MLS Player Brent Kallman Wins $62,000 in Professional Poker Tournament

That’s 73% of his MLS salary!

Brent Kallman is a fixture in the center of Minnesota United’s defense, featuring in 24 of his side’s 34 MLS games this season. He’s also a fixture at professional poker tournaments around the country. 

Kallman, 28, has been playing in big-time poker competitions for years now, but his biggest win came this week in his World Poker Tour debut. Kallman finished eighth out of almost 900 competitors at the Seminole Rock ’N’ Roll Poker Open in Florida on Wednesday, taking home a cash prize of $62,110. That’s nearly three-quarters as much money as he earns in a year playing soccer ($85,000). 

The buy-in for the four-day tournament was $3,500, and the winner (Pavel Plesuv) took home $504,820.

The big win brings Kallman’s career poker winnings to over $200,000. His biggest previous prize was $25,512 from winning a 2014 tournament in Council Bluffs, Iowa with a $770 buy-in. 

“This is my hobby,” Kallman told WorldPokerTour.com. “This is what I do during the offseason, but I really enjoy the challenge because I’m up against a lot of players who are definitely a lot better than me. It’s unique in that sense. In soccer, that’s my thing and I’m very comfortable in that environment.”

It’s a good hobby to have, at least when you’re winning, but Kallman says he’s not thinking about ditching soccer for a full-time career in poker. 

“Nobody has to worry about me; I’ll be back to business and back to training soon here,” he told the Star Tribune. “That’s always a weird deal when you win that much money in four days, but nothing’s going to change for me.”