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10 Questions with Humberto Brenes

By GamingReview
May 15, 08 12:20 AM

May 6, 2008
Daniel Cox
Editor, Gaming Review Online

Gaming Review Online: As you recognized as much in Costa Rica as in America?”
Humberto Brenes: “In Costa Rica I am not known as much as a poker player, but as a businessman. I have owned several hotels, the television station Channel 2, and many other businesses. In Costa Rica, I am known as ‘Papito’ and they know me as ’The Shark’ in America.”

GRO: How do you feel as the most famous poker player in Costa Rica?
HB: “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. When I was in Monte Carlo, I asked my teenage daughter Jessica to carry my sharks into a player’s reception. She didn’t want to. I explained to her that I am famous for the sharks. She said, ‘You aren’t a star, you‘re my Papi.’ When I came back from the $25,000 World Poker Tour Championship Event last week, I played in a $50 tournament here in Costa Rica with my sons. I had more fun playing with them in that tournament than I did at the Bellagio or in Monte Carlo.”

GRO: You have two World Series of Poker bracelets. Your brothers each have World Poker Tour Titles. Who is the better player, you, Alex or Eric? (NOTE: A week after this interview, Alex placed 4th in the inaugural Latin American Poker Tour event in Rio de Janeiro.)
HB: “As with any player, it depends on the day. Which of us has slept best, or is free from stress or is capable of making the best decisions? Poker is about making decisions, so whoever is making the best decisions on a given day is the best player.”

GRO: Besides the Brenes family, who are the other Costa Rican players to watch out for?
HB: “Jose Rozencrantz is a very good player, having won on the World Poker Tour. Max and Mary Stern are also good players. They are the only husband and wife to have both won World Series of Poker bracelets.”

GRO: Why are there so few Costa Rican players on the international poker circuit?
HB: “Until recently, like in most of the world, poker was not a sport that had much respect. There are many Costa Rican players when you compare them to other Latin American countries. The new Latin American Poker Tour (LAPT) that PokerStars.NET is sponsoring is going to grow more players. Also, many players play in Latin American tournaments, mostly in Columbia and Panama, as well as in Europe, because they do not like that American Casinos must withhold taxes of 30% on money earned in tournaments.

GRO: Do you see poker growing in Costa Rica?
HB: Years ago, poker was underground in Costa Rica, like it was in America and many other countries. Now, many of the college students are playing poker and it is becoming very popular.

GRO: How do you feel when some people say you go over the top, at times, with your Shark card covers and your flamboyant actions at the table?
HB: “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 televised poker. 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.”

GRO: Unlike many people, I enjoy a good bad beat story. What is your worst ‘Bad Beat’ story?
HB: “My worst bad beat was the hand that ended my 2003 World Series of Poker against Chris Moneymaker. My hole cards were pocket Aces, so I was confident. When a King - Nine - Two fell on the flop, I checked and he raised All In. Thinking about it momentarily, I then called. I was elated when he turned over his pocket Eights. I was devastated when the turn brought an Eight and the river did not help me. By knocking me out in 41st place, he took the lead in the World Series, never looked back and changed the face of poker. It is more painful because it was on television so often; it is even on You Tube. I have lost more money on other bad beats, but that was the one that hurt the most.”

GRO: Is there a question interviewers have not asked in the past, but that you wish someone would ask?
HB: “The question I would most like to have asked is, ‘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.”

GRO: Is there anything you would like to add?
HB: “The attention I get with the 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 where the 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 the laws. For more information on the problem and ways to help, visit http://www.sharkscostarica.org/.

I am also involved in causes that protect nature. My partners and I are building one of the first ‘wind farms’ in the Santa Anna Mountains to produce clean electricity. The most important thing for everyone to do is get involved in protecting nature. If it helps to get people involved in protecting nature by using my name, I am willing to support these causes.”

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 at 74 years old. Poker is good for exercising the mind, which aids against Alzheimer’s. It is also a sport that brings the family together. All of the members of the family can have fun playing. Poker is also a sport 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.”