Ronaldo Nazário: Poker Career, Results and Biography

October 20, 2023
Updated October 26, 2026

Table of Contents

Ronaldo Nazário, born Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima and known in Brazil as “O Fenomeno”, is the Brazilian striker who won the 2002 World Cup with Brazil. ^[1][2][3] In poker he was a member of Team PokerStars from 2013, made a deep run to 26th place in the 2015 PokerStars Caribbean Adventure (PCA) Main Event, played charity matches against Rafael Nadal, and rejoined PokerStars in 2022. ^[1][2][6][7] This page is about the Brazilian Ronaldo. Portugal’s Cristiano Ronaldo, also a former PokerStars ambassador, has his own page: Cristiano Ronaldo and poker.

Ronaldo Nazário, the Brazilian former footballer, speaking at Web Summit 2019 — “051119SMcC0014” by Web Summit, via Wikimedia Commons, licensed under CC BY 2.0.

Ronaldo Nazário: key facts

Full name	Ronaldo Luís Nazário de Lima ^[3]
Born	September 18, 1976, Itaguaí, Brazil ^[10]
Country	Brazil
Main career	Footballer: Brazil (98 matches, 62 goals), retired in 2011 ^[1]
Poker role	Team PokerStars SportStar from 2013; rejoined PokerStars in 2022 ^[1][7]
Best live result	26th of 816, 2015 PCA $10,000 Main Event, $42,180 ^[2][13]
WSOP bracelets	0 (no WSOP results found)
Live tournament earnings	$45,760 (two cashes); no later cash found as of October 10, 2026 ^[7][9]

Football career in brief

Ronaldo began at Cruzeiro, where he won the Brazil Cup in 1993, and went on to play for PSV Eindhoven, Barcelona, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, AC Milan and Corinthians before retiring in 2011. ^[10] Over a 19-year professional career he played 98 international matches for Brazil and scored 62 goals; his 15 World Cup goals made him the tournament’s all-time leading scorer when he joined PokerStars in 2013, and he played a major role in Brazil’s 2002 World Cup win. ^[1]

How Ronaldo got into poker

Ronaldo told PokerNews in 2015 that he started playing poker during his time at Inter Milan in 1999. ^[3] After retiring he launched the sports and entertainment agency 9ine, and in 2012 it signed Team PokerStars Pro Andre Akkari, the agency’s first poker player. According to PokerNews, the Brazilian Series of Poker (BSOP) drew about 400 players per event before that partnership, and the next December event drew over 1,500. ^[1]

Team PokerStars ambassador

In April 2013 PokerStars added Ronaldo to Team PokerStars SportStar, alongside Rafael Nadal, Boris Becker and Fatima Moreira de Melo, and said he would attend the BSOP regularly from Season 7 in São Paulo. “I always look to give my best in everything, in football and in life. Poker is another challenge that excites me,” he told the PokerStars Blog. ^[1] In August 2015 PokerStars launched what it called the biggest marketing campaign in its history, a series of video ads with Ronaldo and Neymar Jr shared on Facebook with fanbases of over 150 million people. ^[8]

In July 2022 he returned to PokerStars. “I am extremely excited to announce that I am becoming part of the PokerStars family again,” he said. PokerNews reported that his focus was online poker and his personal Twitch channel, which had more than 400,000 followers. ^[7]

Charity matches

EPT Prague Charity Challenge, 2013

In December 2013 Ronaldo played the EPT Prague Charity Challenge, a one-table sit-and-go with Rafael Nadal, Andriy Shevchenko, Alberto Tomba, Fatima Moreira de Melo and Daniel Negreanu. He finished fifth, collecting €5,000 for charity, when his king-eight of clubs lost to de Melo’s ace-ten. Nadal won the event and raised €100,000 for charity. ^[4]

“The Duel” against Rafael Nadal, 2014

PokerStars then set up a heads-up rematch between its two ambassadors, streamed from London on PokerStars.tv. “The last time we played together Rafa won the match and it was a lot of fun,” Ronaldo said before the match. ^[5] On November 19, 2014, at the Hippodrome Casino, the pair played 20 minutes of heads-up poker, and Nadal won again, taking $50,000 for the Rafa Nadal Foundation. “Sometimes you have to be bold in poker, and even though it didn’t work out this time, I had fun,” Ronaldo said afterwards. ^[6]

