John Arne Riise on Football, Poker, and Life After the Beautiful Game

Interview with John Arne Riise at the SiGMA Poker Tour, Malta

John Arne Riise, we’re here in Malta at the Sigma Poker Tour. How do you experience the event, first of all?

I love the event, even though my, uh, poker was—you know, you never say it’s luck or not luck, but this time I felt it was unlucky today at this tournament.

You played 110 caps for Norway. You’re still the record holder in terms of caps for Norway. How does football compare to poker?

First of all, I think what I miss about football is being in the dressing room and talking. And playing poker, you sit down at the table, you can talk to different people, and get new friends. It’s competitive—you have to work hard to be good at something, and that involves poker. You have to study and play a lot to become good. At the same time, I love that feeling of relaxing, but also the heart racing when you have a good hand. You always get nervous when you have a good hand.

You had yesterday, or was it two days ago, a hand with kings, aces, and queens. Can you take us back to that moment?

I think sometimes in poker, when you go out of the tournament but you played the right way, it’s okay to lose. But if you lose because you made stupid decisions, that’s the worst feeling. In this case, I really felt that I did the right thing.

There was some raising before the flop. The guy next to me went all in. I was thinking about either calling him, but I had a guy after me still in the game, so I thought, if I go all in now, I might scare him off, and it’s just me and the first guy. But I went all in. He called, he went all in as well, and he had aces. Obviously, he hit the ace; I hit the king. But at the same time, it was a very good hand, a fun hand to play even though I lost—because that would have been a real turning moment for my tournament. If I had won that one, I would have been quite high up in the chip count. But that’s poker.

You played with many people in a team—Sami Hyypiä, Xabi Alonso, and Steven Gerrard. Is there one of these players you’d like to have at the poker table next to you?

The thing is, I think a lot of football players like to play poker. We used to play when I was active as well—on the bus, in the hotel, just for fun, to do something other than think about football. I know some players are travelling around playing poker here and there. And of course, you all know Neymar and R9, they like to play poker.

But for me, it doesn’t matter how big the tournament is. If it’s €1 or €100, I don’t mind. I just want to sit down, feel the nerves, meet new people—because you know when you sit at a table, there’s always someone who says, “Hey, where are you from?” And then you start talking. The social part is very important.

In the poker world, there are also many people who are not so familiar with football. Did you experience that at the table?

Well, I’ve played the Main Event in Vegas a few times, travelled around the world, and there’s always someone who knows football and knows who I am. It’s not very often that I sit at a table and nobody knows football. But I think it’s a nice opener because it starts a conversation.

So, as a left-back, you were fast and strong, always running the sidelines. How would you describe yourself as a poker player?

I have a lot to learn. The biggest thing for me is patience, and knowing where you sit around the table. Mostly patience—because tournaments take a long time. Sitting there for three or four hours, not playing a hand, is not something I like. Sometimes you make stupid decisions because you think, “Ah, king-ten suited might be good,” and you play it from the wrong position. Then you’re out. So patience is what I need to work on. That’s why I need to play more, travel more, and play more tournaments. Just to get used to the patience—and hopefully I can be good.

The co-owner of the Irish Open, JP McCann, is a massive Liverpool fan and particularly of you. He asked me to ask you: Are you ever going to come to the Irish Poker Open?

If they invite me, I’m 100% coming. So that’s an invite—if he lets me know and invites me, I’m coming. I know JP. If he invites me, I’ll be there every day. Just give me a call.

Recap of Meeting a Legend of the Game

Sitting down with John Arne Riise was a real treat. For me, as someone who grew up loving football and now finds himself deep into poker, this conversation was a perfect crossover of two passions. Riise is a competitor at heart—it doesn’t matter sprinting down the wing at Anfield or holding pocket kings at Portomaso Casino.

One thing is clear: his poker journey is only just beginning. And who knows, maybe the next time we’ll see him making headlines, it won’t be for a long-range free-kick, but for a deep run at the Irish Poker Open.