Gambling enthusiasts are from different strata of society. Even celebrities visit casinos to have a little fun. Some famous footballers can boast of big winnings in gambling clubs. Surely, among the famous stars and famous athletes there are those who like to have fun in the company of the casino. This is not surprising, because at the heart of any sport is the spirit of competition, which gives a lot of new emotions and charges with new energy.
Whether in real casinos or online, some of the biggest and most famous players enjoy nothing more than betting on the outcome of a horse race, a match, or even a spin on the roulette wheel.
For example, the former captain of the national team Wayne Rooney in one of the virtual casinos, such as “Casoola” and http://www.newonline-casinos.co.uk, won 70 thousand pounds. Athletes also use bookmakers to enrich their pockets. They ignore the violation of the sports agreement, and there are cases when players were fined for betting in the offices.
Famous football players who visit casinos
Joey Barton
Joey Barton, who played for Burnley, has enjoyed a fairly impressive career in the Premier League, playing in top competitions around the world. However, his love of football was rivaled by his interest in gambling. In fact, his passion for betting put his career in jeopardy when he was disqualified for a year and a half due to his involvement in illegal betting. Barton admitted that he made more than a thousand bets on football matches between 2006 and 2013, although players are prohibited from betting on matches in which they play.
Phil Bardsley
Phil Bardsley is a well-known defender in England, having played for several Premier League and Championship clubs. However, he is almost as well known for his gamble immediately after the match against Southampton, in which his club Sunderland drew. Bardsley went to the casino to celebrate the result, but he didn't expect the local paparazzi to be on the alert. They filmed the footballer lying on the casino floor with 50-pound notes covering his body.
Dominic Matteo
Many footballers have been known to have problems with gambling in their lives, however Dominic Matteo probably had one of the worst experiences. A fan of sports betting, he once bet a huge sum – 200,000 pounds on a single race and, even more surprisingly, won his bet! Despite this success, Matteo lost a lot and ended up with a huge million–dollar debt due to gambling. These debts led to the fact that in 2015 he became bankrupt.
Gigi Buffon
Italian footballer and playing legend Buffon is known for his role in a number of match-fixing scandals, but he is also known for his corrupt gambling activities. He was under investigation in two separate cases of illegal gambling in 2006 and 2012. Fortunately for him, the charges were later dropped. Buffon was so well known for his love of poker that the largest poker company, PokerStars, hired him as a promoter of its products and services.
David Bentley
Having started his football career at Arsenal, English-born David Bentley later played for several clubs in Britain, and even spent a year in the Russian Premier League, playing in the 12-13 season for Rostov. Passionate about his game, he also had a passion for betting, admitting that he made his first bet at the young age of 14.
Gary Neville
British footballers like true sons of their homeland selflessly enjoy gambling. Former footballer Gary Neville told in his book about how the rampant passion for the game carried away almost all the players of the England national team. He admitted that he couldn't think of anything but the game. They bet on everything-horse racing, cards, the outcome of sports games. And Neville himself was betting hundreds of pounds at a time. Realizing that ludomania was bad for the national team, he called gambling a cancer for the team.
Paul Merson
This famous footballer began his stellar career at Arsenal and became one of the most famous personalities in the professional football arena. After helping his team achieve success in several seasons, he finally admitted in 1994 that he suffered from some serious addictions, not only to drugs and alcohol, but also to gambling. In the following years, Merson overcame these addictions, however, according to his own estimates, he lost about 7 million pounds just on gambling!
Excitement in the life of players
The attitude towards players in society is always biased. However, historically, they were not always murderers and criminals. Gambling people are not outcasts today.
Today, there are more and more people who perceive the game both as a way of entertainment and as an opportunity to quickly earn some cash. Today, gambling is popular in many of its forms. So, business people play on the stock exchanges. Now there are entire poker networks that operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
