Paco Healy

There is no doubt poker exploded after Moneymaker won the main event of the World Series of Poker back in 2003. 2003 was the first year ESPN introduced table cameras that exposed to the audience the players starting "down cards." Not to mention the fact that Moneymaker was just an average accountant who qualified for the $10,000 buy in, through a $40 internet tournament. Turning forty bucks into 2.5 million got a lot of people excited. It changed poker because it showed the regular low stakes player that you could qualify for a prestigious tournament online.

Not at all. Someone who is a professional gambler relies on gambling for the majority, if not, all of their income. This may include table games, sports betting, horse racing etc. I definitely have a regular job where I work all week in order to pay the bills. I think the term "professional poker player" is a more appropriate one for the top players. The lifestyle is so tough because of the pitfalls of the casino environment. If you are sharp enough to be a winning player, you also have to be sharp enough to play great and then get out. Too many people blow money on everything else in the casino: dining, shopping, partying, gold-diggers, etc. The list can go on and on.

Moving to Vegas will for sure help my play. It's so much cheaper to buy a house out there and its a great city to work in. I am going to deal poker, which will help my game in observing the game day in and day out. The more you understand people the better your game gets. My wife is great in that she helps me practice "bankroll management." She won't let me get out of line financially, so my poker money is always extra even after savings.

For the next year, my immediate goal is the California State Championship of Poker at the Commerce Casino in LA. I am also gonna put in some work online. Pokerstars.com is hosting the World Championship of Online Poker. I am gonna play a bunch of qualifying tournaments because the prize money should be huge. More importantly I just want to be comfortable in my house, work hard, learn a lot, play well while showing good character, network, and stay healthy. Lastly yes, I will play the Main Event within the next 2 years. It's all about smaller events in the mean time.

The most I ever won was $2,300 dollars in one hand. I had pocket kings and it took place at Oceans Eleven in Oceanside. I left and drove out to San Marcos to pay for college tuition. Its was a sick day off

If I won the World Series, I would go on vacation, take care of my family, retire my parents, buy a house in Carlsbad, and feed a lot of hungry children.

I don't fully see it as a sport or gambling. I would say that poker is 65% skill and 35% luck. I do have some struggles with playing all the time. There is so much to learn which makes it easy to always be thinking about it. The key is to have balance by keeping in touch with the most important things in life like family, friends, and health.

The poker for poverty tournaments are fun events. Koerce Media joins with World Vision and hosts a poker tournament in which the prize pool goes to fight against world hunger. I had the privilege of winning the first ever poker for poverty tournament. It was sick playing with some of the best players in our town.

My wife is probably the most important part of me being successful in poker. She is so good with money so I know I can't blow it. However, she is cool enough to encourage me to hold on to big wins and put them aside solely for poker. The idea is to have a bankroll separate from your income that grows from your wins.