Nadal Loses Charity Poker Game against Selbst

Despite proving to be a talented poker player, Rafael Nadal is not quite ready to switch careers yet.

The top-ranked tennis pro lost his first heads-up poker match hosted last week in a Monacan poker room. The charitable event brought him face to face with female poker champion Vanessa Selbst.

Lately, Rafael Nadal has been appearing quite a lot in European gambling news. The tennis player has recently joined the world of poker by winning the EUR 100,000 EPT Charity Challenge poker tournament, as well as a couple of Zoom Poker sessions, all of which greatly benefited charitable causes.

Poker for charity

PokerStars, the online operator who organized the event, donated EUR 5,000 to Care International upon staging the heads-up exhibition.

“Rafa played a great game, but the format and the cards were in my favour,” Selbst told reporters. “I was able to win by using aggression in good spots and I also made a number of strong hands. I had an excellent time with Rafa and I’m looking forward to the re-match!”

“It was a great honour to play against a strong competitor and although I lost, I had a lot of fun,” Nadal added.