A Football Report

Francesco Totti is a legend of football.  The former World Cup winner has accomplish nearly everything that a footballer would want to accomplish in a career.  He is captain of Serie A club Roma and tied for seventh all-time in goal scored.  Pele even selected him as one of the greatest living footballers.  Now, this legend of the game wants to play online poker and he will get his chance.  Party Poker has announced that they have signed the Roma Striker to serve as an ambassador for their site.

For those unfamiliar with what it means to be an online poker ambassador, this means that Totti will exclusively play poker for Partypoker.com. For those unfamiliar with what it means to be an online poker ambassador, this means that Totti will exclusively play poker for Partypoker.com.  He will also have access to their other sites such as Partycasino.com as well. Totti has been touted as a great player and a solid fit for the site. According to a Party Poker spokesperson “We expect Totti to become the most capped player and number one goal scorer in history.  He is one of the greatest football players of his generation - the question is now will he be one of the greatest poker players of his generation too?”

Of the signing, Totti stated,   “I have faced many challenges in my career, and I always apply myself with skill, intelligence, loyalty and passion. You need all these abilities for poker, and it is also a game that excites me and is a lot of fun.”  Totti will use his nickname of ‘Er Purpone’ as his online screen name will playing at the tables.

Totti sang Party Poker’s praises as the stated that he can now combine his passion for sport along with the challenge of poker.  He also stated that playing poker is very much like playing sports and that they both require the same types of qualities.  A marketing campaign has been started for the Totti signing and Party Poker players in Europe should be seeing a lot more of this football legend.

It is uncertain whether Totti will be representing Party Poker in any live events such as the World Series of Poker 2010.  Many online ambassadors go on to serve as live sponsored players as well.  Naturally, one will assume that his duties as striker and captain for Roma will restrict his live play, but with the money that can be at stake, one never can tell.

Will Totti be able to translate his success on the pitch to success on the felt?  Only time will tell.  He has the desire and drive to succeed.  Now the online poker world will see if he has game as well.