Marcus Hellner and Petter Northug compete off the trails too.
Skiing and poker look like an unlikely pair, but there are in fact many Olympian skiers that perform poker for sport, too. Poker doesn’t require the same variety of athleticism as skiing, but there is a psychological part to each video games that pushes these gamers to outsmart their rivals. Consider a look at these four Olympian skiers that moonlight as poker players when they’re not on the slopes.
David Wise
Freestyle skier David Wise
David Wise is a freestyle skier that competes in the half-pipe. He lives in Reno, Nevada, now, but he grew up close to Lake Tahoe. Wise won his very first competition on the half-pipe at the age of 15. By 18, he was a specialist skier and headed to the Olympics. He enjoys all kinds of outdoor recreation, including cliff jumping, skiing, and mountain biking.
In 2012, Wise won gold at the Snowbasin Dew Tour in Utah in half-pipe, as well as the Euro Winter X Video games and the Winter X Video games. He also finished second at the Association of Freeskiing Professionals rankings. He continued his good results in 2013 with many 1st location finishes, such as one at the FIS World Championship in Park City, Utah, and a third-place finish at the U.S. Grand Prix in Copper Mountain.
Yet another one particular of Wise’s favorite sports activities is poker. He started out playing poker at a very younger age and identified a fascination with Texas Hold’em in large college. Sensible lives in Reno and loves to play in smaller sized tournaments at close by casinos.
Wise has a degree head that helps him compete in both poker and the Olympics. In reality, it is level-headed individuals like Smart who truly gain a competitive advantage as it requires psychological toughness to play poker and be a freestyle skier.
Marcus Hellner
Sweden’s Marcus Hellner.
Marcus Hellner is a cross-country skier from Sweden. He is also a 3-time Olympic gold medal winner. He began competing in cross-country skiing at the age of 16 and went to a special large school to train. He has lived in Gällivare ever since.
At the Nordic Planet Ski Championships in 2007, Hellner took property the bronze. He then competed at the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, exactly where he acquired a gold medal in the 30-km cross-nation pursuit. Hellner has won a number of cross-country ski competitions and is nevertheless a main title in the sport these days.
Hellner discovered to perform poker while traveling for his ski competitions. It took him a number of years to hone his skills, but he is now recognized as a master poker player. Hellner is even a member of Group PokerStars. You can perform against him on the web if you seem for the user ID “M.Hellner.”
Nick Goepper
Nick Goepper
Nick Goepper is a freeskier from Lawrenceburg, Indiana. He now lives in Mt. Hood, Oregon. He didn’t increase up in an spot with a good deal of snow, so he practiced on rails, boxes, and any other obstacles he could discover to perfect his tricks.
Goepper had a third-spot finish at the New Zealand Winter Video games and the Dew Tour Breckenridge in 2012. He also placed at the Dumont Cup and the Dew Tour Snowbasin. He had an total AFP ranking of 2nd in 2012. He had another great year in 2013, taking home first and second place at most of the occasions he competed in. His nickname grew to become “Heartthrob.”
Goepper has always been competitive, and he requires this drive to the poker table, also. He started enjoying no-restrict Texas Hold’em at the age of 15 with his buddies from the slopes. He would train for the duration of the day and play poker at night. This stored his mind fresh and targeted on his competitors. Goepper has competed in the Globe Series of Poker, but is still operating on winning a major poker title.
Petter Northug
 
Petter Northug stares down his poker rivals just like he does on the ski trails.
Petter Northug is a cross-country skier from Norway. He has two Olympic gold medals and has placed in more than nine World Championships. He has been competing on the slopes because he was a kid, and we can assume to see a lot more wins from this cross-nation pro.
It’s essential to Northug to have interests off of the slopes. He may be a single of the globe’s greatest cross-country skiers, but he’s also a significant poker enthusiast and has had mild success at key poker tournaments. At the 2010 WSOP, Northug cashed in the Principal Event for $ 21,327. He has also cashed in a European Poker Tour occasion and his lifetime poker tournament winnings are more than $ 38k.
Olympians don’t have to target all of their time on their sport — they can excel in numerous regions. That’s been confirmed by these four Olympians who also present an curiosity in poker.