Celebrities from Showbiz and Sport on the Poker Stage

In the twenty-first century, poker rapidly turned into a huge and successful industry, filled with professionals of the highest calibre. Yet at the same time it remains an accessible and captivating game in which anyone can find a format to their taste. Celebrities take advantage of this too. Actors, rappers, bloggers, MMA fighters and many others turn up at tournaments and cash streams. Today we'll look back at several stars who have sparkled at the tables in recent years.

Neymar — footballer or poker player?

Of course, the main poker fan in football is deservedly considered to be Neymar. The Brazilian never misses a chance to travel to a live tournament or play online, and because of this he often faces criticism. Former France international Emmanuel Petit said that in the final years of his career at Paris Saint-Germain the forward was more devoted to poker than to football. And in July Brazilian journalists worked out that in 2026 Neymar had played only 15 matches for Santos, while putting in an impressive 28 hours at poker tournaments.

Neymar got into poker in 2014 during Brazil's training camp ahead of the home World Cup. Just a year later he became a PokerStars ambassador alongside his compatriot Ronaldo and tennis player Rafael Nadal. In 2016 the forward won a Stars satellite that earned him a seat in the World Series of Poker Main Event. The Brazilian was unable to travel to Las Vegas at the time, as the tournament clashed with the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, where as captain he led the Brazilian team to gold medals.

Neymar only managed to make his WSOP debut in 2022. By that point he already had cashes at the European Poker Tour and the Brazilian Series of Poker. His first tournament in Vegas was the $10,000 Limit Hold'em Championship, where he failed to get through day one. But in the $700 NLH Super Turbo Bounty the footballer made the money, earning $3,959 for 49th place. 

During that event a security guard almost threw Neymar out of the casino hall. On the bubble, the organisers decided to check the number of entrants and asked spectators to leave the room. The Brazilian was chatting with friends at the bar at the time. A security guard came over to his group and said they couldn't stay in the hall. The forward calmly replied, "I'm playing" — and went back to his table.

That cash in 2022 remains Neymar's only one at the WSOP, although he has made further attempts. This year he arrived in Las Vegas a week after Brazil's exit from the World Cup and finished 220th in the $10,000 6-Handed NLH Championship. 

And back home Neymar has his own poker tournament. In December 2025, together with BSOP CEO Rafael Moraes, he launched the BSOP Neymar Jr Edition festival with buy-ins ranging from 1,000 to 100,000 Brazilian reais. The footballer played in the series' tournaments himself last year and made the ITM three times, earning around $85,000. 

Neymar doesn't limit himself to tournaments. In 2024 the forward played on Hustler Casino Live, where he won $360,000 from Alan Keating in a single hand. The American cash game player six times offered to run the river — three times for $50,000, once for $60,000 and twice more for $75,000. The Brazilian won every flip.

According to Brazilian journalists' calculations, Neymar has won more than $440,000 online. The forward's biggest score came in 2025, when he earned $99,075 for second place in the WCOOP Titans event with a $5,200 buy-in. In the heads-up of that tournament the footballer lost out to a player with the nickname "Notmystyle". At the same WCOOP, Neymar reached the final table of the $10,300 Super Tuesday high roller, taking $26,111 for seventh place. In those tournaments the Brazilian got the better of such well-known professionals as Adrian Mateos, Niklas Astedt and Alexandros Theologis.

Rafael Moraes describes Neymar as an aggressive poker player who bluffs well and doesn't buckle under pressure from opponents. The Brazilian has probably grown used to ignoring it over the years of his career at the very highest level. Reporters at live tournaments have also noted that the forward likes to enter hands with the widest possible range of holdings. Such tactics often bring him success in formats like turbos, 6-max and PKOs, but the very same approach is what opponents punish the footballer for in slower tournaments. 

As for Neymar's future in poker, that same Moraes doubts the footballer will become a professional player, since he has many different business projects that demand his attention. However, the BSOP director is convinced that after retiring the 34-year-old forward will definitely appear at the poker tables more often. 

Kevin Hart — a showman on stage and at the table

The famous comedian and actor Kevin Hart resembles Neymar in his playing style. He plays a large number of hands and isn't afraid of big bets, but his main distinguishing feature is his behaviour at the table. The Hollywood star doesn't try to stay impassive like a poker pro — instead he laughs, talks a lot and makes faces. And that is exactly what made him such a sought-after participant in televised cash games.

Hart's poker story, though, began back in the late noughties with cheap tournaments. According to the Hendon Mob, the comedian has five cashes for a total of $47,282, and he last made the ITM in 2014, when he finished seventh in the $365 NLH Re-Entry event at the WSOP Circuit in Iowa. A few years after that, the actor burst into the world of high rollers.

