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<\/p>\n\n Posted on: February 9, 2026, 06:18h.\u00a0\n <\/p>\n
\n Last updated on: February 9, 2026, 06:18h.\n <\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Late-night poker losses at London\u2019s Victoria Casino raise fresh concerns
\nFormer England star struggles to revive career after injuries and setbacks
\nPersonal trauma and addiction issues shadow attempts at professional comeback<\/p>\n
Wayward English soccer star Dele Alli has lost nearly \u00a3150K (US$190K) during late-night London poker sessions over the past few days, The Daily Mail reports.<\/p>\n
![\"Dele](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Alli-858x571.jpg\")
Alli warming up before his last professional appearance for Como against Parma in Italy\u2019s Serie A in May 2025. He came on as a substitute and was sent off after 10 minutes in his only appearance for the Italian club. (Image: Emmanuele Ciancaglini\/Getty)<\/p>\n
A source told the outlet the ex-Tottenham and England maestro has been turning up at London\u2019s Victoria Casino in the wee hours, heading straight upstairs to the high-stakes tables, and promptly losing about \u00a325K (US$32,000) per session.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s gotten to the point where the pros are texting to say \u201cthe Dele is open for business\u201d every time he shows, the source claimed.<\/p>\n
With an estimated fortune of \u00a315 to \u00a320 million (US$19 million to $25 million), Alli, 29, can probably afford it, but the situation has \u201cadded to fears\u201d about the player, who has in recent years struggled with professional and personal problems, according to The Mail.<\/p>\n
In Search of a Team<\/p>\n
After being let go by Italian club Como in the summer, the once-great-hope of English football is currently looking for a team.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s actually quite sad because he never really speaks to anyone and doesn\u2019t appear to be that happy,\u201d one player allegedly told The Mail.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe all know he\u2019s not short of money, and he doesn\u2019t seem that bothered about losing so much, which is great for us,\u201d they added brightly.<\/p>\n
From the ages of 19 to 23, the midfielder was capped 37 times for England but has not played for the national team in five and a half years.<\/p>\n
Alli hit elite peak at 20 and it\u2019s been a downhill trajectory since, as injuries and off-field struggles derailed his career. At Como, he played one game, coming on as a substitute. He was sent off within 10 minutes.<\/p>\n
Traumatic Past<\/p>\n
In 2023, Alli spoke in a candid interview about his troubled upbringing by an alcoholic single mother, his sexual abuse at the hands of a family friend, and later, foster care.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt seven, I started smoking, eight I started dealing drugs. An older person told me that they wouldn\u2019t stop a kid on a bike, so I rode around with my football, and then underneath I\u2019d have the drugs \u2013 that was eight. Eleven, I was hung off a bridge by a guy from the next estate [project],\u201d he told Gary Neville.<\/p>\n
He also said his decline as a soccer player coincided with an addiction to sleeping pills, followed by a spell in rehab as he tried to confront his past.<\/p>\n
Alli is reportedly determined to get his career back on track before it\u2019s too late. Let\u2019s just hope the poker sessions at \u201cthe Vic\u201d are sharpening his competitive instincts rather than contributing to decline.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Posted on: February 9, 2026, 06:18h.\u00a0 Last updated on: February 9, 2026, 06:18h. Late-night poker losses at London\u2019s…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":464850,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[440],"tags":[49,48,131842,189797,189798,189799,561,82,189800],"class_list":["post-464849","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-soccer","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-dele-alli","tag-england-football-decline","tag-gambling-concerns","tag-poker-losses","tag-soccer","tag-sports","tag-victoria-casino-london"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464849","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464849"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464849\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/464850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464849"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464849"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464849"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}