As I alluded to in yesterday's post, Jeanne and I made the trek to Orlando (about a 90-minute drive with traffic) so I could introduce her to Kenna James. I was also there for Ante Up!, interviewing one of the co-founders of the WPT Boot Camps, Steve Berman, and one of Kenna's fellow instructors, Nick Brancato. The WPT has forged a relationship with the Amateur Poker League and it was on hand to host a minicamp during the APL's National Championship tournament. I brought my recorder so I have those interviews for either this week's show or next week's, but for the most part we were just there to hang with Kenna. I also brought my camera but I forgot it in the car. D'oh!
As many of you know Kenna has always been a very generous poker pro, even going so far as to play in one of our AIPS events. Now, I know I had posted a little while ago about privacy and how it's sometimes difficult to deal with as a host of a podcast. But what I saw this past weekend was absolutely remarkable, and Kenna handled every minute of it with class and dignity. I sat at his reserved table and impartially watched as the Boots (camp partcipants) all came up to him one by one (and sometimes two by two, etc.) asking for photos and autographs. He turned down no one and was a perfect gentleman. He was extremely gracious, signing two, three even four things per person sometimes, and every time he signed it wasn't just: Kenna James. He made sure he took his time, signed something personal (asking their names and how to spell them) and posed with a great smile on his face every time. The amount of time he had to dedicate to make those people happy was astounding. He easily signed his name 300 times in a span of 2 hours. At one point I leaned over and said "You are easily going to heaven." He laughed. Then he sang karaoke (a rendition of YMCA for fun and then a moving version of He Ain't Heavy He's My Brother).
When the festivities settled down we went to Steve's suite at the International Plaza Resort and Spa for some quiet time and talked poker for about an hour before the inevitible happened: We played Badugi! But there was just one hitch, however: We had no chips! So Jeanne kept track on a pad and we played a sick game with a $5 ante. You could drop after the second draw, but if you went for the third draw you were committed to $10. I finished ahead $10 in about 20 minutes (That's a better ROI than what I made after six hours in Gambit's game on Friday!) and Kenna won $30 (Sorry Steve, though no one paid me so I guess I'll write it off on my taxes). I actually captured the session on my digital recorder (with their permission, of course) and I edited it down to like 12 minutes. I will tag it on at the end of either this or next week's show. There were some funny moments in there, like Kenna talking about something Steve "left" for him in the bathroom, the incredibly boring aspects of the movie There Will Be Blood, Kenna's struggle to remain awake at 1 a.m. and Steve's inability to grasp the concept of Badugi as Kenna kept changing the rules to our make-shift game.
One of the unexpected highlights of the night came from Nick Brancato. I had read his Bluff column for more than a year but had never seen him on TV (he's an Internet pro) and never met him at any of the other events I covered. I also never heard him on the podcasts he's appeared on so I didn't know what to expect. He was hilarious, and so sharp. The man plays EIGHT tables at once online for high stakes and he doesn't miss a trick. He held three conversations at once and completely grasped every one of them while doling out advice and amusing anecdotes. His interview was really strong and that will be coming up soon on the show. When I approached him I got a pretty big surprise. Now remember we had never met and I never talked to him. I walked up to him while the "Boots" were asking for autographs and I easily could've just been one of them for all he knew. I said "Nick, when you get a chance can I talk to you out in the lobby? I'm Chris Cosenza from ..." and before I could finish the sentence he said "I know you!! I've listened to your show. I'm friends with Lee Childs and he always talks about you guys!" That was awesome. It's good to know our show is making headway with more pros now, too.
He had us laughing all night, spilling his drink on himself not once but twice, and impersonating someone to a T. But alas it got to be pretty late and we still had a 90-minute drive home, so we said our goodbyes and left a little after 1 a.m.
-- Chris
Christopher Cosenza is co-host of the longest running poker podcast on the planet, Ante Up! He started playing poker seriously in 2003 and his favorite players are Phil Ivey and Kenna James, though he tends to act like Phil Hellmuth if you make a bad play against him.
Scott Long, Ante Up!'s other co-host, is the author of the monthly Bet on It column in tbt*. He began gambling way too young (don't tell the fuzz!) and in the seventh grade, named his state "Gambleland" for a school project (State Animal? Loan shark, of course).
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