December 4 - You may remember Boris Becker as the greatest tennis player to ever come out of Germany. He won six Grand Slams, treated Wimbledon like his own private garden, and now he`s going to give poker a bash. The clever people at Poker Stars, an Israeli-owned and operated private company have signed him to an endorsement deal of their online poker room.
This is a smart move by Stars as they look to increase their exposure in Germany, where Becker is still a huge celebrity. His presence on the Poker Stars team will certainly bring more new poker players to the website than if they signed up some pimply faced online poker wizard whom no-one outside the community has heard of. And the community already has accounts on Poker Stars, so that isn`t a very smart move (take that Full Tilt).
Here are five fun facts about Boris Becker:
1. He has orange eyelashes, which may or may not come in handy if you are ever trapped with him in complete darkness and need to find the exit.
2. He will play in two EPT upcoming tournaments in Monte Carlo and Dortmund.
3. He was extremely talented at soccer as a youngster and could have gone pro in that sport as well, but chose tennis instead.
4. He is hung like a Bavarian draft horse. If you don`t believe me you can verify this with my cousin Gary who saw him in the showers during the SA Open many years ago (I assume it is the same size now as it was then).
5. He likes strudel.
I made up the last one to get to five, but feel it is at least an even-money shot based on his background.
