Daniel Colman's attitude about/reaction to winning the One Drop
08-14-2014
, 09:48 AM
I think it's refreshing to hear someone, on such a big stage, be honest about poker, particularly those who treat poker as a job/lifestyle. It's even more refreshing due the fact that Colman probably gave up personal financial (sponsorship) opportunities to do so, but still voiced his beliefs. Being criticized for not wanting to take pictures holding bricks of money or not wanting to talk about winning $15,000,000 is just stupid. The truth is he didn't win $15,000,000 or anywhere close to it (just like Cary Katz didn't "win $1,306,667" for finishing 8th, even though Lon McEachern said he did. He actually won $306,667, and even less if he didn't have 100% of himself, but that doesn't sound as good for TV). Colman insisted on using his ESPN post-win interview time to talk about the OneDrop charity and the $ raised to help less fortunate people in the world gain access to clean drinking water and people portray him in a negative light for doing so. Frankly, it's disgusting.
Olivier Busquet's reply to Lon McEachern's Email about Daniel Colman's reluctance to be interviewed
Colman's OneDrop post-win Statement
Olivier Busquet's reply to Lon McEachern's Email about Daniel Colman's reluctance to be interviewed
Quote:
>On Jul 2, 2014, at 1:22AM, Lon McEachern
>
>Hey Olivier,
>Can you provide any insight as to why Daniel is so reluctant to talk now? He has done interviews in the past and created an extensive 2+2 thread chronicling his thoughts on the game and his progress towards his online goals. But tonight with his biggest win ever he is shutting out the world and you are criticizing others without complete explanation. Beyond his "against my personal beliefs" explanation we are left to wonder and you intimate that you know the reason without offering insight.
>Thanks,
>Lon
Lon,
Out of respect I will answer your email though I think you have pretty unfairly mischaracterized the situation. I have only criticized others who are making judgments about him and "his actions" without knowing him, his reasons or even some of the critical facts of the situation. Forming a strong opinion without knowing much of the relevant issues or even making much of an effort to get to know them is not a quality I find particularly admirable but sadly was happening a lot to someone I care very deeply about. Him and I also have an older brother-younger brother dynamic and I felt and still feel a strong protective impulse.
Though he has done interviews in the past, he has changed a lot as a person in the last year and has recently done a lot of thinking about himself, the world, the poker community and how they all fit together. When he won the 100k in Monte Carlo he didn't do any interviews so this wasn't totally out of the blue. At One Drop, even though people constantly keep repeating that he totally shunned the media and didn't do any interviews he actually did do a post-win interview for the show. He insisted the subject be the charity and not himself. He also stood with Kara and answered her question though he did request her question be about the charity. (Like always I felt that Kara handled the situation with an incredible amount of class and professionalism) He also did pose for some winner pics though he very much didn't want to and refused to pose holding bricks of money. He refused to do ancillary interviews with 3rd party media outlets.
His reasons are a little convoluted and I don't entirely agree with them but they basically go like this: He has been in poker for a long time, maybe 7-8 years. In that time, he has seen up close man of the sad and tragic stories that many of us in poker have been exposed to. Whether it's people who are unable to control themselves and end up in debt, addiction and depression or kids who have forgone educational and real life opportunities only to have Black Friday and the overall poker competitiveness change to such an extent as to mostly take away their income potential and end up broke, directionless and skill-less in the general marketplace. He sees poker as a game that has a low financial ceiling (reward) enormous personal risk (both financial and emotional) and very little societal value. He feels that most TV depictions of poker are deceptive because they ignore these realities and focus on the disproportionate and unrepresentative very few lucky people in poker. He doesn't want to promote poker because of that.
Furthermore, he is extremely disturbed by out money-obsessed and celebrity worshipping culture. He doesn't like the idea of celebrating many personal achievements, especially ones relating to financial success. He feels that it promotes hyper-individualism, consumerism and materialism and that those are overall pretty corrosive for our society. Finally he feels that many winners pursue the attention and glorification associated with winning out of self-centeredness and a desire to feed their egos. He has been actively trying to do the opposite of those things and this was an example of that.
He's also not comfortable at all on camera and doesn't feel that he is nearly as articulate as he would like to be so he didn't think he would be able to eloquently express those ideas in an interview.
