Rafael Nadal Beats Ronaldo In Poker Anew

Two of the world’s best in their respective sports in the present and the past met on the poker felt on Wednesday with Rafael Nadal, a 14-time Grand Slam champion edging Ronaldo, an all-time soccer great in a charity poker game hosted by PokerStars, the most popular online poker client in the world.

Nadal and Ronaldo was given 20 minutes to battle in a poker heads-up play and it was the Spaniard over the Brazilian who had acquired more chips in the quick poker session. The Spaniard won $50,000 for The Rafa Nadal Foundation and ultimate bragging rights over Ronaldo, who was also beaten in their first head-to-head poker meeting in December 2013 at the European Poker Tour Prague Charity Challenge.

“It was close for most of the match and I’m delighted to have won. I called all-in at the final hand, which proved to be a good move!” Nadal said via the PokerStars official press release about the event. “Ronaldo is a football great and it’s amazing for me to have the opportunity to face him at the poker table. I’m happy for a rematch if Ronaldo is up to the challenge.”

The 38-year-old Ronaldo, who is considered the one of the best players out of soccer-rich Brazil, admitted that he made a mistake near the end of the session when his bluff was well-read by Nadal.

“Rafa played well, I made a mistake going all-in at the end with a bluff, but ultimately Rafa had the best hand,” Ronaldo stated in the same press release. “Sometimes you have to be bold in poker, and even though it didn’t work out this time, I had fun.”

Like in the clay court, his favourite surface on tennis, it appears the 28-year-old Nadal has developed his skills on the felt while Ronaldo has yet to get a win in their head-to-head series. Nadal said after the match that playing poker is comparable in playing his main sport.

“In poker, you need self-control, the ability to analyse your opponent and read the game to know when to go for it, a strategy that is not too dissimilar to tennis,” Nadal said. Unfortunately for Ronaldo, his goal of beating Nadal in a heads-up poker game has now came up short twice. Advantage Nadal, two-to-love.