I LOVE MY JOB

 

With Tom "Durrrr" Dwan

So... We're writing this now from Jeju Island, South Korea, where the K Poker Cup x King Poker Cup Series is taking place from July 25 to August 10. I've been here for a week and - as usual - it's always great to see familiar faces of the poker industry.

First off, the very awesome tournament and floor directors - Cris, Jerry, Harry, Joker and the other Philippine crew who were shocked that I too was Filipino. They are always always helpful whenever we from the media need anything from them - chip counts, answers to improbable questions and sometimes a few drinks. Although Joker has yet to deliver. LOL

Then, there are the familiar players, who have become friends over time - Punnat Punsri, Tom Verbruggen, Jun Li, Joseph Cheong, Dylan Foster, Tony"Baby Tiger" Ren Lin, Ryan Plant, Wai Kiat Lee, Danny Tang.... and drum roll - Daniel Neilson.

I've been a fan of Daniel Neilson since once upon a time in  APT Manila when he won the APT High Roller. He was heads-up against his friend Alexander Lynskey. In the final hand, Lynskey shoved all in on a flop where Neilson had flopped the nut straight. Prior to making the call - Neilson went through his last time banks, pretending to think while sipping on his wine. It was the coldest slow roll ever! Was Lynskey upset? Well, for maybe about 10 seconds. Anyway, that left an image in my mind of Neilson - his wine and the win. As a lover of intoxicating beverages, I am a fan.

Over the course of the years, I've always ran into Neilson at the poker table and he doesn't miss out on having a bottle of something at his side table, whether it be whiskey or wine. At one series, I told him - "I really wish I could be drinking with you right now." He politely offered a drink, but I declined because I was still on the clock. However, it was on my bucket list to go day-drinking with Neilson.

And so, it happened. I didn't have to do live reporting the other day and ran into Neilson busting out of a tournament. He wasn't sure yet of what to do and he had been drinking and was planning to continue on. I joined him. I had a beer. He shared some whiskey. It ran out, so he bought a bottle of wine. And I ticked off my bucket list when we clinked our plastic cups.

Shortly after, he went off to play an event and I thanked him for the opportunity to drink with him, have some light conversation about life and strengthen the bonds of friendship over some booze. The next day, I had to work, expecting to find Daniel, but he didn't show up that day. On the following day, he confessed that he was so drunk that he stayed in bed all day. Prior to our drinking spree, he had relatively stayed away from alcohol for a few months since when he lived in Mexico. So his refresher course with me took its toll. I, on the other hand, have had much practice and tolerance. So that was something we laughed about.

The other amazing thing that happened to me so far was that as part of my job, I had the opportunity to cover the USD 100,000 buy-in King's Charity Super High Roller, which brought in some of the biggest names in the poker world. I had a chance to meet Tom Dwan, Jesse Lonis and Bryn Kenney. I'm a big fan of Dwan from the early days when streaming poker was limited and Dwan's face was all over the place.

Jesse Lonis - I'm a big fan because of how he overcame adversity with his poker skills to get to where he is today. Bryn Kenney - well, he's the all-time money list leader in the entire world with nearly USD 90 million in total live earnings. How to be you, sir?

Anyway, so that was surreal. And if you're a big fan of poker, then meeting the icons of your sport is something indeed to make anyone's day. That made mine.

I'd also like to make a special shout out to some lovely ladies - Jenny Bee, Ava Pang, Wing Lee and Ruru. Nice to see you all again. 

Anyway, we go back to work now. There's still 10 days left in the series and a whole lot of life to experience in between.