He’s the only football player ever to be nicknamed “phenomenon.'

He received that nickname because his skills on the pitch were simply indescribable.

Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima is still seen by many as the best football player of all time. “Probably the best striker of all time,' said 1970 World Cup winner Tostao.

Of course, Ronaldo is a very popular name in Portugal and Brazil. In the early 1990’s, Ronaldo Nazario was known as ‘Ronaldinho.’ This was because there was another Ronaldo, Ronaldo Rodrigues de Jesus, also playing for Brazil. Ronaldo Rodrigues would later take the nickname, “Ronaldao.”. In January 2015, Ronaldo featured in the Caribbean Adventure Main Event in the Bahamas, which featured some of the world’s best poker players from across the world. The televised event had a 1st.

Former coach Bobby Robson called him “the fastest I’ve ever seen running with the ball.'

Five years after the end of his active career the three-time FIFA World Player of the Year has become the spearhead of PokerStars' promotion campaign in Brazil along with Neymar Jr.

On his first appearance in the PCA Main Event a year ago Ronaldo made a surprise deep run, finishing 26th out of 816 players. He’s back in 2016 to have another go and took a couple of minutes to talk to the poker media beforehand.

Note: This interview was carried out together with Robbie Strazynski of PokerUpdate.

Ronaldo Nazario Player Of The Year

Not alone.

RS: As a former football player you’ve always been part of a team. How do you make the adjustment to an individual’s game like poker?

Ronaldo: I grew up in a team, I always had my team mates around me, and I really still have my team. I’m not alone when I am at the table.

I feel I have my fans with me and my staff. I don’t feel alone at all.

RS: Another place where you certainly never feel alone is at home. Do you ever invite friends over to play just for fun?

Ronaldo: For sure, yes. I have PokerStars chips and a table, too. I still work and travel a lot, but when I’m at home I love to play with friends.

I’m from Rio but I live in Sao Paolo so I have PokerStars tables at both places.

I generally prefer to play tournaments because whenever we play among friends there is only a symbolic amount of money involved.

If you bluff, everybody just calls you down. But here at a big event nobody wants to go home early so a bluff is more powerful.

PL: What do you actually do to promote poker in Brazil?

Ronaldo: We started working together three years ago when PokerStars just began to work in Brazil.

'I've traveled the world to do this'

Some people still think about poker the old way as a game played in dark rooms, but most people now know that it’s a sport that needs a lot of practice.

We’ve been doing a lot of different things to promote poker and not only in Brazil. I’ve traveled the world to do this.

There is still a lot of work to do, as for example in some places poker isn’t even allowed. We have to make clear that poker is a mind game, a modern game, and not an old-fashioned card game.

PL: You did very well in the PCA main event last year. Do you feel you’re a better player now?

Ronaldo: I think yes, I’m a better player now, but I’m not sure I can do better than last year. It is so difficult to play against all these professionals from all around the world.

But I still hope to improve compared to last year. It’s not easy, but I will try.

PL: Who’s going to win the Champions League this year?

Ronaldo: I think Barcelona is favorite for the title. We don’t know how Munich will do now that Guardiola’s going to leave.

In the end, it’s going to be between Barcelona, Munich, and Madrid.

PL: Thank you very much, Ronaldo!

Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima is still though of as one of the best players ever to grace the beautiful game. He won the FIFA World Player of the Year three times and the Ballon d’Or twice – an award he tipped Cristiano Ronaldo to win this year. He also became a Real Madrid legend during his stint at the club between 2002-2007 where he won a slew of honours.

However, as we all know, unfortunately he succumbed to a string of knee injuries and eventually retired in 2011 playing his final game for Brazilian side Corinthians. Upon retirement, it was unclear what would be the next move for the Brazilian ace.

Ronaldo Nazario Poker Player

He had many flirtations with coaching and coming out of retirement – most recently a rumour circulated about Ronaldo playing again in the United States for Lauderdale Strikers as reported by the Independent. Although it is now reported that the 38-year-old will not play for the second division side, he is now a part owner of the team.

Ronaldo Nazario Poker Games

It’s clear that Ronaldo is definitely keeping himself active, albeit it for his portly appearance. Another story that recently hit the news is his forays into professional poker, a sport that Ronaldo has never been shy of hiding his affection for.

In January 2015, Ronaldo featured in the Caribbean Adventure Main Event in the Bahamas, which featured some of the world’s best poker players from across the world. The televised event had a 1st prize of $1.4 million.

Ronaldo has been a long advocate of playing in charity events where he’s played alongside Barcelona defender Gerard Pique and tennis great Rafael Nadal as well as many other sports stars. But his inroads into the professional ranks have been lauded by his peers. In the aforementioned Caribbean event, Ronaldo ended up finishing in 26th place in a field consisting of over 800 players. When you break down the numbers, it means that he managed to finish in the top 4% – an impressing feat for an amateur player.

Spanish golfer, Sergio Garcia featured in last year’s Caribbean tournament, however Ronaldo outperformed him finishing 26 places higher than him this year. And Ronaldo couldn’t hide his joy of finishing so impressively, as he told The Daily Mail: “I’m really excited, it’s the same emotion I used to have at the soccer fields playing at the highest level.”

Seeing retired, or even active sports stars from different disciplines succeed in poker isn’t by any stretch of the imagination new. Due to poker and casino gaming being readily available online nowadays, many people are able to live out their dreams online and practice honing their skills for “more personal competitive competition.” Online casino portals saw their inception when Cryptologic brought the far-reaching InterCasino online which changed the face of online gaming forever.

Ronaldo Nazario Poker Game

Now ex-pros like Ronaldo, Giazka Mendieta, Teddy Sheringham and Tony Cascarino all ply their trade on the world poker circuit making a modest living because of the basis that online poker gave them to develop their skillset.

Ronaldo Nazario Poker Trainer

With a hectic schedule of television commitments, his new alligance with Lauderdale Strikers and his many ambassadorial roles, its unsure how often Ronaldo will feature in the poker season. However, after recent polished performances it’ll be interesting to see how far he can go in the sport after pretty much accomplishing everything in the world of football.