You Can't Just Own a Tropical Beach Bar for a Living
I can’t recall a single time that PocketFives has interviewed a player from the Turks and Caicos. After all, the island nation is home to just one registered PocketFiver, Mike m8675309aAdamo (pictured), who recently made the final table of the PokerStars Sunday Warm-Up and cashed for a hair over $20,000. While we wish we could have traveled to the West Indies to interview him, we had to settle for a Skype conversation.
PocketFives: While your Sunday Warm-Up final table is exciting, we want to know about poker in the Turks and Caicos. How is the game viewed, who plays, and are there live games?
Mike Adamo: There are some live games here, but they were more plentiful a couple of years ago. Now, I play mostly online, but spent five weeks at the WSOP and travel to play live about two or three months a year. One new player moved to island about a year ago due to Black Friday, a very good cash six-max player named willybeer22, but there are not too many serious players here who play poker for a living.
PocketFives: What is life on the island like in general?
Mike Adamo: I’m originally from Canada, so it’s nice not to deal with, as I call them, the “Three Ts,” which are traffic, tundra, and taxes. We probably have the best beach in all of the Caribbean called Grace Bay. We have very good weather too. It’s a bit hot right now, but it’s ideal for about eight months of the year.
I own a bar and grill in the marina called Sharkbite. That’s what motivated me to move here from Bermuda, where I was grinding a living playing single-table tournaments from 2003 to 2006 back in the good old PartyPoker days when games were super juicy and easy. I’m also an avid golfer. Since I moved here, I represented our national team twice.
PocketFives: Tell us about Sharkbite (pictured). Convince us to hit it up the next time we come to Turks and Caicos.
Mike Adamo: It’s a nice bar and grill with a good local ex-pat following as well as natives and tourists. It’s nice to have another business when poker is not going as well as one would like it to. It’s one of the oldest restaurants in Providenciales, Turks and Caicos. We are celebrating our 20th year and I bought it in 2006.
PocketFives: How do you balance your time among the restaurant, poker, and golf? It sounds like you have a lot going on.
Mike Adamo: When poker is going well, I don’t golf that much. When I moved to the island, I was an 18 handicap. I took a six-week break from poker and I was an 8 handicap and then eventually got down to a 2. I play golf a couple of times a week now, but go through phases where I’ll golf four or five times a week.
I’m actually on another poker break right now. WCOOP was not as kind to me as Iwould have liked. At the WSOP, I busted the Main Event 20 minutes before the money, so that was disappointing, as I was going for my third straight cash in the WSOP Main Event. I still can’t resist playing some of the Sunday Majors, which is what drew me into the Sunday Warm-Up. I wish I had faded a queen on the river, though, which would have put me in good position with six players to go, but oh well.
PocketFives: Your big claim to fame online is a nearly $300,000 score in the PokerStars Sunday Million in late 2009. How did that cash change your poker career?
Mike Adamo: That was a special day. Turning $200 into $250,000 just seems almost impossible. Obviously, I must have run pretty good that day, but I think I only got chips in as a big dog one time that I remember. At the time, it was the largest Sunday Million PokerStars ever held, with just under 20,000 runners, and I ended up coming in second. The final table had a really tough lineup when we got down to the last six players.
In terms of how it changed my poker career, I’ve always been very careful with my bankroll. I’m 42 years old and didn’t start playing full-time until I was 33, so I didn’t jump up in stakes or anything like that. I used most of the money to buy Sharkbite.
PocketFives: Does being older give you an edge in any way in poker?
Mike Adamo: I don’t think so. I kind of wish I’d quit my day job and gone pro at 20 like so many kids today. Being fearless of going broke has its advantages, especially in tournament poker. Bankroll management is probably on my side. I’m probably one of few players who have never gone broke due to my careful bankroll management.
PocketFives: Would you like to leave us with any words of wisdom?
Mike Adamo: Poker is a lot better than digging ditches for a living. It has given me the opportunity to move to a beautiful Caribbean island, be an avid golfer, and travel the world playing poker. All in all, it’s a pretty awesome life.
