Former Barcelona stars lead the way as top footballers turn their focus to poker
In the early hours of a Wednesday morning in Barcelona, Gerard Pique steps away from the poker table after suffering a bad beat.
The former Spain defender has called all-in with ace-jack of spades, and is a healthy favourite against his opponent's ten-four, only to lose to a straight. He walks away €65,000 richer, but still defeated.
On the surface of things, missing out on the top prize of a little shy of half a million Euros shouldn't matter too much to Pique, a man who took home a similar amount every few weeks at the peak of his powers as FC Barcelona's starting centre-back. It's not about the money, though, but rather the pride.
Pique, now 36, has played at European Poker Tour Barcelona for a number of years. His first recorded cash at the PokerStars event came in 2011, while his best - for €352,950 - came in August 2019.
Pique was the first player to leave with a pay-out, with 18 of the 24 entrants in this 'second chance' tournament losing their €50,000 entry fee. One of those players was PokerStars ambassador Alejandro 'Papo MC' Lococo, a battle rapper turned poker ace from Argentina, who spoke to Mirror Sport on the terrace of Barcelona's Arts Hotel, a short hop from the casino floor.
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"I think there's a lot of football players here in Europe and a lot of them used to play here, like Pique, like Kun [Sergio Aguero], like Neymar," Lococo says. "So I think they like Barcelona and it's a good excuse for coming to play."
Lococo has become good friends with his compatriot Aguero, who was forced to retire from football after a heart condition was detected just a few months into his own spell with Barca. Over the summer, the pair both made the money at a $50,000 buy-in tournament in Las Vegas, a moment 31-year-old Lococo remembers fondly.
"It was funny, we didn't meet at the poker table but I think I played that tournament because of him," he recalls. "He said 'hey, let's go to play the 50k' and I normally play a little bit slower - not low stakes, but I used to play 10k, 25k, so 50k is another level for me.
"But I said ok, let's have a taste if he's saying go to play. And it was perfect, because he made the money and i made the money, we had fun, it was nice."
Alejandro Lococo has played poker with the likes of Gerard Pique and Sergio Aguero (Manuel Kovsca)Over the border from Lococo's homeland, it's a similar story. Brazo; forward Neymar is an avid player, taking part in European Poker Tour events in Monaco during his Paris Saint-Germain days and claiming second place in a charity tournament during EPT Barcelona in 2018.
That tournament was won by Andre Akkari, arguably Brazil's most famous poker pro and someone who has become a good friend of Neymar's over the years. The pair have played in plenty of friendly poker games over the years and still try to do so where possible, even if they're both often travelling around the world.
"I think Neymar is the best, he's pretty good for an amateur player and he knows a lot," PokerStars ambassador Akkari tells Mirror Sport. "When he wants to do something he's super focused, he'll keep asking technical questions, asking about hands, asking about position, about [bet] sizing.
"Every time you see a person like that, it doesn't have to be a celebrity or a soccer player, once they want to know more, they improve. He's the kind of guy who likes to improve - he doesn't beat me but he's good!"
Sergio Aguero was in Barcelona for this year's main event (Getty Images)Lococo and Akkari aren't surprised to see so many recreational poker players travelling to Barcelona for the EPT (this year's main event, which cost €5,300 to enter, attracted more than 1,500 entries and a seven-figure top prize). He notes PokerStars' efforts to make the tour about more than just poker, with this year's activities including boat trips and a vineyard tour, while Casino Barcelona itself is within touching distance of the beach.
"You have all you want here - you have a beach, you have all the big city things like nice food, nice places, nice shopping, the hotel is beautiful," he says. Barcelona is the third of five stops on the 2023 EPT schedule, which this year includes Paris (back in February) and Cyprus (in October) for the first time.
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Andre Akkari in action at EPT Barcelona (Manuel Kovsca)Akkari, 48, has been playing at EPT Barcelona since 2006. He made the final table of the main event back in 2017, securing him a six-figure score, and a fifth-place finish this year takes his cumulative lifetime winnings at Casino Barcelona above €900,000 - not that the money is the only thing convincing him to come back.
"When you have the opportunity to spend some days in Barcelona in this weather, playing poker, doing interviews at 1pm on a Monday, it's because everything is running good," he says. "It's a place and it's an event that if you're playing some home games in the United States or Australia and you love poker, somehow you should be here. You should spend 10 days, 12 days in Barcelona because it's a completely different experience for people who love poker.
"This is the kind of tournament you're never going to miss, no matter if you're playing professionally or for a hobby, you have to be here. It's the kind of place that if you bring your family, they don't have to feel like they're going to a poker tournament - they're coming to Barcelona, to the beach."
While Lococo's fame is not quite at the level of the football stars, he sill boasts a 2.6m-strong Instagram following from his rapping as much as his poker. After some big scores in Europe and the US, though, he's noticed people starting to see him a little differently.
"It's really weird for me," he says. "I'm accustomed to taking photos and videos with people and everything, but this is like another place.
"When I am at the poker table I always say I'm a rapper. One year ago or two years ago people would [agree] but now when I say I'm a rapper they laugh. They know me."
Might we reach the point where footballers get the same sort of attention for their poker skills? Some might feel they've reached that point already
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