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Interview with Humberto Brenes

By GamingReview
May 15, 08 12:19 AM

May 2, 2008
Daniel Cox
Editor, Gaming Review Online

Passion is the one word that best describes Costa Rican poker star Humberto “The Shark” Brenes. The passion he feels towards his family, the passion he shows for the game of poker and the passion he invokes when talking about the importance of preserving nature are all evident after only a few minutes talking with him.

I was able to catch up with Humberto during his brief layover at home in San Jose, Costa Rica in late April 2008. It was the week after his stops at the Monte Carlo Millions in Monaco, the World Poker Tour $25,000 World Championship at the Bellagio in Las Vegas and before his trip to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the first stop on PokerStars.NET’s Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT). The break in major tournament action allowed him to spend some time with his family. When he is home, he dedicates his time to his wife and children, though he sometimes takes a Saturday nigh to play poker with friends in San Jose. Though he travels a lot of the time to play poker all over the world, when he is home, he spends his free time with them. When their school breaks allow, he often takes his children with him. He also enjoys taking his wife, Patricia, on his international poker destinations, as he did when they went to Rio for the LAPT event in early May.

Since we were in town at the same time, it allowed me to spend an evening with him and his family. We initially met for the interview at the La Cantina in the Best Western. He then took me to one of his favorite restaurants in San Jose, Denny’s (yes, the All-American diner is as popular in San Jose, Costa Rico as it is in San Jose, California) to meet his family. The passion that is so evident while watching Humberto play poker is even more evident when he is talking about his family. When asked how it feels to be the most famous poker player in Latin America, he answered, “I prefer to be known first as ‘Papi,’ as a family man, then as a poker player and businessman. My family is what is most important to me. They know how to help me set my priorities.” He and his wife Patricia, have three children; Jose Humberto, Junior, at 19 is a sophomore studying Industrial Engineering (the same degree Humberto holds), at The University of Costa Rica. 17-year-old Roberto, who so ably handled the translation duties during our interview, is a senior in high school. The youngest, 15 year old Jessica, a sophomore in high school, is the apple in her father’s eye.

One story he told me occurred at the Monte Carlo Tournament’s player reception. He asked Jessica to carry his sharks, since they are his icon. She did not want to. He explained that he is famous for his shark card covers. She put him in his proper place in the world of parents when she said, “You aren’t a star, you‘re my Papi.” He also passed on his feelings between playing in the $25,000 World Poker Tour Championship Event and a few days later entering a $50 tournament here in Costa Rica with his sons. He said, “I had more fun playing with them in that tournament than I did at the Bellagio or in Monte Carlo.”

Anyone who has seen Humberto on a televised World Series of Poker or World Poker Tour telecast knows his passion for the game of poker. He feels “poker is the international sport of the 21st century. More and more people are playing poker seriously and for much longer. Michael Jordan was a great basketball player, but he had to quit playing at a young age. In poker you can play for many years more. Look at Doyle Brunson; he is still playing great at 74. Poker is good for exercising the mind; it aids against Alzheimer’s and keeps peoples minds stronger. Poker also brings the family together; all of the members of the family can have fun playing. It is one of the few sports that does not set generations apart, it unifies them. People of all ages can play together. Hopefully, with time, those people [anti-gaming politicians and others who treat poker as a game of luck, not one of skill] that do not understand the unifying power of poker can change their minds.”

The passion one finds in Humberto transcends his being the most famous poker player in Latin America. In Costa Rica, people know him more as a successful businessman than an international poker star. He and his partners built many of San Jose’s premier hotels at the beginning of the country’s now substantial tourist industry boom and owner of Costa Rico’s Channel 2 Television Station. Since he now concentrates on playing poker around the world, he divested himself of most of his business holdings over the last few years.

He did not retire from business completely, as he remains President of Nueces Industriales, a significant importer/exporter of fruits and nuts in Central America. His company also manages numerous properties throughout Costa Rica. Even in business, his passion for protecting nature comes through. He is involved in causes that protect nature. He and his partners are building one of the first ‘wind farms’ in the Santa Anna Mountains to produce clean electricity. He feels that the most important thing for everyone to do is to get involved in protecting nature. If it helps to get people involved in protecting nature by using his name, he is wants to support these causes.”

When I asked him how it feels when some people say he goes over the top, at times, with his Shark card covers and his flamboyant actions at the table, he said, “Some people that say I go over the top with the sharks are jealous of my play and others feel it is a waste of time. Usually the players that complain are the ones I have just beaten. The people who criticize me must understand that I do these actions because I feel it is good for television. As Cassius Clay (Muhammad Ali) was a good boxer and a good person, his flamboyant actions were good for the sport of boxing at the time. I feel my actions are good for televised poker. The people that watch poker, for the most part, enjoy watching me and they enjoy how I play with the sharks.” The use of his sharks as card covers and his nickname as ‘The Shark’ also allows him to publicize a cause that he is passionate about. He says, “The attention I get with my sharks also lets me bring attention to anti-shark fin projects, a cause I feel very deeply about. I have a chance to help promote actions to stop the slaughter of sharks solely for their fins. It is a chance to protect the sharks from the cruelty of removing the fins and dumping the live sharks back in the water to die. Costa Rica has more hammerhead sharks per cubic meter of territorial water than any other country in the world. Though the Costa Rican government has passed laws protecting the sharks from fining, they do not have the money to enforce these laws. I hope my support of these causes can raise money and awareness of these problems.” For more information on the problem and ways to help, visit http://www.sharkscostarica.org/.

I ended the formal interview by asking if there was a question an interviewer had not asked, but he wished they had. He took some time before answering, “What is the biggest happiness that poker has given you?” His answer was typical of the Humberto I had grown to know, “It isn’t the money. Poker has given me a chance to be the best at something. It has given me the satisfaction of winning.”

After the family finished dinner and the formal interview was complete, Humberto, Jose, Roberto and I went to the Crowne Plaza Hotel and Casino, one of his original properties. He took me upstairs to the now gutted room where he first introduced Poker to Costa Rica. In the beginning, there were no Casino games, just a poker room on the second floor. As we parked, the fact that the flamboyant, over-the-top TV persona is solely for the cameras was evident with every employee and fan we passed. There was a friendly exchange with each person while heading to the casino floor. Once inside the Poker Room, the cries of ‘Hummmberrrrto’ where loudly heard. Most of the dealers and floor people and at least half the players greeted him. He took time for pictures and autographs from several fans, and shook hands and conversed with several more. The primary thing I learned in my evening with Humberto Brenes is there are few people who display their passion for family as exuberantly as he does and there are even fewer poker players that exhibit as great a passion for the game.