In 2017 Hart played a $100,000 Super High Roller for the first time and shortly afterwards became a PokerStars ambassador. In this new role, the actor travelled to Las Vegas for the Super High Roller Bowl 2017 with its $300,000 buy-in, which drew 56 entries. Everyone expected the celebrity amateur to bust quickly, but he had a spectacular first day and knocked out Phil Hellmuth, making a set of queens against a set of threes. Hart's tournament run ended on day two, but before that he also dispatched Fedor Holz, winning a cooler with aces against queens. 

Hart's most viral moment at the poker table also came in 2017, when he played in the PokerStars Championship Cash Challenge with blinds of €25/€50. That cash game also featured Daniel Negreanu, Liv Boeree, Charlie Carrel and Mila Monroe. In a hand against Monroe the comedian was dealt K♠️3♠️, but misread his hand, taking the three for a jack. Hart thought he had made the nut straight and called Monroe's all-in, which was a bluff with 6♠️2♣️. After winning the €40,000 pot, the actor said he felt uncomfortable about the mistake and gave his opponent €15,000 out of his own stack.

Hart put on a show away from the table too. In 2019 he fought a boxing match (!) against three-time WSOP champion Antonio Esfandiari. The poker player, who is known for his love of various prop bets, wagered with the comedian on winning the fight. He priced his own chances of success at 35 to 1. The amount staked was never disclosed, but Esfandiari unexpectedly won by the judges' decision after three three-minute rounds. Hart publicly congratulated his opponent on Instagram. 

The story of Hart and Esfandiari didn't end with that fight. In recent years they have often worked together in the poker world. In 2023 the former ring rivals ran the Hartbeat Celebrity Poker Invitational charity tournament with a $100,000 buy-in, and in 2025 they played in season 15 of High Stakes Poker. In May of this year Hart once again headlined the show, though this time without Esfandiari. Instead of "The Magician", the poker table with the comedian was shared by Andrew Robl, Alan Keating, Doug Polk, Sam Kikey and other well-known cash game players. 

Right now Kevin Hart is more active at the poker table than ever. And he no longer has a sponsorship deal. His partnership with PokerStars ended in 2020, and after that the actor spent another two years as a partypoker ambassador. Hart plays with his own money and does so with great gusto, which is why viewers have taken to him and why he has breathed new life into televised poker. And the $1,351,000 he has lost in streams is clearly nothing more than an annoying but acceptable loss for the actor, given a fortune of several hundred million dollars.

James Woods — Hollywood's leading tournament grinder

If you think you don't know who James Woods is, you're most likely mistaken. He voiced Hades in the animated series "Hercules", appeared in the films "The Gambler", Martin Scorsese's "Casino" and "Salvador", the role in which earned him an Oscar nomination. And besides that, Woods played the role of Father McFeely in "Scary Movie 2", becoming the hero of a meme you have definitely seen.

Woods is the opposite of the out-and-out amateur Kevin Hart. The 79-year-old actor regularly takes part in poker tournaments. According to the Hendon Mob, over a career at the table spanning more than 20 years he has cashed 115 times in live events and has twice reached a final table at the World Series.

But once upon a time, poker was for Woods not just a hobby, but a way to get money for food. He spoke openly about it in a 2014 interview:

— "When I was young, I often played poker and gin to somehow make ends meet. You know, when you're a young actor, you don't have that much money. In the end, I always won enough to buy myself breakfast. I could count on the support of my wonderful family, but I wanted to live independently. My opponents now have no idea what it's like to play when you need $9 for breakfast because you haven't eaten for a whole day."

The main highlight of Woods's career happened in 2015. That year at the WSOP he made the final table of the $3000 No-Limit Hold'em Shootout, winning a heads-up against Doug Polk. The match between the actor and the heads-up expert lasted more than four hours. The opponents alternately pulled ahead and then dropped to a few big blinds. The decisive hand still went to Woods — his A♣️10♣️ held up against Polk's A♥️5♦️. 

"Polk is an incredibly good player. I played heads-up with Johnny Chan for 3.5 hours. He was tough, but Doug is the strongest opponent I've ever played against. I'm very, very proud of this win because I feel like I really earned it," Woods said after that heads-up. 

In the end, Woods finished that event in seventh place, earning $28,832. Three years later, the actor climbed even higher. At the WSOP 2018 he finished fifth in the $1500 Dealer's Choice 6-Handed event and won $23,686. In that event he outlasted many opponents, including Hall of Famer Mike Sexton and multiple WSOP champion Josh Arieh. 

James Woods continues to play actively to this day. At the WSOP 2026 he cashed five times, notably in unusual disciplines: badugi, Omaha mix, Big O and lowball. Thanks to these results, the actor has earned a total of $20,637. 

Sean O'Malley — a new face on the poker scene

Former UFC bantamweight champion Sean "Suga" O'Malley has only recently revealed himself as a poker enthusiast, but has already made his mark playing against top professionals.

