Two of the most famous and socially responsible PokerStars ambassadors are meeting tonight in a charity heads-up match at @Casino de Monte Carlo, Monaco: tennis legend @Rafael Nadal and the highest earning female poker player in history and two-time WSOP bracelet winner @Vanessa Selbst.

“It’s a game of skill that requires mental strength and the ability to out-think your opponents… and now I’m looking forward to the challenge of playing against Vanessa”

The tennis legend @Rafael Nadal signed a sponsorship deal with PokerStars in 2012, shortly after the launch of the Spanish poker room.  After playing mainly online for almost two years, in January 2014 he won his first live tournament - the EPT Prague Celebrity Charity Event where he played in the illustrious company of none less than Ronaldo, Andriy Shevchenko, and pro poker's own star, @Daniel Negreanu. He has since been involved in two widely publicized online events - an hour of play on Facebook and a 'heads-up against Spain' on the PokerStars site.

Rafa is very much aware of his own social responsibility: "I’m lucky to be working on what I like and things go very well, so I think I’m in debt to society.”

The Rafa Nadal Foundation was launched in February 2008 with the aim of supporting and providing opportunities for socially disadvantaged young people. It has three active projects in Spain and India, that serve around 500 children and teenagers.

Together with his brother Tomeu, Rafa Nadal is also involved in the PokerStars sponsored The Good Hand Project: "a charity project born in the heart of the poker community, which seeks to mobilise as many people as possible in the social networks". You can find out more and join the initiative at: http://thegoodhandproject.org/en/

"Friday, I'll face Rafael Nadal HU in Monte-Carlo. I know he's a brilliant tennis strategist... can't wait to see what he brings to the felt!"

Vanessa Selbst is a Yale University law graduate and has always been passionate about social work and civil rights causes. 

"I think when you’re young, especially as a poker player, it’s easy to ignore those social responsibilities; to put them off to a later date, but we’re old enough now. We’re able to make a real difference and I think it’s important that we do."

Vanessa has been funding various non-profit organizations and initiatives and means to start a full-fledged project of her own related to police violence and civl rights violations. A special section of her website is dedicated to social justice and you can check what issues she feels  strongly about: http://vanessaselbstpoker.com/social-justice/