Tennis Great Boris Becker to be a Professional Poker Player

Boris Becker, the German tennis player who still holds the record as the youngest player to win the men’s singles title at Wimbledon when he won at 17, has signed on with PokerStars. Becker one of the most popular athletes in European history joins allstar professional poker stars Daniel Negreanu, Joe Hachem, Barry Greenstein, and others on Team PokerStars, and is the only non-professional poker player on the team.

Through both the EPT and the Asia Pacific Poker Tour (APPT), PokerStars is expanding its brand from the online world to the business of live, big buy-in televised events. Becker has been in the spotlight since 1985, when he won Wimbledon and is a bona-fide European celebrity who should bring a large audience curious to see him play.

According to Becker, he is serious about becoming a world-class poker player.

“When I was still playing professional tennis, I started learning to play poker casually in between games because it helped me to improve my concentration,” Becker said through PokerStars’ website. “Now, I want to develop my poker skills and challenge myself to become really competitive at the highest levels in poker.”

Becker is planning on playing in many of the European Poker Tour events that are sponsored by PokerStars and will start with the German Open – Jan 29, 2008.

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