He's one of the vital world's most famed footballers, but he's found another game that sends his adrenal glands into overdrive. In an individual interview, Gerard Piqué dives into his love for poker and what happens behind the curtain on the Camp Nou.

Celebrity is an idea most folks isn't capable of relate to. Let's pick a superstar completely at random; say...oh, I DO NOT know, FC Barcelona and Spain centre-back Gerard Piqué.

His work is viewed weekly in person by tens of thousands and broadcast live to hundreds of millions. His salary is within the several millions. He's married to an individual considered a hero to millions. He himself is a hero to millions, forced to be permanently accompanied by security guards as a result of sheer adulation and love he receives from members of the public.

His is an unrelatable lifestyle. But there's something about Gerard Piqué that a lot of you reading this newsletter can relate to:

Gerard Piqué loves the sport of poker. He plays it publicly, without contractual obligation; without fear of judgment from colleagues; and without the desire for millions to understand he's doing it.

If you're blind to this man, let me bring you on top of things. Gerard Piqué is regarded as to be one in all football's greatest defenders of the past two decades, perhaps of all time. Born in Barcelona, the 29-year-old has a career chock stuffed with highlights:

• A Premier League title and UEFA Champions League title won at Manchester United (where he made his professional debut aged 17)• Six La Liga titles and 3 UEFA Champions League titles won at FC Barcelona (for whom he still plays)• A FIFA World Cup title and UEFA European Championship won with the Spanish international team

These are only some of his accolades. Oh, and he's married to Shakira.I sat all the way down to consult Gerard Piqué on the European Poker Tour stop in Barcelona this August where he'd come to play within the €50,000 Super High Roller. There, in a personal room on an individual floor accessed via a personal elevator, Piqué spoke to me with passion, humour, politeness, consideration, and attentiveness.

And yet it was clear this wasn't his ideal scenario. If he truly had his way, it's safe to imagine he would avoid any hubbub. He'd simply slip into his favourite (and on this case, home town) poker site unnoticed, sit on the felt, and pit his wits against the opposite players, similar to many people do both live and online.

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"I've played over 400 [football] matches, but I still always have this sense in my stomach and a few nerves," Piqué told me. "For me, the experience before playing poker is equal to before playing a match."

Now, you're thinking "Why is he nervous? Piqué can afford €50,000". Or "Oh sure, I'd be pretty nervous playing in a €50,000 Super High Roller too in preference to the micro-to-mid-stakes tournaments I play on PokerStars." However the truth is, they're both relative.

When you sit on any given night and stir up the massive $11, presumably that $11 buy-in isn't going to damage the bank. We play for the challenge and the joys of poker, right? But we also hope for results, and a large result can bring big rewards, both financially and personally.

Regardless of whether you're Gerard Piqué or an MTT grinder hoping to transport up within the stakes, it is the challenge and fun of poker that pulls us, and the possible rewards that inspire us. That is also true of these who play football for a living. In fact, the 2 games seem to have numerous similarities, as Piqué explained.

"On the pitch you never know what is going to happen, that is almost like poker. You'll be able to have your strategy and know the way you are going to play, but you never understand how the cards will be, and you've got to evolve to each situation.

"During a match it's important to make decisions which are risky, and a few don't seem to be at the pitch. That is almost like poker. It's important to control the chance. In case you are a striker you'll be able to take higher risks, because should you lose the ball you've gotten the remainder of the team behind you. In case you are a defender or goalkeeper you can not take as many risks, because should you lose the ball you'll be able to concede a goal. You have to evaluate the chance and look at the reward."

Piqué is definitely no stranger to the EPT (soon to become the PokerStars Championship). He's been an ordinary at EPT Barcelona, together with his first cash coming back in 2011 when he finished third in a €5k side event for €40,950. He followed that up in 2013 with a 19th place finish within the €10k High Roller, cashing for double the buy-in. I asked him what he remembered about making that first final table.

"Yesterday I made another final table, but you do not know that yet as it was too late!" he replied, laughing.

