They… holler across the room when they see a big-name player

I recently had the pleasure to meet Victor Ramdin and former WSOP Main Event winner Tom McEvoy at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure.

Ramdin, a relative newcomer who got down to the last three tables of the Main Event in 2003 shortly after learning the game, has flown 17 children out of his country of birth, Guyana, for specialist heart treatment, while Tom, a complete gentleman who has never picked up a penalty for bad behaviour at the table, has been a well-known face on the circuit for years. It just goes to show you can be successful in the game without giving your entire life over to it or making the headlines for the wrong reasons.

The reason these two pros stood out so much in the Bahamas was because of the attitude of so many other players. I’m not talking about other big-name pros, who are generally very approachable and genuine, but rather the arrogant rank and file of internet qualifiers.

Many of the big tournaments outside Europe are densely populated by this relatively new breed of internet poker player, and are easily spotted by a few key similarities. Aged between 19 and 26, they’ll often be sporting a vest – by itself for the Jock variety or over a t-shirt for the Geek type – and can usually be heard banging on about how good they are and how someone made a terrible call to knock them out of a tourney.

Thankfully this new generation of poker players don’t constitute the entire field. The likes of Victor, Tom, Greg [Raymer] and Joe [Hachem] remain level-headed, focused and are great poker role models for the young upstarts. Unfortunately, the poker brats don’t watch or listen. They still shout or, in the US vernacular, holler across the room when they see a big-name player they recognise, and are so wrapped up in their own version of success that they’re blinkered to stepping up their game.

If at any point you see these characteristics in yourself and feel your head inflating it’s worth remembering these words from Tom McEvoy: ‘Am I still learning how to play? Every single day.’ Which is exactly why, some 20 years after winning the Big One, he’s still competing – and winning – at the very highest level.