Warne confirms deal with 888
16th January, 2008
Australian cricket legend Shane Warne has put an end to media speculation by confirming he has signed a contract with leading online poker company 888.com.
Warne, 38, retired from the gentleman's game last year after reaching a record 708 wickets and he made no secret of his desire to focus his energies on the poker table.
The spin bowling wizard last week revealed to the Times that a deal was "in the pipeline" with a major pokercompany but insisted on remaining tight-lipped about the precise details of any such agreement.
Speaking to Australia's Herald Sun yesterday, however, he let slip that he has now signed a contract to play in the World Series of Poker under the sponsorship of 888.com.
Explaining the transition, Warne said: "Nothing will replace the 20 years of cricket in my life, but there are a lot of similarities [between the two games]. It's a game of skill that has a lot of analogies to cricket - you have to be very, very disciplined."
Warne added that he has been playing cards with friends for five years and more recently has sought out poker advice from mentor Joe Hachem.
