John Elway: Full-time Hall of Fame Quarterback... Part-time Poker Player
In an age when the phrase “genius superstar livinglegend football GOD” is somewhat overused, Bluff has no qualms about applying it to John Elway. With more wins than any other quarterback in NFL history, he is truly one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time. Mr Elway, we are simply not worthy.
John, we hear you’re a big poker player?
I’m a card player. Whether it’s poker or gin – I just love playing, and I’ve certainly been caught up in this poker craze.
When did you start playing? Was it back with the Broncos?
Actually, yes. It wasn’t so much Hold’em back then – we played a lot of other poker games – but I’ve been playing poker for fifteen years or so. I’ve played all the different games.
Did you play a lot on the bus – like you see in the movies?
Not poker so much, because it’s difficult to have chips and things like that. We usually played gin.
Have you played in any of the big tournaments?
I haven‘t yet, no.
But as a true competitor, it must be alluring you to get in there…
Oh yeah, it is. I love watching tournaments on TV, but I just don’t have the time to sit there for hours. What we see on TV is such a condensed version of the number of hands that the players actually have to play. So it’s just the time factor for me, really. But it’s definitely something I find intriguing.
So how do you fill your time since you retired from football?
I’m busier now than I was when I was playing. I mean, you only play from July to January, but now I’m back in the car business, I have a restaurant in Denver, and of course, there’s the Colorado Crush, which is the arena football team in Colorado that I’ve been running for the last three years.
How’s it going with the Crush?
It’s actually going really well. We were fortunate enough to win the championship last year, and hopefully we can defend that title. But it’s something I really enjoy and have a lot of fun with.
We hear you caught on to the poker craze and started building these poker tables…
Yeah. I got together with Basset to do a whole range of furniture. We have a couple of poker table models and, with poker becoming so popular, it’s definitely an area that we want to get into. So we’re excited about the pieces we have, and hopefully people will think the same way when they get a chance to see them.
This is our second year going into it and I’m just really proud of the furniture and the look. It’s a slow build, but it’s really started a lot quicker than we anticipated. But we have two nine-person poker tables – they’re very comfortable.
What should we be looking for in a quality poker table?
The way it looks is important. And comfort, of course. It needs to be a good size to comfortably accommodate everyone that plays in your game. That’s what we’re trying to offer with our tables.
Do you have one over at your house?
I do have a poker table. I’ve had it for about nine years now.
Did you know Shannon Sharpe’s a great poker player? We were following him around at the WSOP last year.
I’ve never played against Shannon. His group definitely used to play a lot of cards when we were on road trips, but they were playing some game that I didn’t understand.
Shannon likes to psych people out at the table like he did on the field. What’s your style when you play poker?
Yeah, his mouth is his greatest weapon. But I would say I’m more conservative. You can be a great card player and a great poker player, but you’re also only as good as the cards you get. If you’re getting bad cards, it doesn’t matter how good a player you are. If you’re a good poker player with good cards, then you’re that much better. So I’m conservative, but I like to mix it up, and I’ll get aggressive at times. I try to be as unpredictable as possible.
You were a great player on the field. You always had this ability to create a strategy on the fly. Do you take that to the poker table?
There’s no question. And I think that’s what’s fun about poker – developing strategies and having to change your gameplan depending on what kind of cards you’re getting, what’s going on at the table, and who you’re playing against. There are so many factors that go into the plan that you eventually adopt.
Have you ever thrown your Super Bowl ring into the pot?
No. The Super Bowl rings stay in the safe.
So no high-stakes games?
Not really. I usually just play with the people I know in Denver, and the stakes are pretty ordinary. We usually play pot limit – it keeps everyone friendly.
When we talk to actors, they always say that their acting abilities make them great players – the ability to mask their emotions and to misdirect opponents. Sportsmen always say it’s that competitive edge – the killer instinct. Who do you think has the edge in the world of celeb poker?
I don’t know. It’s hard to say. I think a lot of it comes with experience. But I think I’d take my chances against an actor any day.