His story did indeed take a look at. The night before this interview and the beginning of the €50,000 Super High Roller, Piqué sat right down to play in a €2k Hyperturbo side event, eventually finishing in third place once again, this time for €31,700. It's clear then that could be a man driven by his love of poker, instead of just seeking the million-plus scores.

"I really enjoy it a lot," he says with clear sincerity. "I mean, for me I REALLY LIKE to compete in lots of different situations and that i always love to compete with the most productive in everything, therefore against the most efficient poker players. After I sit on the table and that i know I'm against the superior players on the poker table I ACTUALLY benefit from the challenge."

Pique, a fixture at EPT Barcelona, playing in Season 10

With his confidence high from the late night final table the former evening, the fixture of the day was Gerard Piqué vs a skilled field of Super High Rollers. I wondered if he ever felt that the Jason Merciers, Daniel Negreanus, and Fedor Holzs of the sector played differently against him as a result of his football fame.

"I have no idea in the event that they play different," he replied candidly. "Obviously it may be a bit of strange for them because a few of them know me from football, but not from playing poker. So it's a bit a wierd situation."

But there are some individuals who certainly know him from both - his FC Barcelona teammates.

Teammates Pique and Neymar on the felt

A regular workweek for an FC Barcelona player involves travelling, training, and playing within the Camp Nou (the team's stadium). So when players of Neymar's (fellow FC Barcelona superstar and self-confessed poker nut) and Piqué's stature slip off in the course of the football season to play on the EPT Grand Final in Monaco, or more locally at EPT Barcelona, you'd think it will raise a couple of eyebrows with the club and their teammates.

According to Piqué, though, the other is true.

"They really like it," he told me. "Our teammates know we come here, they usually always ask the way it goes and if we enjoyed ourselves. The issue is that they have no idea the way to play poker and in the event that they did, they'd probably come too!

"We do sometimes play within the dressing room; obviously not for money, but only for fun. It's fun because everyone loves poker, and never simply to play. The players who do not know how one can play love to watch."

Regardless of the dimensions of your individual bankroll, it could actually still be somewhat nerve-wracking to sit down at a poker table with professionals for the primary time. I wondered who he thought the most productive poker players within the football world were that he had played against; who helped him cut his teeth?

"It's difficult to say, but Eider Gudjohnsen is a very good player, and after I joined Barcelona we used to play here so much together.

"There are more excellent poker players within the [Spanish] national team like David De Gea and David Silva. I'm looking to bring to mind the most efficient ones because we play with 15 players, and it is often the similar ones that win!

"For example, within the last Euros [the UEFA European Championship] we had numerous free time within the hotel, and playing poker is a smart strategy to have a good time after we have spare time."

Unless you're Manchester United legend Eric Cantona, there aren't too many figurative or metaphorical expressions in football. "Man on!" literally means there is a man on you, and you're about to be tackled. "Keepie-uppies" literally means keeping the ball up within the air.

"A game of 2 halves" though will also be taken other ways. Sure, a 90-minute game of football is literally a game of 2 45-minute halves. Nevertheless it also implies that both teams each dominated a half. It shows that the sport can change unexpectedly from one minute to the next.

If you step back and consider the massive picture of football, then a footballer's career may be a game of 2 halves. The primary half is their playing career, which barring injuries will usually wind down within the mid-to-late thirties. The second one half is whatever they choose to do next.

As poker is a game through which age is solely a number, I wondered - could we see Piqué more often on the poker felt when the time involves hang up his boots?

"I love poker as a hobby, and I'll maybe play some tournaments, but not as a professional," he told me. "IN CASE YOU HAVE a family and you've got kids you do not have time to travel around the world playing poker. But I obviously enjoy it so much and can always attempt to play after I have the chance."

There's a glint in his eye that implies his competitiveness won't keep him clear of the poker felt for too long.

"I do hope someday to win a poker title..." he adds.

How about swapping one among his many football trophies for a PokerStars Championship?

"...But there is not any way I WILL BE ABLE TO trade one among my football trophies for one!"

Oh, Gerard. And also you were doing so well at being relatable, too.

Jack Stanton is a journalist and freelance contributor to the PokerStars Blog

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