"I Have Been Living in a Beautiful Beach Town on the Pacific Ocean"

Dan · August 10, 2013

“I have been living in a beautiful beach town on the Pacific Ocean.” That was the answer given by longtime PocketFives member Francis The Lab RatAnderson (pictured) when asked what he has been up to recently. Tough life, huh? The town in question is Playa del Coco, Costa Rica, which is home to a bevy of online poker transplants who have used services like Poker Refugees to relocate from the United States to continue playing online.

On July 21, Anderson brought home the win in the Full Tilt Sunday Brawl, defeating a field of nearly 1,200 players to scoop $46,000. After the tournament had ended, Anderson told PocketFives in an exclusive interview, “I’m feeling great. I just got back to Costa Rica after a rough trip to Las Vegas. It feels great to finally win a Sunday Major after playing online poker for six years.”

The final table was one for the ages and featured the likes of Claydol, 95th ranked McNallyville, longtime PocketFiver PrtyPsux, 53rd ranked LeChiffre19, and 161st ranked moneyinbag. Anderson told us that he lost a coin flip on the final table bubble to PrtyPsux that would have made him the chip leader. Instead, he entered as a short stack and doubled up with jacks against fours. He called it “probably the hardest final table of a Sunday Major I’ve been at.”

The coin flip in question was worth 40 big blinds. Anderson said, “It was very disappointing to lose that flip with a chance to enter the final table with a commanding chip lead, but that’s poker.” Anderson has racked up $3.3 million in tracked online MTT cashes over the year on PokerStars and Full Tilt Poker.

Let’s get back to Playa del Coco. It’s in Costa Rica, which has 150 PocketFivers with PLB scores. Anderson called the hamlet “the best town or city in the world in terms of great poker players. I have been living here since February 2012 and love it a lot. It’s a great, relaxed lifestyle. I have been grinding online poker five or six days a week and partying a lot with my friends.” He has primarily engaged in mid- and high-stakes tournaments.

Anderson’s Sunday Brawl win is the third largest score we have tracked for him. It trails a runner-up finish in a WCOOP tournament in 2012 for $192,000 officially and a final table in an FTOPS tournament two months before Black Friday for $78,000.

So what does a life in Costa Rica entail? Exactly what you think it should. Anderson told us, “I hang out a lot on the beach, jet ski, hang out with beautiful women, and have a great time. I try not to grind as many hours as I used to before Black Friday. I used to drain myself out playing six days a week, 10 to 12 hours a day.” Best life ever?

Now that online poker is legalized and regulated in Nevada, and New Jersey is three months away from launching its arsenal of online casinos, would Anderson return to the U.S.? Not so much: “It would take a lot for me to move back. I’m in an amazing environment. The cost of living is so inexpensive here, the beach is amazing, and I have so many friends in this small town. I don’t ever see myself living in the United States for an extended period of time in the near future.”

He closed by sending a variety of shout outs. The longtime PocketFives member wanted to recognize munchenhb, Gettin Daize, Big Huni, rounder63, My Brim Low, mtstackin88, brianm15, teamwispy, maxv2, cotchery89, Illini213, sashi, playa plz, stanman420, Border Patrol, real silvia, jukebox alan, nutserrytime, ott-man87, and RamsGold.