Olympic Medalist Joins Team PokerStars SportsStars

Glamorous Dutch hockey player, Fatima Moreira de Melo, is the latest celebrity to be recruited to the recently created Team PokerStars SportsStars and now joins a team which includes Germany’s Boris Becker, Sweden’s hockey star Mats Sundin, French rugby player Sebastien Chabal and Finnish powerboat racer Sami Selio.
Fatima has represented the Dutch national hockey team in 191 matches starting in 1997 and her illustrious career has seen her win several team accolades which include the 2006 Women’s Hockey World Cup, the 2007 Champions Trophy and winning gold at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing.
Most top sports players when they retire end up missing the high level of competition they are accustomed to and Fatima was no exception. She found she was able to satisfy her competitive cravings by playing poker and explained the different feelings she experienced between the two activities:
“If you are playing in a field hockey game competing at the Olympics your adrenaline is at a constant high. In poker you have moments where your adrenaline rush comes up, then fades away a little bit and comes back up again. At least that’s how it works for me. It’s more of a roller coaster.”
Fatima got her poker break when she received an unexpected call from PokerStars one day; “I was already playing quite a bit in home games with friends and last year PokerStars called and asked if I was interested in poker and I was like, ‘Hell yeah, I really love poker.'”
 
Although jumping at the opportunity to join the worlds biggest poker site, being a true professional she had her sights set on competing at the highest levels possible, and said  “I told them I love the game, but I want to get proper training and get really good.”
Between receiving in depth training from Dutch Team PokerStars Pro Lex Veldhuis and debating tactics with her ex tennis pro and poker enthusiast boyfriend Raemon Sluiter, Fatima has given herself every chance of success in the future and explained:  “I’m going to do things on the side like acting and presenting, but this is my main focus and if I want to do something good, I have to do it right.. I just really love the game and that’s my reason for playing poker.”