Tennis star to try professional poker

GeoffM · #1 11-16-04, 11:58 AM

There doesn't appear to be any articles online, but I heard on Sportscentre last night that former pro tennis player Evgeni Kafelnikov is apparently retiring from tennis and is going to try his hand at poker. He said that at 30 years of age it has become too difficult to defeat the young players on the WTA. Minor celebrity but still a nice addition to the Pro Poker world.

Edited to add:

Charlie Frank · #2 11-16-04, 12:24 PM

Apparently he has been playing for a while now in Russia - and will be entering into the $10,000 main event at the Aussie Millions in January.

CF

eddo31 · #3 11-16-04, 03:21 PM

he apparently was a big time gambler while he was a tennis player, so this seems like a natural progression.

it must be nice to be able to rely on millions made in another career though. the pressure to win just cant be the same when you know that win or lose you will still make your mortage payments.

jdiana86 · #4 11-16-04, 03:22 PM

sounds like another Ben Afflect story

drewjax · #5 11-16-04, 04:15 PM

I bet the pros are ready for his tennis money. Also, anyone know if Vince Van Patten was any good while he was playing?

omahilo · #6 11-16-04, 04:25 PM

no he wasnt that good... I think he made a few final tables and MAYBE I mean MAYBE won a tourney but thats about it.

drewjax · #7 11-16-04, 04:50 PM

actually was asking if VVP was any good as a tennis player, although I highly doubt it. Also, how good of a poker player was/is Mike Sexton?

omahilo · #8 11-16-04, 05:45 PM

oh lol my bad. Not sure how good VVP was as a tennis player.

jimmytheg · #9 11-16-04, 07:23 PM

supposedly, VVP was a monster in the hollywood home games to the creators of the WPT used to play in. I know that sounds cheesy, but i read an interview (cant remember where) with two of the guys that were really involved with getting the WPT off the ground....and they talked about how Vince was a huge winner in the home game circles that they played in.

Think about, where did this guy come from? He had to have been playing somewhere, and had some kind of rep, to get asked to be involved with the Wpt. It's not like Vince Van Patton was a well known, big-draw celebrity who would bring in the viewers to the show.

he also finished 16th in the Plaza championship over the summer, the tournament that Negreanu won and was televised on Fox. That field only consisted of 70 odd players...but they were all pro's.

That being said, I hate VVP with a passion and find him to be horribly unfunny....almost as bad as Norman Chad, who's never won a dime in his life at cards yet feels comfortable criticizing the play of professionals

nutbag · #10 11-17-04, 12:37 AM

Well I always had a dream to play against Kaf., and now i'll be able too. And have a chance to beat him.

Defendant · #11 11-17-04, 01:30 AM

I remember watching him play tennis, man this guy was good at like 18...then it got real quiet around him...

I really hope he plays as exciting poker as he did tennis.

Defendant

GeoffM · #12 11-17-04, 09:18 AM

That's how it always is in tennis, good when your young and then slowly deteriorate, unless your name is Agassi.

I am a little surprised Ben Affleck hasn't won anything major aside from the California State championships. I'd think that with his celebrity status he would intimidate a lot of players. Kafelnikov will be well known and it would be interesting to see if he can use this to his advantage.

eddo31 · #13 11-17-04, 01:52 PM

if you have seen any of the old broadcasts of the wsop (espn classic has been showing them at midnight), you will notice that the announcer is dick van patten, vinces father. i would have to assume that it was his fathers involvement as an announcer for earlier poker events that got his foot in the door. it definitely isnt his insightful commentary.

sexton is apparently a very good player. he seems to do well in the events that he enters, but of course he is limited to non wpt events, which clearly limits his earning potential. he has been around for a while, and seems to be very respected by other pros.

Tilter · #14 11-17-04, 04:56 PM

Another celebrity story. Well see how it turns out.

drewjax · #15 11-19-04, 04:56 AM

I know the coverage of the WPT has had some critics, but to compare VVP to that geek Norman Chad is insane. Dick Van Patten was better than this idiot, even Gabe Kaplan, yikes. He is horrible. Lon Mc. also, leaves alot to be desired. I have not seen a poker telecast, no matter how bad, that I enjoy less stricly on the commentary than that of ESPN. Of course it is of the WSOP, the grandaddy of them all, so what choice do we all have. And the ratings are thru the roof so they will probably be around for awhile.

drewjax · #16 11-19-04, 05:01 AM

And Geoff you are right, Agassi is the man.

Frontin · #17 11-20-04, 11:40 AM

I'd think that Ben Affleck would have a hard time intimidating others at the table... i think there's some players out there who'd call an Affleck all-in if it was worse than a coin flip for the chance to say they knocked out Ben Affleck from a poker tourney.