Do Famous Soccer Players Gamble?

Online and offline gambling are activities that allow players to get unique emotions and a powerful adrenaline boost. It is not surprising that many soccer players and representatives of other sports are interested in such activities. They know firsthand what adrenaline and satisfaction from the achieved result are. After studying our review, you will be impressed to know what top stars of world soccer like gambling amusements. We will also use Ricky casino (ricky-casino.com) as an example of a legal site that offers the best iGaming content and pays out winnings. 

Cristiano Ronaldo 

One of the best soccer players in the history of the game has earned a fantastic fortune through his talent and hard work. Cristiano has many partnership agreements with famous global brands, promoting their products. In addition, insiders have reported many times that he likes to play online slots, poker and roulette. Ronaldo sends all his winnings to charity. 

Neymar 

The famous Brazilian striker Neymar is known not only for his great talent and achievements, but also for his love of poker. In one of the interviews, the footballer has already said that when he finishes his career, he is very likely to become a professional poker player. Now he does not have much time to participate in top tournaments on this card game. But, in the future, who knows, maybe Neymar is destined to become a gambling star. 

Wayne Rooney 

Former Manchester United and England striker Wayne Rooney has also been linked to poker. In 2008, the media reported that he lost 65,000 pounds in poker in just two hours! Insiders claim that Rooney soon switched to another top card game, blackjack, and lost much more often than he won. Further, as journalists learned, Wayne liked to play roulette, and also did not get much success in this. But, it is important to note that failures in online gambling did not affect the soccer talents of the player, and he achieved great success as one of the best strikers in the history of England. 

Gerard Piqué 

The famous defender, who spent many years for Barcelona, is one of the most successful poker players among footballers. In 2011, he finished third in one of the poker parallels, winning €40,950. Two years later, Piqué played in his first WSOP Main Event. In 2017, he won €129,000 at EPT Barcelona, and in 2019 his winnings totaled €352,950. It is possible that we will hear more of Gerard’s wins in the coming years. 

David Beckham 

Beckham has already finished his career as a footballer, and deservedly has the status of one of the best players in the history of the England national team. Since his retirement from the sport, David has been paying a lot of attention to the gambling business in Las Vegas, Macau and Singapore, investing his own money in the establishments of the latter two. Given the former Manchester United midfielder’s model looks and reputation, casinos benefit a lot from being able to promote themselves with his help. 

Gianluigi Buffon 

One of the best goalkeepers in the history of world soccer has won many individual and team prizes in his career. At the same time, Buffon has a great interest in online gambling. He is especially interested in poker, but insiders have also reported that Gianluigi is actively interested in sports betting. 

In 2006 and 2012, before the World Cup, Buffon was suspected of betting on sports, and it was reported that he had bet a total of 1.5 million euros. But, the player was eventually found not guilty. 

Not so long ago, Buffon was an ambassador for PokerStars, which is indirect proof of Gianluigi’s love for poker. In 2023, he finished his career as a footballer and now he can not hide his passions in online gambling. 

Scandal with Sandro Tonali and Nicolò Fagioli 

In October 2023, world soccer was rocked by a betting scandal. Two Italian soccer players, rising stars, were caught. They are Juventus midfielder Nicolo Fagioli and Newcastle midfielder Sandro Tonali, who moved to this club from AC Milan only in the summer. 

The fact that Fagioli is a ludomaniac who lost about 3 million euros on illegal betting sites was revealed by insider Fabrizio Corona. As the footballer himself admitted under interrogation, representatives of illegal bookmakers threatened to break his legs if he did not pay his debts. So, he borrowed money from other Juventus players. 

Fagioli, by the way, gave away that he registered with an illegal bookmaker on the advice of Sandro Tonali. This happened in 2021, when the Juventus midfielder and the Newcastle midfielder were at the location of the Italian youth national team. 

Fagioli was disqualified for betting on soccer matches for 7 months and fined €12,500. Another 5 months of the disqualification was decided to be replaced by mandatory therapy of at least 6 months. He was lucky that he did not bet on Juventus matches. 

Tonali’s situation was much more prurient. He was found to have bet on AC Milan matches in which he did not take part. The rules stipulate disqualification for such actions for several years. However, the investigators took into account that the player cooperated with the investigation. As a result, he was disqualified for 10 months. The agreement also calls for 8 months of rehabilitation and minimum 16 public appearances. 

As you can see, even rich people like soccer players cannot get rid of the temptation to bet and play casino games. We recommend that you do it only by the rules, and only on legal platforms. Below we will give an example of such a site. 

Ricky Casino as a Top Gambling Brand in Australia 

Ricky casino started operations in 2021. In just a couple of years, it has established itself as one of the leaders in the Aussie online gambling market. The operator offers a wide range of casino games: 

• Pokies,
• Table and Card games,
• Live Casino,
• Lotteries. 

The legality of Ricky casino is confirmed by the site’s Curaçao license 8048/JAZ2020-01, issued by Antillephone N.V. to its parent company Dama N.V. The operator offers Aussie customers legal payment options for transactions (including Bitcoin and Tether cryptocurrencies). The games for its site have been provided by 35+ world renowned developers (Betsoft, Yggdrasil, Boongo, Playson, BGaming, etc.). This is a guarantee of honesty of the results of each round. 

Speaking about Ricky online casino, it is impossible not to mention the operator’s desire to build transparent, trusting relationships with customers. Support service works on a round-the-clock basis, which allows players to get an answer to their question at any time. All services of the site are available both on desktop devices and mobile gadgets. The brand does not charge any commission from its clients, and instantly credits the winnings to the player’s balance. 

If you decide to register on the Ricky casino website, you will be able to activate the Welcome Package. It consists of 10 deposit bonuses and allows you to get up to AU$7500 + 550 Free Spins!