Rafa drops in on PokerStars Madrid

You never know who you'll run into when you're out for a night of poker. For instance, if you had been in Madrid and visiting the PokerStars room at Casino Gran Madrid, you might just have seen one of the most famous tennis players in the world.
You recognize him? If you know the first thing about tennis, you know that's Rafa, the King of Clay, Rafael Nadal, the 11-time Grand Slam winner and PokerStars ambassador.
Rafa is in Madrid right now getting ready for this week's ATP Mutua Madrid Open. He thought he would take a few minutes to see what PokerStars Madrid was all about. He didn't have the time to play--apparently training for a tennis tournament is pretty time consuming--but he did spend a little time checking out the room.
When Rafa arrived, he found he wasn't the only celebrity there. Among the crowd was Team PokerStars Pro Juan Manuel Pastor.
Rafa was the one who ended up doing interviews. Rafa, ranked number five going into the tournament, is scheduled to play in Madrid later this week. We'll keep an eye on him when he gets back to the court.

The world watches as Rafa takes a bath

There are not many people whose bath time can cause ripples around the world. Sure, there was Archimedes and his 'Eureka!'* moment, when the Greek scholar's plunge into water brought a revelation about volume displacement, but beyond that earthshaking tub events are slim on the ground. Tennis legend and Team PokerStars SportStar Rafa Nadal is one of the few global superstars whose post-workout dip can cause headlines or, in this case, a global ad campaign.
*Incidentally, we run a big poker tour called Eureka! throughout Central and Eastern Europe.
 Today - yes, this very day - Rafa's bath spills over onto the internet with his new PokerStars advert where the King of Clay takes on pillow fight runner-up Lucia Arroyo in a heads-up tussle online. It's a match on a level playing field, albeit a playing field that involves a bath, a library and good Wi-Fi connections. (You can play PokerStars on mobile devices, just in case you didn't know.)

 "I play on PokerStars because I love competition - the battle of minds, and that is what this advertisement is all about," said Rafa Nadal.
Too right, Rafa. It's just a shame you couldn't hero-fold those aces.

What you've just seen is a sneak-preview of the 30 second advert which will hit TV screens around the world over the next couple of weeks (although for most it's 8 April). To coincide with the advertising campaign, PokerStars is also launching a deposit bonus for new players. Eligible deposits will be rewarded, by PokerStars, with extra funds added to player accounts. Keep your eyes open for that one, too.

Source:http://www.pokerstarsblog.com/rafa_nadal/2013/the-world-watches-as-rafa-takes-a-bath-131849.html

Rafael Nadal remporte son premier tournoi de poker

Coup de tonnerre sur la planète poker : Rafael Nadal vient de remporter son premier tournoi de poker. Certes il ne s'agissait que d'un 10 € NLHE sur PokerStars.es. Certes il n'y avait que 47 joueurs en lice. Certes il n'a empoché que 152 €. Mais quand même !

Remporter 7 fois Roland Garros, c'est bien. Gagner 150 € sur PokerStars, c'est mieux.

 

Il l'a fait ! Plus de six mois après être devenu le porte-drapeau de PokerStars, Rafael Nadal a signé hier sa première victoire aux tables de poker en ligne.
Après un peu plus de 2h de jeu, soit l'équivalent d'un match en trois sets expéditifs, Rafa s'est en effet imposé dans un 10 € NLHE de PokerStars.es pour un gain de 152 €.
Chiffres de Sharkscope à l'appui, cela faisait rien de moins que 19 tournois que le tennisman espagnol attendait ça ! Une éternité pour un champion de cette trempe, habitué à enchaîner les victoires semaine après semaine.
Parmi les 47 joueurs présents sur la ligne de départ du tournoi figuraient pourtant quelques épouvantails. De Raul de Grenade, serveur dans un bar à tapas le jour et matador des Double or Nothing la nuit, à Sergio d'Alicante, go go dancer à Ibiza la nuit et conquistador des MTTs à 2 € le jour.
Du haut de ses 26 ans, le septuple vainqueur de Roland Garros ramène son bilan en carrière à un total tout à fait honorable de 250 € de pertes. Un retour sur des bases saines et qui lui permettra sans doute d'envisager l'avenir de manière plus sereine. Après avoir vu son déficit culminer à 400 € tout de même, ses détracteurs en sont aujourd'hui pour leurs frais : non, le point de retour n'avait pas été atteint.
À la faveur de ce retournement de situation inattendu, Rafa va désormais devoir répondre à cette question à laquelle tout joueur ayant remporté une manche du King 5 ou un Miniroll a un jour été confronté : dois-je abandonner mon job et me lancer dans la voie du poker professionnel ?

