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Chavdar Vasilev is a gambling news writer with several years of experience in the iGaming industry. He started creating promotional content but soon found he loved reporting on the industry itself. Since then, he’s delivered...
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NFL legend and former MVP Adrian Peterson got into a fistfight over a poker hand dispute. A TMZ Sports video revealed the exchange between Peterson and another poker player at JokerStars, a social club in Houston, Texas, on May 27.
The footage shows the ex-NFL player and another patron exchanging punches as others attempted to break them up.
Peterson appears to have taken several punches to the face, but seemingly lands several back. He had visible injuries, which he claimed were due to falling on a chair, not because of the altercation.
The former Minnesota Vikings running back summed up the situation to TMZ as being involved in a disagreement, and “one thing led to another.”
He added: “Me and the guy, we’re cool, we’ve known each other. It was literally like a brother situation. We agreed to disagree, we had our words, and we threw blows — and that was it.”
He insisted that after the fight, the two made up: “I felt really bad,” Peterson said. “It’s a situation where I kind of regret it.”
JokerStars did not punish either man, and police were not called in to investigate.
Poker and Boxing: Peterson’s Retirement
It almost feels fitting that Adrian Peterson’s post-football life would lead to a fistfight during a poker game.
After retiring in 2021 with nearly 15,000 rushing yards, he took on high-adrenaline pursuits, including celebrity boxing and competitive poker.
In 2022, he stepped into the boxing ring against fellow ex-NFL running back Le’Veon Bell at Social Gloves 2. The highly anticipated bout ended with Bell knocking Peterson out in the fifth round. He hasn’t returned to boxing since.
Peterson has also become a familiar face in poker. He appeared on Hustler Casino Live in December 2024 and on the Celebrity Poker Tour in Las Vegas in May 2025. However, reportedly, he didn’t cash in either event. Peterson has also been a regular at JokerStars, and that’s where TMZ found him on another night after the May 27 incident.
Other post-NFL activities for the former NFL player include an appearance on the 2023 season of Dancing with the Stars.
However, not all headlines have been favorable. In April, he was charged with DWI after the Vikings’ NFL Draft Party. Meanwhile, in 2024, a judge ordered him to turn over his assets, including memorabilia and trophies, to satisfy a $12 million debt.
Although Peterson has been retired for a period of time, the sport continues to grow, both in betting volume and viewership. Last week, Genius Sports saw a favorable bounce in its stock price after announcing exclusivity on NFL data distribution through 2029.
