WSOP: Bracelet Winner Q and A -- Frank Gary

After some tightly contested heads-up play, the ever-patient Frank Gary finally got the better of Jonathan Tamayo in some big hands and took down event No. 41, mixed hold’em, pocketing the $219,217 first-place prize and WSOP bracelet.

Gary hails from Fort Meyers, Florida. The 42-year-old is a former software engineer who sold his business and retired early. He now travels around in his RV and plays poker.

Card Player recently caught up with Gary to ask him about his experiences.


Question: You’re doing something every poker player in the world would like to do: sell their business, retire, have some money, travel the country, and play poker. What’s it been like?

Frank Gary: Well, first of all, I want to thank God Almighty for this wonderful blessing and gift. Without Him it wouldn’t have been possible … What’s it like? It’s fun. Sometimes it’s boring, you know, all my friends work and my family doesn’t live where I live so, I have to find things to keep me occupied. But I’m usually home three months, then out on the road for two or three months … It’s a blast.

Q: So what was the difference here today?

FG: I’ve learned a lot. I’ve learned to become a more patient player and I have done a lot of reading, a lot of research, a lot of studying. The big difference is the more you play, the more you learn, the more experience you get.

Q: You certainly played a patient game today. Was that part of your strategy, to sort of sit back and wait for these guys to knock each other out?

FG: Well, honestly, actually that’s the way I played the whole entire tournament. On day two I didn’t play a single hand for the first probably three hours. I got pocket queens once. I went in, picked up the blinds, and that was it. I just sat on my hands, just waiting for cards.

Q: There were a couple of big hands late in the tournament that really turned the tide for you. The one I’m thinking of especially is with the nines there. He flopped the nut straight on you. What was your mindset having to call bets that whole way with nines, then ending up catching it on the river?

FG: Well, the one thing with playing against Jonathan is that I would say he probably played 80-85 percent of his hands. I mean, he never laid his cards down. So, I realized early on when we were three-handed, actually, with Mr. Binger, that I was going to have to pick some spots, pick some cards. I laid down a lot of weak aces against those two, because I thought that they were going to knock each other out, or get pretty close.

Then I realized when we came back from the break … I realized that you’re going to have to start playing king-offsuit, queen-offsuit, things like that. And I think that having a tight image at the table the whole entire time, when I actually started coming into pots … hopefully those guys realize this guy is playing like a stone, all the sudden he’s coming to pots, he’s probably got some cards.

Q: To start this interview, you obviously expressed some religious faith. The last time we heard that at this table it was Jerry Yang. Do you think that gambling and religion are compatible?

FG: That’s a really tough question. When you talk about gambling in the purest sense of gambling, I don’t really consider poker gambling. I think that it’s a skill game, and I think that people are entitled to go to the casino and blow money if they can afford it and have a good time. And I don’t judge people, certainly. I mean, I do it myself. I like to have a few drinks and sit down and play some blackjack once in a while. I don’t judge people, and I really don’t tend to think that there’s anything really wrong with it.

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