In the world of professional tennis, gambling is now taboo. The mere mention of the topic sends ears pointing up, yet some forms of gambling, namely poker, are considered to be sport (in the eyes of ESPN at least) and growing in popularity.
And now Boris Becker is trading the green lawns of Wimbledon for the green felt of the poker table.
Just this week, the 40-year-old announced that he was beginning a new career as a professional poker player.
"I have already been playing intensively since last year," he told German daily newspaper, Die Welt (The World).
"What fascinates me about poker is the psychology: what is my opponent thinking of me and what do I think of him?"
Becker already has a sponsorship deal with an undisclosed internet poker company and plans to be among the 800 participants in the European Poker Tour’s Grand Final tournament, which takes place in Monte Carlo in April.
The game of chance is nothing new to Becker. The fiery German played a risky brand of tennis, often diving for volleys, and lived his life off the court much in the same way. While the serve-and-volley game saw him to the top of the world rankings and earned him six Grand Slam titles, his life away from the court was filled with much controversy, including a highly-publicized affair with a model, resulting in a child and the subsequent divorce from his wife, as well as tax evasion charges in Germany.
Ironically, the three-time Wimbledon Champion claims he learned to play poker while waiting out long delays at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club and wouldn’t mind seeing some of his fellow pros around the poker table, no doubt rekindling some old rivalries.
"I would like to know how people like Andre Agassi, Pete Sampras, John McEnroe, Stefan Edberg, Ivan Lendl or even Jimmy Connors manage to keep their cool at poker.”
Boris, John McEnroe keep his cool? You cannot be serious.