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May 5, 2008
Daniel Cox
Editor, Gaming Review Online
San Jose, Costa Rica - 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 night to play poker with friends and his sons 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 Rica 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 one 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 and distributer of dried
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. One of his properties in the Santa Anna Mountains is being used 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 one of 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.
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