Profiles

By Stanley R. Sludikoff

We first met Lou in Costa Rica. We had both been invited down by Casino Europa to a large tournament they had scheduled. During a break in play, while most of the players opted for jungle tours, Lou asked to join in on a San Jose city tour, led by a marketing department executive. We became great friends by the time the tour was over. Later, I invited Lou to become Editor of Poker Player newspaper, where he served for many years. We had communicated with him often when we heard of his illness. I had scheduled Lou for a Senior Editor position in our new electronic publishing venture, but his reluctance to make a commitment set off dire warnings to me. I knew all was not well, although Lou was very positive right to the end. My family and I, Poker Player newspaper, our staff, and, I am sure, our thousands of readers will miss his wisdom and advice. This issue contains the last column written by Lou. Below you will find just a few of the brief comments from some of our key writers and close friends of Lou.

By Barbara Rogers

Kevin Castora took a big chance—while up-rooting his young family, when he and a group of experienced casino workers made the long trek from Las Vegas to the East Coast. Delaware Park was their destination, and I don’t believe they looked back. Delaware Park was fortunate to open with a highly qualified and well trained staff. They hit the ground running and before long, made their mark in the fiercely competitive poker world.

 The cash poker room bustles with activity, and when the tournaments are playing, they enjoy big fields as well. With plenty of innovative ideas, genuine concern for the players, and a passion for the game, Kevin Castora is well entrenched in making his own mark on the poker front. From January 2nd to the 15th, he will host the first Delaware Park Winter Classic. With a main event pay-out of $150,000, plus plenty of other events paying out 20,000, 50,000 75,000, and 100,000, it will be a dream for any poker player.

Poker super-star and winner of the WSOP Big Drop one million dollar buy-in tournament stopped by Reddit for an "Ask Me Anything" social interview.

A sampling from the interview:

Q. Do you think online poker will ever be legal in the US?

A. Yes...Just a matter of time. State by state to start..

Q. Is needling Hellmuth one of your favorite activities while playing poker?

A. YES. He is just so easy to pick on...and in his credit he can take the needling like a champ. Perphaps years of experience.

Q. Any advice for those who can't maintain a good pokerface?

A. PRACTICE doing the same thing EVERY time you bet no matter what you have.

Read the full thread and get a glimpse of the real magician of poker on reddit:

http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/x15eo/i_am_antonio_esfandiari_2_time_wsop_bracelet/

MEET THE LATEST WSOP CHAMPION – NICK SCHULMAN

 Name: Nick Schulman

 Age: 26

 Residence: New York, NY (and Las Vegas, NV)

 Occupation: Professional Poker Player

 WSOP Gold Bracelet Victories: 2

 WSOP Cashes: 16

 WSOP Final Table Appearances: 8

 WSOP Earnings: $1,228,390 Note: Schulman will be classified as a professional poker player in WSOP records, since he plays poker full-time.

 INTERVIEW WITH THE WINNER

 Question: This is an event with a lot of history. How does it feel to be grouped with all the greats who have won this event in the past?

MEET THE LATEST WSOP CHAMPION – DOMINIK NITSCHE

 Name: Dominik Nitsche

 Age: 21

 Birthplace: Wittlich, Germany

 Current Residence: Brighton, Great Britain

 Occupation: Professional Poker Player

 Years Attending WSOP: 1

 WSOP Cashes: 4

 WSOP Final Table Appearance: 1

 WSOP Victories: 1

 Note: Nitsche will be classified as a professional poker player in WSOP records, since he plays poker full-time and has been supporting himself by poker winnings for the past few years.

 INTERVIEW WITH THE WINNER

 Question: Talk about your rail of supporters, they’re from all over the place!

MEET THE LATEST WSOP CHAMPION – VIACHESLAV ZHUKOV

 The 2012 World Series of Poker $3,000 buy-in Pot-Limit Omaha High-Low Split World Champion is Viacheslav Zhukov from Stary Oskol, Russia.

 Zhukov was also born in Stary Oskol, which is located about 400 miles south of Moscow on the Oskol River.

 Zhukov is a 23-year-old professional poker player. His name is spelled differently in some poker records – most notably as VYACHESLAV ZHUKOV.

 In addition to his native Russian, Zhukov speaks English well. He is close to fluency.

MEET THE LATEST WSOP CHAMPION – GREG MERSON

 Name: Gregory Merson

 Birthplace: Washington, DC

 Current Residence: Laurel, Maryland (also spends much of his time in Toronto, Ontario (Canada)

 Marital Status: Single

 Children: None

 Profession: Professional Poker Player (highly-experienced online player)

 Education: Attended community college and University of Maryland (did not graduate)

 WSOP Cashes: 5

 WSOP Final Table Appearances: 1

 WSOP Wins (with this victory): 1

 First-place prize: $1,136,197

 Note: Greg Merson will be classified as a professional poker player in WSOP records, since he plays poker full-time and has no other source of income.

 INTERVIEW WITH THE WINNER

MEET THE LATEST WSOP CHAMPION – TOMAS JUNEK

 Name: Tomas Junek

 Age: 23

 Birthplace: Prestavlky, Czech Republic

 Current Residence: Vysoke Myto, Czech Republic

 Marital Status: Single

 Children: None

 Profession: Professional Poker Player

 WSOP Cashes: 1

 WSOP Final Table Appearances: 1

 WSOP Wins (with this victory): 1

 WSOP-Related Earnings: $661,022

 Note: Junek will be classified as a professional poker player in WSOP records, since he plays full-time.

 INTERVIEW WITH THE WINNER

 (Note that English is the second language of Mr. Junek.)

 Question: Please tell us a little bit about your background and how you got into poker?

AN INTERVIEW WITH THE CHAMPION -- ANTONIO ESFANDIARI

 Question: Antonio, you walked off this stage about a week and a half ago in a very disappointing third place. You were crushed. At that time, could you have possibly thought you’d get to this moment.

 Esfandiari: Yes. I believed it. I declared it. I wanted to win even more since I took third and didn’t win that tournament. I got pretty unlucky when it was three-handed, and so I was determined to come back and win another one.

 Question: On a scale of Antonio Esfandiari’s greatness, how great is this?

 Esfandiari: It’s like 182, feels like. It’s better than sex that’s for sure.

 Question: Talk about the last hand when you’re sweating the last two cards – the flush draw. How hard was your heart beating?

MEET THE LATEST WSOP CHAMPION – WILL JAFFE

Name: Will Jaffe

Age: 25

Birthplace: Southampton, NY (Long Island)

Residence: Bridgehampton, NY (Long Island)

Marital Status: Single

Children: None

Education: Attended College (did not graduate)

Profession: Professional Poker Player

WSOP Cashes: 3

WSOP Final Table Appearances: 1

WSOP Wins (with this victory): 1

WSOP-Related Earnings: $508,791

Note: Jaffe will be classified as a professional poker player in WSOP records.