The 2015 PCA Main Event

Ronaldo’s best tournament result came in January 2015. The $10,000 PCA Main Event drew 816 entrants, and Ronaldo went deep, finishing 26th for $42,180. ^[2][13] That beat the previous best finishes by pro athletes in the event, Paulo Rink’s 27th place in 2011 and Sergio Garcia’s 51st in 2012. ^[2] He was eliminated by fellow Brazilian Eugenio Mattar, and he skipped a trip to present the Ballon d’Or with Thierry Henry because of the run. ^[3] Kevin Schulz won the tournament for $1,491,580. ^[13]

Asked about the World Series of Poker, he said it was “too much for me”, but added: “What is sure, however, is that I will play a lot of poker around the world during 2015.” ^[2]

Back at the PCA in 2016

Ronaldo returned for the 2016 PCA $5,300 Main Event but went out on Day 1a, when his ace-queen ran into Andrey Zaichenko’s pocket nines. An ace on the flop put Ronaldo ahead, but a nine on the turn gave Zaichenko a full house. ^[11] At the same festival he finished seventh in a $1,100 side event for $3,580. ^[7]

Tournament results

Year	Event	Result	Prize	Source
2015	PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $10,000 Main Event (816 entries)	26th	$42,180	[2]
2016	PokerStars Caribbean Adventure $1,100 side event	7th	$3,580	[7]

PokerNews described these as the two cashes he made “while sporting the famous PokerStars logo”, and in December 2022 listed his live earnings at $45,760, calling him the “OG” Ronaldo to separate him from Cristiano. ^[7][9] We found no later live tournament cash as of October 10, 2026.

In his own words

“Poker is still growing, and I think it has the potential to become like football.” PokerNews, January 2015. ^[3]
“We have to make clear that poker is a mind game, a modern game, and not an old-fashioned card game.” PokerListings interview, 2016. ^[12]
“But here at a big event nobody wants to go home early so a bluff is more powerful.” On bluffing at the PCA compared with home games, 2016. ^[12]

Video: Ronaldo’s PCA run

FAQ about Ronaldo Nazário and poker

Is this the same Ronaldo as Cristiano Ronaldo?

No. This page is about the Brazilian striker Ronaldo Nazário. Cristiano Ronaldo is a Portuguese footballer who joined PokerStars separately; read our Cristiano Ronaldo poker profile. Both were PokerStars ambassadors, but the live tournament results belong to the Brazilian Ronaldo. ^[8][9]

How old is Ronaldo Nazário?

He was born on September 18, 1976, which makes him 50 as of October 10, 2026. ^[10]

What is Ronaldo’s best poker result?

26th of 816 entrants in the 2015 PCA $10,000 Main Event, worth $42,180. ^[2]

How much has Ronaldo won playing poker?

PokerNews listed his live tournament earnings at $45,760 in December 2022, from two cashes at the PCA. ^[7][9] We found no later live cash as of October 10, 2026. Online results and private games are not included.

What is Ronaldo Nazário’s net worth?

There is no reliable public figure for his net worth. What can be verified in poker is his live tournament record: $45,760 in earnings, with no later cash found as of October 10, 2026. ^[9]

When did Ronaldo join PokerStars?

He joined Team PokerStars SportStar in April 2013 and rejoined PokerStars in July 2022. ^[1][7]

Did Ronaldo beat Rafael Nadal at poker?

No. Nadal won the 2013 EPT Prague Charity Challenge, in which Ronaldo finished fifth, and also won their heads-up “Duel” in London in November 2014, taking $50,000 for his foundation. ^[4][6]

Has Ronaldo played the World Series of Poker?

We found no WSOP results for him. In 2015 he said the WSOP was “too much for me”. ^[2]

Read about Neymar Jr, who fronted PokerStars’ 2015 campaign with Ronaldo, and Daniel Negreanu, who played the 2013 EPT Prague Charity Challenge with him. New to the game? Start with how to play Texas Hold’em.