push to grow the game in Brazil. When it comes to poker, Neymar Jr.'s aggressive, yet beautiful style of play on the pitch is mirrored by his approach on the felt.
While his live career tournament earnings of $32,131 are barely a drop in the ocean compared to the wages he's earned with his feet, Neymar Jr. likes to play online tournaments on PokerStars, as well as high stakes cash games. Recently, he played on a table of superstars during Hustler Casino Live's Legends on the Felt show.
Gerard Pique (Soccer)
Neymar Jr. isn't the only former FC Barcelona star with a penchant for high-stakes action. The Brazilian's one-time teammate Gerard Pique also loves to get in the mix on the felt. Pique hails from the Catalonian region of Spain and rose through the ranks of Barcelona's La Masia academy before a brief stint in England at Manchester United. Once he returned to Barcelona, Pique played there for the remainder of his career, winning three UEFA Champions League titles and nine La Liga titles. The formidable defender was also part of the Spanish team that won the World Cup in 2010 and the UEFA European Championship in 2012.
Pique's recorded results so far have all come in Barcelona.Unsurprisingly, all of the Spaniard's seven recorded cashes have come on Spanish soil, with the European Poker Tour stops in Barcelona becoming an unofficial home turf for Pique. Across his career, Pique has notched $738,611 in earnings, with a high score of $392,515 thanks to a second-place finish in the €25,000 No-Limit Hold'em at the 2019 EPT Barcelona stop.
Sergio Aguero (Soccer)
Argentina's own Sergio Aguero knows what it takes to perform at the highest levels in the soccer world. The former Manchester City striker helped his team on their way to winning five Premier League titles over the course of his time in the English league. On the international side of things, Aguero represented his home country in three FIFA World Cups and five COPA America tournaments, with a win in the latter in 2021. Aguero retired from the sport in 2021 due to heart problems and remains one of the all-time leading goalscorers in English football.
Argentina star footballer Sergio Aguero at WSOP Paradise 2023. On the felt, Aguero likes to challenge himself by mixing it up with some of the top level poker players in a high buy-in tournaments. The majority of his $100,486 in career earnings come from a single $88,506 score at the 2023 World Series of Poker $50,000 No-Limit Hold'em High Roller.
Colby Covington (MMA)
When he's not busy taking down opponents in the octagon, Colby Covington enjoys flexing his mental muscles at the poker table. The UFC welterweight fighter boasts a record of 17 wins and only 4 losses in a division packed with high-level fighting talent. Covington leans heavily into his self-proclaimed 'super villain' persona both in the octagon and on the promotional side of the sport. Known for his trash-talking, Covington's antagonizing personality often gets under the skin of his opponents.
Colby CovingtonWhile he may not sling as many barbs on the felt, Covington is no less lethal as his $235,604 in tournament earnings indicate. The MMA bad boy's biggest score came thanks to a seventh-place finish for $48,298 in a $400 No-Limit Hold'em Deepstack event at the Seminole Hard Rock Poker Open in 2022. Just a few days later, Covington followed up with an outright victory for $25,875 in the $1,100 Pot-Limit Omaha 8 or Better.
Michael Phelps (Swimming)
Michael Phelps may be the most-decorated Olympian in history, with a total of 28 medals (23 golds), but he's also a fierce competitor out of the water. In 2008, Phelps broke fellow American Mark Spitz's 1972 record of seven first-place finishes at any single Olympic Games by winning eight gold medals at the Beijing Olympics. Phelps scored a place on our original list of poker-playing athletes, but his continued involvement and interest in the game warrants another shoutout. Plus, he's Michael-freaking-Phelps.
Michael Phelps pictured with World Poker Tour legends Mike Sexton and Vince Van Patten. Phelps first found poker in high school, playing with his friends and, later, his Olympic competitors. While his career tournament earnings aren't as high as some of the others on this list, Phelps enjoys playing cash games and at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. In 2017, Phelps played in the $10,000 Tag Team event at the WSOP. Brian Rast, Antonio Esfandiari, and Jeff Gross were the professionals on the team, while Phelps anchored the lineup alongside his friends.
Recently, Phelps committed to continuing his partnership with online operator Global Poker as part of its ambassador team. In 2023, Phelps first worked with Global Poker on the site's Celebrity Challenge campaign and in August of 2024 announced he would be expanding his partnership with the site.
Images Courtesy of World Poker Tour/PokerStars/Joe Giron
