Topics: Football, Thomas Gravesen, Everton, Real Madrid
Thomas Gravesen is living a very different life after retiring from the game.
A no-nonsense midfielder who loved nothing more than kicking lumps out of opponents, Gravesen faded into the background after hanging up his boots in January 2009 following spells at Hamburg, Everton, Real Madrid and Celtic.
Years later though and stories began to emerge that the tough-tackling Danish midfielder had swapped a career in football for the poker table and in doing so, the 46-year-old has become a multi-millionaire, say reports.
In fact, Gravesen, who dated porn star Kira Eggers during his time at the Bernabeu, has reportedly won over $100 million through poker winnings alone, according to The Daily Star.
For eight years, the former Everton midfielder reportedly settled in a luxurious gated residence in Las Vegas with Czech model wife Kamila Persse, where he lived alongside celebrity neighbours Nicolas Cage and Andre Agassi.
He was also spotted driving around in a Mercedes SLR McLaren, worth around $500,000.
The Dane says he lived in Las Vegas for eight years and enjoyed his time in America, but he has now returned to Denmark.
So how did he earn his fortune? Gravesen is said to have become 'engrossed' in an electric high-rollers game, where he was involved in a 'heads-up' match with another player.
On that night, the story goes that the former Real Madrid man lost $54 million in one session but he eventually won that money back...and more.
"I can confirm he has made £80m but it did not come easy." said user TarantulaGargantu, on poker forum Two Plus Two.
"I was there in one of the sessions where he was playing some guy heads-up and lost £54m in one night. Can't say who it was against, though."
Back in 2018, James McFadden, who played with Gravesen during his time at Everton, shared some incredible memories of the midfielder - some of which involve paintball guns and fireworks.
"He was mental," he said in an interview with Si Ferry.
"He was just a different kind of guy...somebody that in a group, well, you'd try and avoid him.
"He started just shooting people. He brought fireworks in one day. The physio's room was at the side of one of the pitches [and] the physio was one of the fittest guys at the club.
"He was running with the injured players when Tommy comes out with a big rocket and fires it right at him."
