One Drop Winner Colman Calls Poker A “Distraction”

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Monday, August 18th, 2014 | Written by Adam Brown

Back in July, US poker pro Daniel Colman took down the $1m WSOP Big One for One Drop for a massive $15,306,668 payday. That staggering amount represented the second largest prize ever awarded in tournament poker history, the biggest being the $18,346,673 won by Antonio “The Magician” Esfandiari in the same tournament in 2012. Whereas Esfandiari then took time to celebrate his remarkable victory and talk to reporters and poker fans alike, Colman, 23, looked melancholic, refused to do any interviews and was clean out the door before the photographers had even finished snapping their pictures.

Following what has been termed “Snub-Gate“, Daniel Colman has instead chosen to highlight what he considers to be the darker side of the game, whilst warning fans as to the pitfalls of the game. Either way one looks at it, it is still a perplexing stance from someone who has won a total of $20 million from live tournaments, as well as millions of dollars more online.

Doesn’t owe poker “a single thing”

Following one of the most bizarre reaction in the history of televised poker, Colman became a polarized character amongst poker fans, further compounded by an explanation he subsequently posted on the Two Plus Two forum, stating:

“First off, I don’t owe poker a single thing. I’ve been fortunate enough to benefit financially from this game, but I have played it long enough to see the ugly side of this world. It is not a game where the pros are always happy and living a fulfilling life. To have a job where you are at the mercy of variance can be insanely stressful and can lead to a lot of unhealthy habits.”

Poker a “very dark game

Instead of holding some affection for a game which has afforded him such fabulous wealth, Daniel Colman says he sees poker as a “very dark game” where less than 1% of top pros prey on the remaining 99% of losing players.

“I would never in a million years recommend for someone to try and make it as a poker pro,” explained Colman having yet another dig at the game in which he excels.

At least in this regard Colman’s views have remained unaltered over the years and last year after becoming the first player to win more than $1 million playing hyper-turbos at PokerStars, Colman still appeared reticent and in an interview with Charles Hawk from husng.com, said:

“It is still really good for making money currently for me; but.. at the same time, I don’t see poker as being a sustainable source of income a few years down the road. Its like a gold rush, I have one of the best spots in poker to mine for gold. I might as well make good use of it.”

Poker a “distraction to people”

Speaking up for Colman, poker superstar Daniel Negreanu, 40, who incidentally finished runner up to the 23-year-old Massachusetts native for $8,228,001, tried to explain away Colman’s lack of grace by saying he was young and still didn’t know who he is yet. However, Negreanu’s explanation elicited an even more petulant response from Colman, who tweeted:

“I misrepresented myself before when I said I didn’t want to speak to media because of poker being a harmful game. I do not care about poker. I just see it as a distraction to people, just like any sport/tv show/movie. Taking away the focus from things that matter to peoples lives.”

Just sour grapes?

Whilst Colman at least seems earnest in his negative beliefs about poker, there are no indications he is about to stop playing anytime soon or join Sheldon Adelson’s ‘Coalition to Stop Internet Gambling.’ In fact, one theory suggested for Colman’s hostile response to winning $15.3 million was that is was simply a case of sour grapes, with him rumoured to have had only a 10% stake in himself worth around $1.53 million. Runner-up Daniel Negreanu, for instance, had roughly a 50% stake in himself, and as one pocketfives.com poster called Mr Galt commented:

“He is probably bitter that he sold most of his action in what would otherwise have been a life changing score.”

Good manners never harm

In some ways, however, Colman’s reaction highlights the multi-faceted dimensions of a game which attracts all sorts to its tables. One just has to take a quick glance at some of the game’s biggest stars, including an affable and accommodating Daniel Negreanu, a petulant but good natured Phil Hellmuth, a fiery and trash-talking Tony G, or Mike Matusow who never seems to be far away from one of his trademark meltdowns. Interestingly, though, Colman’s response may have had the opposite effect to what he may originally have intended and attracted more attention, not less, as a result of his surliness. Nevertheless, Colman could at least learn something from Daniel Negreanu who had these words of wisdom to offer the young star:

“You don’t owe poker anything, sure, but poker has given you a lot. The camera crew filming the event, the dealers, floor staff, Caesars, the WSOP, ESPN, PokerStars.com for giving you an opportunity to support yourself, the players that came before you and did spend time promoting a game you would have likely never heard about. You don’t owe poker, or me personally anything, much like when a waitress brings your order, you don’t owe her a tip or even a thank you. It’s just a gracious custom, much like doing a winner’s interview.”