In 2009, Devin TranquilChaos Porter welcomed a new member of the family. Now eight months old, Mason Porter has turned his daddy’s world upside down. The new addition to the family watched as his father final tabled the PokerStars Sunday Million in October for $82,000. In 2010, Porter plans to become more of a fixture on the live poker circuit, which he largely vacated this year. So what does the New Year hold for the longtime staple of the online poker community? How was Mason’s very first Christmas? PocketFives.com virtually traveled to Utah to find out.Porter has had a parade of success in the poker industry throughout the course of his career. He final tabled the first two World Poker Tour (WPT) events he played, a fourth place finish in the Ultimate Bet Aruba Poker Classic and a third place effort in the Mirage Poker Showdown; they combined for $533,000. In 2007, Porter landed in fourth in a $2,500 buy-in No Limit Hold’em event during the World Series of Poker (WSOP) for $139,000. In 2008, Porter grabbed third in a $1,500 buy-in WSOP No Limit Hold’em Short-Handed event for $151,000.
PocketFives.com: Thanks for joining us. Tell us where your live and online poker schedules sit as we enter 2010.Devin Porter: After that Sunday Million final table in October, I had a lackluster finish to the year. There were a few close calls, but I was basically just donating back. I took a lot of time off with the holidays and celebrated that Sunday Million final table, so I'm sure I wasn’t as sharp as I could be. I'll be going to the Commerce Casino for the L.A. Poker Classic prelims at the end of January. There will be a short hiatus as I fly cross-country to Miami for the Super Bowl and then I’ll likely go back to L.A. for the $10,000 Main Event.
PocketFives.com: Are you ready to get back out on the poker tournament trail? Do you miss it at all?
Devin Porter: I definitely miss it. There’s something to be said for the feel of the cards, the shuffling of the chips, controlling your breathing when making a big bluff, stacking a huge pile of chips, the inane chatter of amateurs, and telling the same stupid stories over and over.
PocketFives.com: How often do you plan on playing in 2010 given you’ll have a son at home that will miss you?
Devin Porter: He’s amazing. I’ll get some awful bad beat, be angry, look over at him, and he’ll just be smiling away. He is the ultimate tilt control. I'll probably still not be back to playing as often as I was pre-baby, but I know I’m going to the L.A. Poker Classic. I'd like to go to Bay 101 and maybe a random Las Vegas series like the Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza or Wynn Championship. Then, I'll be in Las Vegas for a full schedule of WSOP events.
PocketFives.com: One of your largest online poker scores to date came by virtue of final tabling the Sunday Million in October for $82,000. Tell us how important that cash was given your well-known success in the live arena on the WPT and WSOP.
Devin Porter: It's always nice to bink a five-figure amount, but this was a little sweeter, as I've been running pretty badly throughout the year. I was actually a little disappointed that I didn’t break the six-figure mark because coming into 2009, I'd had a six-figure score in each of the last four years going back to 2005. I was hoping that I'd have another big result before the year was out, but it wasn’t meant to be.
PocketFives.com: Tell us about Mason’s (pictured at right) first Christmas.Devin Porter: It was excellent. Just like most babies, he enjoyed the paper and boxes much more than the actual gifts he received. He usually naps every couple of hours, but I'm not sure I remember a nap that day with all of the moving around and going to visit relatives. Next year, it will be good too, as he might understand the whole Santa thing.
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