Though I don't ultimately agree with all of the conclusions he's drawn, I agree with a lot of his starting points and know that he is coming from a genuine and heartfelt place. I can assure you that he is a warm, caring and very sensitive and thoughtful person. He's also still very young and trying to figure out who he is and who he wants to be. Ultimately I think he understood that taking this path would be considerably more difficult and potentially harmful to himself and obviously to his image but he felt strongly enough to stick to his principles. For that I have a lot of respect for him.
Hope you are doing well and wish you the best,
Olivier
>
>Hey Olivier,
>Can you provide any insight as to why Daniel is so reluctant to talk now? He has done interviews in the past and created an extensive 2+2 thread chronicling his thoughts on the game and his progress towards his online goals. But tonight with his biggest win ever he is shutting out the world and you are criticizing others without complete explanation. Beyond his "against my personal beliefs" explanation we are left to wonder and you intimate that you know the reason without offering insight.
>Thanks,
>Lon
Lon,
Out of respect I will answer your email though I think you have pretty unfairly mischaracterized the situation. I have only criticized others who are making judgments about him and "his actions" without knowing him, his reasons or even some of the critical facts of the situation. Forming a strong opinion without knowing much of the relevant issues or even making much of an effort to get to know them is not a quality I find particularly admirable but sadly was happening a lot to someone I care very deeply about. Him and I also have an older brother-younger brother dynamic and I felt and still feel a strong protective impulse.
Though he has done interviews in the past, he has changed a lot as a person in the last year and has recently done a lot of thinking about himself, the world, the poker community and how they all fit together. When he won the 100k in Monte Carlo he didn't do any interviews so this wasn't totally out of the blue. At One Drop, even though people constantly keep repeating that he totally shunned the media and didn't do any interviews he actually did do a post-win interview for the show. He insisted the subject be the charity and not himself. He also stood with Kara and answered her question though he did request her question be about the charity. (Like always I felt that Kara handled the situation with an incredible amount of class and professionalism) He also did pose for some winner pics though he very much didn't want to and refused to pose holding bricks of money. He refused to do ancillary interviews with 3rd party media outlets.
His reasons are a little convoluted and I don't entirely agree with them but they basically go like this: He has been in poker for a long time, maybe 7-8 years. In that time, he has seen up close man of the sad and tragic stories that many of us in poker have been exposed to. Whether it's people who are unable to control themselves and end up in debt, addiction and depression or kids who have forgone educational and real life opportunities only to have Black Friday and the overall poker competitiveness change to such an extent as to mostly take away their income potential and end up broke, directionless and skill-less in the general marketplace. He sees poker as a game that has a low financial ceiling (reward) enormous personal risk (both financial and emotional) and very little societal value. He feels that most TV depictions of poker are deceptive because they ignore these realities and focus on the disproportionate and unrepresentative very few lucky people in poker. He doesn't want to promote poker because of that.
Furthermore, he is extremely disturbed by out money-obsessed and celebrity worshipping culture. He doesn't like the idea of celebrating many personal achievements, especially ones relating to financial success. He feels that it promotes hyper-individualism, consumerism and materialism and that those are overall pretty corrosive for our society. Finally he feels that many winners pursue the attention and glorification associated with winning out of self-centeredness and a desire to feed their egos. He has been actively trying to do the opposite of those things and this was an example of that.
He's also not comfortable at all on camera and doesn't feel that he is nearly as articulate as he would like to be so he didn't think he would be able to eloquently express those ideas in an interview.
Though I don't ultimately agree with all of the conclusions he's drawn, I agree with a lot of his starting points and know that he is coming from a genuine and heartfelt place. I can assure you that he is a warm, caring and very sensitive and thoughtful person. He's also still very young and trying to figure out who he is and who he wants to be. Ultimately I think he understood that taking this path would be considerably more difficult and potentially harmful to himself and obviously to his image but he felt strongly enough to stick to his principles. For that I have a lot of respect for him.
Hope you are doing well and wish you the best,
Olivier
Colman's OneDrop post-win Statement
Quote:
I really don’t owe anyone an explanation but I’ll give one.
First off, I don’t owe poker a single thing. I’ve been fortunate enough to benefit financially from this game, but I have played it long enough to see the ugly side of this world. It is not a game where the pros are always happy and living a fulfilling life. To have a job where you are at the mercy of variance can be insanely stressful and can lead to a lot of unhealthy habits. I would never in a million years recommend for someone to try and make it as a poker pro.
