In a recent interview with Josh Cooper of Yahoo Sports, the two-time Olympic gold medal winner was asked about if poker was part of the plan once life after hockey begins and Luongo would not rule it out, in fact, he seemed pretty positive about the suggestion:
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Luongo finished in 634th position in the Main Event at the 43rd World Series of Poker in 2012. Although finishing in the 600’s may not sound like a major accomplishment, the fact that Luongo managed to outlast just under 6,000 players at a tournament where top amateurs challenge the best poker players on the planet, Bobby Lou should be proud of his accomplishment.
While with the Vancouver Canucks, Luongo hosted charity tournaments with the help of the Province of British Columbia’s lottery corporation. He even managed to finish second in one of those events, the aptly named Roberto Luongo Charity Poker Classic, in 2012.
Luongo isn’t the only NHL’er to have enjoyed success at the World Series of Poker. This past summer, Toronto Maple Leafs forward Phil Kessel cashed in the Monster Stack event, finishing 587th out of 7,862 entries. Coached by legendary Canadian poker pro Daniel Negreanu - also a die-hard Maple Leafs fan - Kessel has managed to cash in back-to-back years at the World Series of Poker.
