NFL Player Launches App to Demystify Notorious Card Game

The little-known Cajun card game called bourre gained a certain level of notoriety among sports fans after it led to a pair of high-profile altercations between NBA players in 2010 and 2011.

First, star guard Gilbert Arenas nearly lost his career after wielding an unlicensed handgun in the team locker room following a bourre-related gambling dispute with a fellow Washington Wizard. Then a couple Memphis Grizzlies fought on a team charter flight after some high stakes bourre gone bad. The two incidents served to pull back a curtain on a previously unheard-of part of pro athlete gambling culture, but gave bourre (pronounced BOO-ray) a hint of menace as well.

Now an app released by NFL player Bernard Pollard aims to demystify the game and by making it appeal to more people who can play virtually and without having to bet actual money on its outcome. Pollard says he’s seen pots among teammates reach into the tens of thousands of dollars since entering the NFL in 2006.

“I just want the app to make people be able to have fun with the game, where you don’t have to hand out any money and then your wife looks at you crazy, like, ‘You just wrote a check for how much?’” he told Mashable.

The aptly-named Bourre App costs $1.99 for iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Pollard says it’s registered steady user growth â€" including a number of Pollard’s NFL peers â€" since launching in August, with one major update still to come. The app lets users bet fake currency during hands of the game, which has been described as a mashup of poker and spades.

Pollard funded Bourre App entirely on his own, but enlisted friend and former teammate Ryan Moats to help make his vision a reality. Moats once interned at EA Sports during the NFL off-season and now operates a graphic design company called Moastworks Studios.

“It’s tough to pick someone and say, ‘Hey, I really don’t know you but I’m going to trust you and give you all this money to make this happen,’” says Pollard, whose Crush Boy nickname comes from his tough on-field hits. “But with Ryan, I trust him completely and knew he would do a great job and really want the game to be great.”

But don’t think the Bourre App is a digital one-off for Pollard and Moats. They used to scheme about creating a Max Payne-style video game, and already have some other projects planned.

“It’s just me wanting to do something that people can have fun with, and show people that I can be something other than a football player,” Pollard says.

Does Pollard’s Bourre App sound like something you might check out? Let us know in the comments.