Intense Rugby, Supposedly Relaxing Poker

Rugby players are as you know, highly competitive, highly aggressive and always looking to outfox their opponents. So what exactly could they do better in their downtime than take in a relaxing game of cards or more notably poker? Except is it really that relaxing?

Poker can actually be well suited to sportsmen and women, especially rugby as aggression and bravery in the game is needed to be a consistent winner. It is highly competitive too with players needing to have quick thinking in order to establish what they think their opponents are up to.

Although the game can be far from relaxing, especially the higher the stakes you play, at least rugby players are able to use their aggression and competitiveness without the possibility of injuring themselves.

In fact poker is the perfect way for players to channel their need for competitiveness and is a great way to improve a players wits and reading skills.

Many famous sportsmen have been known for going into poker during and after their main careers such as former international footballers Teddy Sheringham and Tony Cascarino. They claim that the game helps to replace the adrenaline rush that their bodies are used to from an athletic sporting career.

Mike Tindall Plays Poker?

It seems famous rugby players are now following suit with none other than the likes of former England captain Mike TIndall, Dylan Hartley and David Strettle being known throughout the sport for their love of the game. Tindall in fact once finished third in the British Poker Open, showing that he not only enjoys the game but is actually very good at it too.

Over the years the game of poker has quickly become one of the world’s favorite online pastimes with thousand’s upon thousands of players taking to their computers to pit their wits against their opponents on poker sites like Full Tilt Poker. With this popularity you are certainly going to expect sportsmen and women to gain an interest too, the possibility of winning money by playing a game against other players. That pretty much sums up what they do anyway, play games for a living.

We expect that there are many other names that dabble in a bit of online poker and we are certain that there will be many more in the future. It simply is a great game and a perfect foil for the modern day rugby player. In fact we would not bet against a lot of players actually playing live games amongst each other on those long coach journeys to away games throughout the season.