Neymar scores big on Sunday again - is soccer star segueing into poker career?

The Brazilian soccer pro returned to the poker felt this weekend despite playing 90 minutes on the football pitch, leading some to believe his poker aims are serious.

The Brazilian footballer Neymar Junior has flirted with poker for many years. In some ways, it has been his constant mistress during a sporting career filled with as many highs as lows. The iconic striker has starred for Barcelona and his home country but also endured injury issues and months of inactivity while in the Saudi Pro League. Poker is starting to look like it might be the sporting great’s best next move.

As weekends go, Neymar’s latest one was a great one. It began on Saturday with a 1-0 victory for Santos F.C. against Atletico Mineiro in the Brazilian Serie A. Having played the whole match and helped his team move clear of the relegation zone, the father of four returned home before taking to the poker tables on Sunday.

‘Never miss a Sunday’ might not apply directly to Neymar given he is not a poker professional yet, but if he carries on playing at the rate he currently is, a career at the poker felt might become a reality once he hangs up his football boots. Neymar’s interest in poker was piqued by his teammate Gerard Pique in 2015 when the pair both played for Barcelona. Since then, Neymar has twice signed as a poker ambassador during his football career, playing the game between matches and in the off-season.

How much did Neymar win playing online poker?

The Brazilian played in a number of tournaments on Sunday and reached the final table of the $5,200 Titans event on PokerStars. With only five players getting paid in the event, the forward was out of luck, finishing in sixth place on the stone bubble, which went on to feature a fourth-place finish for the Swedish online poker legend Niklas ‘Lena900’ Astedt worth $24,639.

Undeterred, Neymar continued and reached the final table of another event, this time a Sunday High Roller on the same site costing $1,050 to play. The Progressive Knockout (PKO) format of the event saw bounties up for grabs too, and this time, Neymar made it through the money bubble and the final table beckoned again.

Playing against elite poker talents such as his countryman Felipe Boianovsky and the Swedish professional Jerry Odeen, Neymar made it all the way to the heads-up battle for the title, falling just short of the top prize when the Belarusian ‘IgammiI€120’ denied him victory. Still, it was a highly profitable event for the Brazilian soccer icon, his total prizes amounting to $11,877.

After recently putting in over 24 hours at the tables online, could Neymar be heading for the poker streets when he finally walks away from football? He certainly looks to have the appetite for it.