The fighter has said he got into hold'em thanks to home games: "We play a lot of hold'em with the guys. It's a lot of fun and it's like video games, because you tell yourself, 'One more hand.'"

Then in the spring of 2025, Suga decided to find a new and more experienced opponent. O'Malley watched videos of Frank "Frankie C" Cuccchiara and decided to challenge him to a heads-up match. They agreed on a format with a $5000 buy-in and $25/$50 blinds. What added to the intrigue was a special condition — if Sean won, his opponent would be obliged to face him in the octagon. The poker match lasted 5 hours and ended in victory for the former UFC champion. 

Before the fight, Frankie C trained for several weeks, but that, along with his weight advantage, didn't help him. For most of the three three-minute rounds, the blogger retreated while Suga tested him with tight low kicks and body shots. In the third round, Cuccchiara ended up on the canvas and the referee stopped the fight — a technical knockout win for O'Malley.

O'Malley's full-fledged television debut came in the third season of the Big Game on Tour show with a $50,000 buy-in and $100/$200 blinds. There, his opponents included amateur Andy Taylor, as well as professionals Jason Koon, Sean Deeb, Matt Berkey and Randy "3Coin" Sadler, who was later replaced by Poseidon Ho.

Competing at such a high level proved difficult for O'Malley. Suga lost a lot, but occasionally found the strength for hero folds with strong hands. The season's final hand also involved the fighter, though its main hero was Andy Taylor. Under the show's rules, the amateur could only take home the profit above the buy-in, which had been covered for him by sponsors from PokerStars. And to get that chance, he had to take the risk and play a big pot against O'Malley and Berkey.

Taylor and Suga got it in on the preflop without even looking at their cards, and Berkey with A♦️10♣️ also went all-in. The opponents built a pot of $107,300. Taylor was so nervous he didn't even want to know what hand he had, and his cards were turned over by Koon and Deeb. 

On the A♥️9♠️7♣️ flop, Berkey got top pair, O'Malley got second pair, and the amateur ended up with a gutshot. The K♥️ gave Taylor more outs, but Suga couldn't improve any further. Even before the all-in, Deeb and Poseidon Ho had folded hands with nines. Still, no miracle came for the amateur. The K♣️ river sealed Berkey's win, who earned the most of the season — $193,900. O'Malley, meanwhile, ended up down $100,000. 

However, the big loss didn't stop O'Malley. Moreover, meeting Jason Koon led him to the World Series. A couple of weeks after the UFC event at the White House, the fighter flew to Las Vegas at Koon's invitation and played with him in the $1000 Tag Team event. However, they didn't manage to reach the prizes. 

O'Malley also dropped by the WSOP Main Event. He was the one who kicked off Flight 1d with the traditional phrase "Shuffle Up and Deal", after which he took his seat at the table. The fighter couldn't carry his stack into the next day, and that's where his Las Vegas adventures came to an end. But there's no doubt we'll see Sean at poker tournaments and cash game streams again.

Ninja — the streaming legend who won $100,000 in his debut game

Richard "Ninja" Blevins is a true legend of Fortnite and Twitch, where he became the first streamer to gain 10 million subscribers. He burst into poker in bright and rapid fashion. In 2022, he accepted an invitation from bloggers Jimmy "Mr. Beast" Donaldson and Ludwig Ahgren to play on the Hustler Casino Live stream. The influencers' opponents in the $100/$200 stakes game were poker stars of the highest calibre: Phil Hellmuth, Tom Dwan and Alan Keating.

Ninja said in an interview that this was the first poker game for money in his life. But did that make him play tight? Of course not. And perhaps the poker gods rewarded the streamer for his boldness. 

In a viral hand against Phil Hellmuth and his J♠️J♥️, Ninja shoved with 7♥️7♦️, forming a pot of $99,500. On the A♥️J♦️K♠️ flop, Hellmuth made a set, while the streamer had a chance to chop the pot thanks to a shared straight. He only needed two correct outs. The Q♦️ only increased the odds of that outcome, and the blogger declared: "I'll suck for a ten". And sure enough, a 10♠️ landed on the river! Ninja stayed in the game and laughed in Hellmuth's face.

That Hustler stream was watched by more than 100,000 viewers at once, and the bloggers achieved great success. Chess streamer Alexandra Botez earned $456,900, narrowly beating Mr. Beast's profit of $438,900. Ludwig took home $404,700, while Ninja's winnings came to $144,300. Hellmuth, meanwhile, finished the session down $96,200, and Alan Keating dropped a whopping $1,132,700!

Ninja returned to HCL for a second time in November 2024. There he crossed paths with Dan Bilzerian, Alan Keating, Neymar, NBA star Jimmy Butler, and boxers Chris Eubank Jr. and Ryan Garcia. And in one of the hands against Garcia, the streamer decided to slow-roll. 

