Danish midfielder Thomas Gravesen was famous for his international football career during the 1990s and 2000s, playing for spells at Vejle Boldklub, Hamburger, Everton, Real Madrid and finally Celtic. Although he achieved plenty of success on the pitch, he was surrounded by controversy towards the end of career due to his attitude and actions.
Gravesen now resides in Las Vegas, United States, where he is a successful professional poker player and has amassed a huge fortune through other investments. How did he go from a football star to the master of the poker game, and what exactly happened during his time at Celtic?
How did Thomas Gravesen end up at Celtic?
Thomas’ football career began in the Superliga at Danish club Vejle Boldklub, where he played for two years before progressing on to German team Hamburger. He scored six goals for the club over 94 appearances.
After three seasons, Thomas found a home at UK team Everton where he quickly became popular with both the team and the fans. He was a key player in helping the club rise through the league tables in the 2004/2005 season in his position as an attacking midfielder.
At this time, he was considered by many to be one of the best players in the Premier League. However, with his contract at the club due to expire in 2005 he would have been able to leave on the free market.
The club sold Grevesen to Real Madrid for a sum of £2.5 million, with many shocked at this transfer and the low fee that came with it. He was signed as a defensive midfielder, a different role to his position at Everton.
Things were going well at first in Madrid with Thomas scoring in one of his first games for the team, he also scored the first hat trick of his career in 2006. However, questions around his attitude began to arise as he reportedly appeared to be arrogant and considered himself too important to be interviewed by Danish newspapers.
What caused the player’s relationship with the club to deteriorate?
He was then replaced in the starting line-up by the Dutch midfielder Evander Sno. In 2007, it was claimed that Gravesen didn’t work hard enough to convince management to give him another chance in the starting line up and rumours began that he would leave to join Sunderland.
It appeared that the player was losing his enthusiasm for the game and no longer committing himself as hard as he used to, it became more obvious that Gravesen would look to retire in the near future.
Where did Thomas Gravesen go next?
In August 2007, it was announced that Gravesen would be loaned by Celtic to Everton for one season. While he did assist in a few goals, the player failed to make an impact at Everton as was hoped.
Manager David Moyes confirmed that Thomas’ contract would not be re-signed and he would be returning to Celtic. However, he soon parted ways with Celtic and after failing to sign with a new club he announced his retirement from football in January 2009.
Following his retirement, Gravesen was keen to move away from the UK and put football behind him and ended up in the United States. He has been able to sustain himself with clever financial investments and set up home in Las Vegas where he’s become well known for his poker abilities.
Becoming a successful poker star
He is now living a very different life to the one he led during his football playing career and is now said to be worth more than $100 million US dollars. He has also been spotted driving around in a luxurious Mercedes SLR McLaren worth upwards of half a million dollars.
Gravesen and his partner real estate agent Kamila Persse spent more than eight years residing in Nevada. He became a regular at the high roller poker tables at exclusive Vegas casino venues and poker events, going under the radar as a non-celebrity.
It is said that he has made $80 million from his gambling success, but has seen some large losses along the way, including a $54 million loss in one session. The competitive streak that helped him for all those years on the pitch has bought him an advantage at playing poker.
Gravesen no longer resides in the United States, following the end of his relationship with Persse he moved back to his home region in Denmark. He returned to his $1.6 million penthouse in Vejle where he works on his latest career as a pundit for Discovery.