As part of a recent Cake Poker leaderboard competitionhere on PocketFives.com, members of the online poker community battled it out for a trip to the Dominican Republic to play in the Punta Cana Poker Classic. PocketFives member apology7won the trip, worth $3,100, and survived to see the top 20 in the final standings. Upon his return to the United States, apology7 authored a thread entitled “Practical Financial Advice for Poker Players,” which received about 30 replies. Let’s take a look at his recent exploits.

PocketFives.com: Thanks for joining us. You’re only a few weeks removed from the trip to Punta Cana. Tell us about the trip.

apology7: The trip was awesome. I had never been to an all-inclusive resort before, so I had no idea what to expect. The resort was sprawling and absolutely beautiful. The service was excellent, the beach was amazing, and I got to meet a bunch of players from all over the world. The poker trip was designed to give players a lot of time for leisure, so that was nice, and it was more of a vacation than anything really. I did okay in the tournament and had a small cash.

PocketFives.com: What was the field like?

apology7: The details of the tournament are still a little bit fuzzy, but I did see some crazy plays, one of which involved an old man tanking for nearly four minutes while he debated calling a 20 big blind 3bet shove with queens. He actually flipped the cards over and began loudly yelling about what a tough decision he had to make. He ended up folding, the other player flipped over A-2, and everyone at the table tried to hold back from laughing. Aside from that, there were a lot of notable players in the tournament like Doyle Brunson, Hoyt Corkins, members of the Brunson 10, Eli Elezra, and Mike Caro.

PocketFives.com: What was it like to be in a completely different location playing poker?

apology7: When we first arrived, we had to take a small bus to the resort. The roads in the Dominican Republic are insane. All of the locals pretty much drive little mopeds and there don’t seem to be any traffic laws. Everyone just kind of pulls out in front of each other or passes on single lane highways. It was nuts. When we arrived at the resort, we received impeccable service that probably couldn’t be matched anywhere in the States. The workers are polite – happy people who really seem to enjoy their jobs. There is a quite a bit of poverty, so those working in the service industry there are very grateful.

PocketFives.com: Talk a little bit about creating the financial advice threadthat appeared in Poker Discussion.

apology7: Poker players are good at making money, but seem to be notoriously bad at managing it. When news of a possible 15-month online blackout spread through the poker community due to the Harry Reid bill, a lot of professionals wondered how they were going to make ends meet. If there is one essential characteristic a poker player needs to have, it has to be the ability to manage their financial lives. Things happen in the poker world like downswings and legislation. Professionals need to be smart about money and protect themselves. They need to realize poker is likely not a permanent thing, but the money you can make from it can set you up for life if you’re wise enough to keep it.

PocketFives.com: What kind of feedback have you received from readers?

apology7: So far, the people who have replied to the thread seem to have gotten something out of it, which is great. I don’t proclaim to be a personal finance guru or anything, so my goal for making the thread was to share some basic financial principles and get people thinking about their future a little bit more.

PocketFives.com: You wanted to pitch the Poker Players Alliance(PPA). Go for it!

apology7: I really think it’s important for players to protect their right to play poker. I encourage both recreational and professional players to join the PPA and keep up with all of the legislation that’s going on. Now is a very unique time in the history of poker and we will undoubtedly see big changes in the coming years. Let’s just hope it’s for the best.