It is also not a game where the amateurs are always happy to be losing their money for the sake of entertainment. The losers lose way more money at this game than winners are winning. A lot of this is money they can’t afford to lose. This is fine of course because if someone is dumb enough to gamble with money they cant afford to lose, that’s their problem. I’m not really buying that though. In a perfect world, markets are based on informed consumers making rational transactions. In reality, sadly, that’s not the case. Markets are based on advertising trying to play on peoples impulses and targeting their weaknesses in order for them to make irrational decisions. I get it if someone wants to go and play poker on their own free will, but I don’t agree with gambling being advertised just like I don’t agree with cigarettes and alcohol being advertised.
It bothers me that people care so much about poker’s well-being. As poker is a game that has such a net negative effect on the people playing it. Both financially and emotionally.
As for promoting myself, I feel that individual achievements should rarely be celebrated. I am not going to take part in it for others and I wouldn’t want it for myself. If you wonder why our society is so infatuated by individuals and their success, and being a baller, it is not that way for no reason. It is there because it serves a clear purpose. If you get people to look up to someone and adhere to the “gain wealth, forget all but self” motto, then you can get them to ignore the social contract which is very good for power systems. Also it serves as a means of distraction to get people to not pay attention to the things that do matter.
These are just my personal views. And yes, I realize I am conflicted. I capitalize off this game that targets peoples weaknesses. I do enjoy it, I love the strategy part of it, but I do see it as a very dark game.
First off, I don’t owe poker a single thing. I’ve been fortunate enough to benefit financially from this game, but I have played it long enough to see the ugly side of this world. It is not a game where the pros are always happy and living a fulfilling life. To have a job where you are at the mercy of variance can be insanely stressful and can lead to a lot of unhealthy habits. I would never in a million years recommend for someone to try and make it as a poker pro.
It is also not a game where the amateurs are always happy to be losing their money for the sake of entertainment. The losers lose way more money at this game than winners are winning. A lot of this is money they can’t afford to lose. This is fine of course because if someone is dumb enough to gamble with money they cant afford to lose, that’s their problem. I’m not really buying that though. In a perfect world, markets are based on informed consumers making rational transactions. In reality, sadly, that’s not the case. Markets are based on advertising trying to play on peoples impulses and targeting their weaknesses in order for them to make irrational decisions. I get it if someone wants to go and play poker on their own free will, but I don’t agree with gambling being advertised just like I don’t agree with cigarettes and alcohol being advertised.
It bothers me that people care so much about poker’s well-being. As poker is a game that has such a net negative effect on the people playing it. Both financially and emotionally.
As for promoting myself, I feel that individual achievements should rarely be celebrated. I am not going to take part in it for others and I wouldn’t want it for myself. If you wonder why our society is so infatuated by individuals and their success, and being a baller, it is not that way for no reason. It is there because it serves a clear purpose. If you get people to look up to someone and adhere to the “gain wealth, forget all but self” motto, then you can get them to ignore the social contract which is very good for power systems. Also it serves as a means of distraction to get people to not pay attention to the things that do matter.
These are just my personal views. And yes, I realize I am conflicted. I capitalize off this game that targets peoples weaknesses. I do enjoy it, I love the strategy part of it, but I do see it as a very dark game.
Last edited by iPUTnutsONtheTABLE; 08-14-2014 at 09:59 AM.
08-14-2014
, 10:01 AM
Quote:
I think it's refreshing to hear someone, on such a big stage, be honest about poker, particularly those who treat poker as a job/lifestyle. It's even more refreshing due the fact that Colman probably gave up personal financial (sponsorship) opportunities to do so, but still voiced his beliefs. Being criticized for not wanting to take pictures holding bricks of money or not wanting to talk about winning $15,000,000 is just stupid. The truth is he didn't win $15,000,000 or anywhere close to it (just like Cary Katz didn't "win $1,306,667" for finishing 8th, even though Lon McEachern said he did. He actually won $306,667, and even less if he didn't have 100% of himself, but that doesn't sound as good for TV). Colman insisted on using his ESPN post-win interview time to talk about the OneDrop charity and the $ raised to help less fortunate people in the world gain access to clean drinking water and people portray him in a negative light for doing so. Frankly, it's disgusting.
08-14-2014
, 11:06 AM
08-14-2014
, 11:16 AM
08-14-2014
, 11:37 AM
08-14-2014
, 12:42 PM
