I believe that life is a journey of a vagabond who makes stops from time to time. Although life is not that long, it is filled with complications.

Although I have lived restlessly in order to survive, I now want to quietly reflect on things of the past in order to have some rest.

People like to talk about the business of others. They are especially interested in the bad things. But it is our nature not to want to keep the weaknesses or bad memories of ourselves in our minds. Even for myself, it was not easy to mention my own social life in my last column.

I was fortunate to have incredible luck follow me as I started playing poker, but I also endured much emotional pain and suffering in going from a divorce to becoming independent and secure.

I was born in Korea and was an only child, and my mother passed away in 1988 and my father in 1993. After my divorce, the fact that I was completely alone without any family made me even more lonely and sorrowful every time hardship arose.

However, even in these conditions, life continued on and formed an enclosure for me for which I am grateful. I came to Northern California and worked for a few months at Casino San Pablo. I quit that job for personal reasons, and worked as a musical host for a small radio station because I had some of that experience in Korea. But I could not work there long because of the low pay. Through a girlfriend of mine, I was introduced to Mark Luciano, the owner of a card club called the Outpost Casino in San Ramon. As a result of that meeting, I have been working there to this day, which has been about five years. Because my working hours were flexible, I was still able to continue my broadcasting work on a part-time basis. But as my tournament trips began, I quit the broadcasting work. From that point on, I began to receive recognition and recover emotionally little by little.

I don't know if this is believable, but poker was a virtually perfect game to comfort me when I was in this situation. I was able to enjoy poker in most of my lonely times, and it cheered me up. I also was able to meet many people and communicate with them. Poker was my best friend. Also, tremendous luck followed, making me even more thankful.

I think there is nothing in the world that can be gained easily. I have heard that some absurd players dream of jackpots coming out of nowhere, and waste all of their wealth gambling. Those people might call themselves professionals, but I think a true professional poker player is a completely responsible person who does not cause any discomfort to others and himself in his daily life. He is not influenced by emotions, and plays with fresh energy and confidence. He does his best, and is humbly admired by opposing players.

All expert players have their own individual characteristics. The way they play, their styles, and their personalities all differ. But their most important characteristic is patience. The one who endures and outlasts other players is the one who wins. I think this is true in all aspects of life. Although I have played with him only a few times, Scotty Nguyen has left a lasting impression upon me. I don't know much about him, but he was the champion of the 1998 World Series of Poker. Everyone knows him because he is famous, but I have deep admiration for him for several reasons. The first is his attitude when playing. His emotions are unseen. He is always humble, and doesn't underestimate his opponents. He displays the mentality of the perfect professional. I believe that he is a person who has succeeded in life.

All players hope to win, and I believe that victory comes to those who first know themselves, understand others, and have great patience.

By the time you read this column, the biggest event of the year, the 32nd annual World Series of Poker will be drawing to a close. Here's hoping that we all will have borne the fruits of this year's tournament.