Source: http://www.clubpoker.net/rafael-nadal-remporte-premier-tournoi-poker/n-7245

Rafa Nadal Wins Online Poker Tournament

 Tennis legend Rafa Nadal joined PokerStars back in June 2012, and almost half a year on the Spaniard has now taken down his very first tournament on PokerStars. Recently, Nadal entered a €10 freeze-out tourney on PokerStars.es. and managed to defeat a 47 player field over two hours to eventually walk away with the €152.40 first place prize.
Ok, it may not have been the biggest score for the 26 year old compared to his $50 million winning tennis career, but no one can fault Nadal’s competitive streak and dedication to his new found hobby. As Nadal explained after joining PokerStars last summer:
“It’s no secret that I love to compete and try my very best in everything, whether that’s tennis, golf or video games. When I discovered the game of poker, I chose to join PokerStars because they understand what it takes to be the best and associate themselves with the qualities of champions. I’m very happy to be working with them.”
At the time, however, Rafael Nadal was a relative novice to poker, but over the past few months has evidently begun to sharpen his skills as he continues to receive training in the nuances of the game from the top pros.
Rafael Nadal’s joining PokerStars as member of Team SportStars coincided with his temporary withdrawal from professional tennis on account of tendinitis in his knee. During his recovery, Nadal has been practicing his poker game, and even had a promising run at the Spanish Championship of Online Poker (ESCOOP) €200 main event until his A-K got out flopped by his opponent’s pocket jacks.

Now with a first tournament victory under his belt, Nadal’s poker training seems to headed nicely in the right direction and the confidence he gains from taking down the mini-tournament can only spur him on to greater poker success in the future.

Source: http://www.onlinepoker.net/poker-news/poker-pros-news/rafa-nadal-wins-online-poker-tournament/18172

Tennis Ace Rafael Nadal Joins PokerStars

 Only a few weeks have passed since international sporting icon Rafael Nadal captured the French Open to land his 11th Grand Slam title, but the mercurial Spaniard can now celebrate adding another accolade to his list of achievements as he becomes the latest PokerStars.com Team SportsStar.

As reported on this site a few weeks ago, the player had been heavily linked with a move to the global poker giant, put pen has finally been put to paper and Nadal will from this day forth represent PokerStars at a number of major live events when he’s not working opponents around the court.

“It's no secret that I love to compete and try my very best in everything, whether that's tennis, golf or video games,” Nadal said after becoming a Team PokerStars SportsStar. “When I discovered the game of poker, I chose to join PokerStars because they understand what it takes to be the best and associate themselves with the qualities of champions. I'm very happy to be working with them.”

Of course, while he may be one of the most celebrated tennis players in the history of the game, Nadal is still new to poker and PokerStars.com are asking you to guide him on his poker journey in a little campaign called “Help Rafa”, where your advice could win you a seat in EPT Barcelona.

Source: http://www.wptmag.com/news.php?articleID=522

Poker : Rafael Nadal rejoint PokerStars

 PokerStars a recruté le tennisman Rafael Nadal, vainqueur de Roland Garros plus tôt ce mois, en tant que brand ambassador.
Le champion de tennis est désireux d’apprendre le poker et s’appuiera sur le mentoring des professionnels de la Team Pro de PokerStars. 

Il « apporte son soutien au plus grand site de poker en ligne du monde en invitant les amateurs de sport se joindre à lui pour jouer au poker » a déclaré le groupe.
Les rumeurs de sponsoring du joueur espagnol par le site au pique rouge sont donc confirmées et se fait dans l’optique de la régulation récente des jeux et paris en ligne en Espagne.
Mark Scheinberg, président de PokerStars, a déclaré : « Rafa Nadal représente le meilleur de la compétition – le mélange de talent, d’intelligence, de dévouement et de force mentale que vous trouverez dans tous les champions sportifs. Nous sommes fiers d’avoir Rafa comme ambassadeur de la marque et excités à l’idée de l’aider à améliorer son jeu. »
De son coté Rafael Nadal a déclaré : « Lorsque j’ai découvert le poker, j’ai choisi de rejoindre PokerStars parce qu’ils comprennent ce qu’il faut pour être le meilleur et s’associer avec les qualités de champions. Je suis très heureux de travailler avec eux. « 

Rafael Nadal consacrera plus de temps au poker une fois la saison de tennis terminée après l’été et représentera PokerStars dans des tournois en ligne, des campagnes publicitaires et des événements caritatifs qui seront annoncés dans les mois à venir.
C’est le deuxième sponsoring sportif que PokerStars a annoncé ces dernières semaines concernant l’Espagne, le site a récemment confirmé qu’il serait un des sponsors officiels de l’équipe espagnole de basket-ball, championne d’Europe en titre.

Source: http://www.igamingfrance.com/poker-rafael-nadal-rejoint-pokerstars/26830