Other Interests
In addition to my formal
training and academic involvement, I do have other interests. I like to
travel, paddle, fish, camp, ski, and roller blade; and, enjoy playing
guitar, golf, racquetball, and poker.
It took me fifty years to
develop sufficient analytical and money
management skills to became a World Series of Poker (WSOP) Champion in
2009 after winning an Omaha
Hi Lo Split Pot Limit event in Tunica, MI. In 2015, I won a Pot
Limit Omaha (PLO) event in Biloxi held as part of World Poker Tour (WPT).
Nowadays, I play on both the
WSOP and World Poker Tour (WPT) circuits. I've cashed in several Senior no limit HoldEm events at the WSOP circuit in Cherokee, NC;
cashed in $50k guaranteed, $75k guaranteed, and $100k guaranteed no limit
HoldEm events in Tunica; and, placed forth in the Monster Stack no limit
HoldEm event held as part of the WSOP circuit in Biloxi, MI.
WSOP circuit in Cherokee, North Carolina
I really enjoyed playing in
the Colossus (Event No. 5) which was held in May 2015 at Las Vegas as
part of the WSOP. It was, by far, the largest live poker tournament
in history. I made it through 11 levels before my pocket Qs were taken
down by AK off suit in an all-in pre-flop battle.
I'm also an active member of
the Senior
Poker Tour (SPT) where I finished third in the 2015 PLO event
held in Tunica, MS. At our inaugural event in January 2014, I made the final
table and finished in the money. That's me in the blue hat and sweater standing just
to the right of the dealer.
Event #1 Final Table NLHE – Tunica,
Mississippi – January 15, 2014
I've also had a blast playing with some
big-time pros in the main event. In the photo
below, I'm seated at the right rear of the table playing with Dennis Phillips (red hat, left foreground) and Mark Kroon (black hat with
orange decal, rear center).
SPT
Main Event - Horseshoe Casino, Tunica,
Mississippi – January 16, 2014
Mark
crippled my chip stack later in the tournament when he made a lucky
buy on the river to win against my dominant pair of
kings. I had slightly more chips than him at that time and we were all-in after the
flop.
In
2011, after winning several online tournaments on PokerStars, I was placed in the casting pool as the "Loose
Cannon" in their high stakes poker series called "The
Big Game."
Here
is a photo from a clip from my audition
for The Big Game.
Although slated to play against the likes
of Daniel
Negreanu, Phil
Hellmuth, Doyle
Brunson, and Tony
G, my hopes were dashed after the site was closed to U.S. players for allegedly
violating federal bank fraud and money laundering laws.
I gave up my plans for playing in
Vegas that year and headed for Tunica where I ended up playing with Tennessee resident and
WSOP champion, Chris
Moneymaker. His 2003 win is said to have "revolutionized
poker" because he was the "first person to become a world champion by
qualifying" at an online poker site. He and I have played many times since
then.
You can track some of my
progress on the Hendon
Mob.
