This week, ESPN.com poker show “Inside Deal” welcomed Victor Ramdin. A member of Team PokerStars Pro who is passionate about charity work, Ramdin discusses Scotty Nguyen’s 2008 World Series of Poker (WSOP) antics and coming to the United States from his native Guyana.
The show began with recap of the latest poker news, headlined by WSOP November Nine member Joe Cada inking a sponsorship agreement with PokerStars. Still unsigned is chip leader Darvin Moon. “Inside Deal” host Bernard Lee gave his two cents on Moon’s future: “He’s said repeatedly that he doesn’t want to sign with a site and so far he’s keeping his word.” Attention then turned to the World Poker Tour’s (WPT) second sale to Party Gaming, the parent company of PartyPoker. As a result of backing out of its first deal, the WPT was forced to pay Gamynia Limited a $1 million penalty. Gamynia is affiliated with the iPoker Network.
After reviewing results from the WPT Legends of Poker, PokerStars Sunday Million, and the Asia Pacific Poker Tour’s (APPT) Macau stop, the “Inside Deal” welcomed Team Ultimate Bet’s Adam “Roothlus” Levy, who called into the show. On his online poker moniker, Levy explained, “It was an XBOX Live name. I just wanted something that sounded cool, so I decided to spell it phonetically.”
Levy rehashed his run-in with Phil Hellmuth during the 2008 WSOP Main Event, noting, “I thought it was pretty epic. It was surreal. I didn’t get offended or anything like that. I knew what I was getting into.” Levy then dove into the lifestyle of today’s online poker players, running into “Saved by the Bell” principal Dennis Haskins at a Los Angeles nightclub, and traveling to the Ultimate Bet Aruba Poker Classic.
Ramdin then joined the show in studio and explained his mentality when coming to the United States in 1989: “It was a dream come true. This is like all of our dreams come true – just to come to America.” He has since made a name for himself not only on the felts, but also in the world of charity, where he travels to Guyana to fund heart surgeries with a team of poker stars. Ramdin told “Inside Deal” viewers, “When it comes to charity, I’m all pumped up. I have more energy for charity than I do for poker.” In addition to a lucrative poker career, Ramdin also owns several retail stores in the Bronx and manages real estate rentals.
ESPN.com Poker Editor Andrew Feldman joined the show to discuss the results of viewer opinions on Mount Cashmore, the Mount Rushmore of poker. Viewers enshrined Doyle Brunson, Hellmuth, Stu Ungar, and Chris Moneymaker on the granite face of Mount Cashmore. Others who came close to being one of the top four nominees included November Nine member Phil Ivey, Chip Reese, Daniel Negreanu, and “Binion.” On the latter nomination, e-mailers did not specify which Binion they meant, Jack or Benny.
Discussion turned to members of a hypothetical Hall of Shame. Ramdin claimed 2008 WSOP HORSE Champion Scotty Nguyen should be the Hall’s first member: “He’s a world-class player, but he should be setting a better example. I really hated what he did.” Highlights aired of Nguyen lambasting Michael DiMichele while allegedly drunk at the televised final table and included a barrage of edited words. Nguyen has since apologized for his actions.
Ramdin called his favorite “hidden gem” of the poker tournament scene the Bahamas, the site of the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure each January. On his nickname “Computer Man,” the poker pro explained, “I don’t know where that came from. I am no computer man.” Also revealed was that Ramdin has a weight loss bet and he likes to stay around 200 pounds. While he’d like to see Ivey win the 2009 WSOP Main Event in November, his second choice would be Eric Buchman, who hails from New York.
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