LYON, FRANCE – JULY 06: Cristiano Ronaldo of Portugal celebrates at the final whistle during the UEFA EURO 2016 semi final match between Portugal and Wales at Stade des Lumieres on July 6, 2016 in Lyon, France. (Photo by Matthias Hangst/Getty Images)
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Many of the most popular sports gamblers in the world are athletes themselves. Perhaps due to the sheer size of their fortunes, combined with their involvement in sports, it seems to be quite natural for famous footballers to gamble. Some see it as a hobby, whilst others gamble to a professional level, becoming ambassadors for global brands like PokerStars or Sky Bet.

If you’re keen to gamble in sports yourself, you should only gamble online in reliable sportsbooks that are licensed by gambling authorities like the UKGC or the MGA, as advised by The Casino Wizard team of casino reviewers.

On that note, here are some of the most famous football stars that are known to gamble in sports:

1. Cristiano Ronaldo

Cristiano Ronaldo is one of the most famous people on Earth. Fairly touted as one of the greatest ever footballers, he has broken records in Europe’s top football leagues and in the UEFA Champions League. However, Cristiano is also a huge fan of gambling. His love for poker is widely known, and he’s been seen playing at land-based casinos across Europe. Ronaldo also gambles online and he’s pretty open about his love for games of chance.

2. Neymar Jr.

Neymar is arguably one of the most famous gamblers in the world. Just like Ronaldo, he’s known to be a huge fan of poker, which has led him to become an ambassador for one of the biggest poker brands in the world, PokerStars. He’s not just a fan of gambling, either – Neymar is quite a fantastic poker player himself, having participated in the WSOP before.

3. Gianluigi Buffon

Buffon is one of the biggest gamblers in football, and one widely known to have been able to keep it in check throughout his decorated career. The Italian goalkeeper has won and lost huge sums of money through the years, but he never let gambling become an addiction. These days, he mostly plays poker with his friends, but he used to be a brand ambassador for PokerStars before Neymar was around!

4. David Bentley

David Bentley, the former Tottenham Hotspur, and Blackburn Rovers winger, was said to be a huge fan of online casino games and sports gambling. Admitted by the player himself, Bentley would wager on hundreds of events in a single day. 

Bentley is an example of not letting your hobbies turn into addictions. His gambling started to become a problem to the point where it stopped being fun, and he promptly decided to quit with the support of his loved ones (he’s gone out of the way to praise his then-girlfriend, who helped him quit).

5. Paul Merson

Ex-Arsenal footballer and Sky Sports pundit Paul Merson is one of the most famous sports gamblers in the mainstream football scene. Fame comes at a price, though, as he’s also come out and admitted that he struggled with gambling addiction in the past. Merson serves as a clear example that letting gambling get out of control is going to directly affect your personal life.

Now in a much better place, he remains one of the most recognizable names on this list (especially if you grew up watching football in the 90s) and has become an ambassador to support gambling addicts in the sport. The work he’s done “off the pitch” deserves recognition. 

6. Mario Balotelli 

Balotelli is one of those players that, regardless of where in the footballing world they are, you can count on the fact that controversies will follow. He has gambled in sports before, but he gained fame as a gambler by winning in multiple casinos across the world.

Fun fact: Balotelli once gave a homeless man €1,000 after he won €25,000 playing at a land-based casino in England!

7. Joey Barton

Joey Barton is one of the very few footballers that could outdo Mario Balotelli when it comes to career controversies and, this time, Barton’s involve gambling. He was banned for 18 months because of offenses related to gambling, a sanction that turned out to be even more controversial than his infamous QPR red card that set the tone for Manchester City to win their first league title in decades.