Ninja flopped a straight, while the boxer with two pair decided to force him to go all-in. Blevins pretended to be thinking it over, but when offered to run it twice on the turn and river, he declined both times and said: "We're playing it once, because I have the damn nuts". The later streets didn't help Garcia, and Ninja boosted his stack by $16,275. 

However, Ninja ended up among the session's biggest losers, finishing down $94,925. The biggest profit was recorded by Neymar — $306,000. Since then, the streamer hasn't appeared in Hustler cash games again. However, he did play in a special tournament for influencers. 

A galaxy of stars at the Celebrity Poker Tour

Where to look for celebrities at the poker tables, if not at special tournaments for stars? The Celebrity Poker Tour became exactly that kind of competition. This series was born out of home games organised by Blake Wynn, nephew of Bellagio and Wynn Las Vegas founder Steve Wynn. 

The first attempt was the Enclave Celebrity Invitational in August 2023, held in partnership with PokerGO. The live broadcast of the event was watched by more than 150,000 people, and Wynn realised that such events needed to keep being organised.

"When we held the Enclave Celebrity Invitational, we realised that the public was lacking platforms where unique personalities are gathered, where celebrities embody the idea, and where they'll clash with each other," Wynn said in an interview.

Celebrity Poker Tour launched in 2024. The series exclusively features freerolls, since the organisers cover the buy-ins. Several dozen players compete in the Invitational format with a $50,000 prize pool, while Game Night is a nine-handed Sit-n-Go whose winner takes home a $10,000 or $15,000 prize.

Each season closes with the big CPT Championship tournament, which has a $100,000 prize pool. These events attract dozens of celebrities from various fields, including Ninja, as well as UFC fighters Aljamain Sterling, Jorge Masvidal and Mackenzie Dern. And the promotion's reigning women's flyweight champion has achieved the most notable success among her peers.

Dern made her debut in the series in 2024, and just the following day finished fourth in a $500 buy-in tournament at the Wynn casino, which drew 140 entries. For that result, the athlete won $5207. In the CPT, she finished seventh in Invitational VI and fifth in the CPT Championship 2025, where she took home another $5000. 

Dern unexpectedly found in poker a way to improve her MMA game. She said that the psychological preparation required for the game has had a positive effect on her performances in the octagon. Poker taught her to control herself better, to calculate her opponents' actions and to find the best opportunities for her own moves. 

And while Dern has already proven her level in MMA, her male opponents at the tables often underestimate her, something the champion is happy to take advantage of:

«I think the secret to a good poker face for me is that being a girl actually helps. Nobody thinks I know how to play. And you can also pretend to be silly — like I don't know how many blinds are out there, I just smile. People underestimate you, and that works both in poker and in fights». 

It's worth noting that in April 2026, Mackenzie Dern made her debut in a professional tournament. She played in the €1000 Ladies Championship event at the WSOP Europe and took home a min-cash of €2010, finishing 24th out of 197 players. In the future, we will probably see the UFC champion at the tables more often, since she plans to play poker more actively after ending her sporting career.

Another CPT participant showing ambitions for a poker career is rapper Waka Flocka Flame. He played poker while on tour, and in February 2025 he played in the star-studded series for the first time. His debut came at a difficult moment for the musician. The day before the tournament, legendary hip-hop producer Irv Gotti, credited with discovering Jay-Z and DMX, passed away during a home game. 

The producer's death shook Waka Flocka Flame, but he still sat down at the poker table. He failed to claim the $10,000 prize for winning Game Night V, finishing only seventh. Sixth place, incidentally, went to Mackenzie Dern, while the tournament was won by actor Ethan Klein.

In an interview, Waka Flocka Flame said that to succeed at the poker table he needs to study the game more:

«I could have a good career in poker. I could go through training at some school. Once I finish it, I'll be tearing everyone apart». 

Celebrity Poker Tour wrapped up 2025 with a tournament in the Bahamas as part of WSOP Paradise. Waka Flocka Flame was among the event's chip leaders, but busted out after committing 860,000 chips and missing the board. 

The third season of Celebrity Poker Tour started in March. The next event, Invitational XIII, is scheduled for 4 September. Joining the star-studded field will be basketball players Jordan Hill and Norman Powell, UFC fighter Paulo Costa and former promotion champion Holly Holm. So, if you want to see your favourite athletes (and others) in a new role, CPT offers just that opportunity.

The 2011 «Black Friday» dealt a serious blow not only to online poker in the US, but also to poker shows. However, over the past 15 years, poker has restored its strength in the media space and found new ways to attract celebrities from various fields. And this symbiosis, of course, only benefits the game, since stars bring new audiences with them. There's no doubt this trend will continue, and we'll see many more famous personalities in amateur tournaments and at the big professional series.