Four and half years ago, there was a guy who played poker, but usually with the help of a few wild cards in the deck. Attending law school, apparently for the purpose of discovering he really didn’t want to be a lawyer, this man decided to take a peek at some poker being played on TV. He called himself River Prayer and went to work. It wasn’t his only job at the time. Despite discovering he really didn’t like being an attorney, that was his job.
There was a pretty good chance River Prayer could’ve turned his law degree into a small fortune. With said money, he could’ve easily bought a Porsche and lived a life of comfort. Thing was, River Prayer soon discovered it wasn’t so much fun dealing in the world of law.
“Working for yourself with no clients is a much better gig,” he decided.
It soon became clear, he could do as well for himself playing poker. And so he did. He quit his job four years ago and started playing cards. Most of his friends were still real world working stiffs. River Prayer, however, had other things in mind.
“I try and take advantage of the freedom playing poker gives you and travel whenever I have an excuse or reason to do so,” he said. “As of three years ago, I’d never been outside of North America. I’m now up to seven times and counting.”
River Prayer is not a flashy guy. He doesn’t going around looking for attention or validation. Once he started playing poker, he found himself driving a Honda Accord Hybrid–a sensible car for a sensible guy. Still, a man sometimes has a hard time letting go of nostalgic fantasties. To wit: When River Prayer was growing up, he had a poster of a Porsche on his wall.
“When given the opportunity to make that reality, it was hard to pass up,” he said.
How did he do it? Well, much like the few people before him who had racked up a few million Frequent Player Points. He told PokerStars he wanted a Porsche and PokerStars gave him one for his Points. You think he impressed his buddies?
“For my long-time friends, it wasn’t ‘impressed’ so much as mutual tripping off the hilarity of the fact that you can play a ‘video game’ online and earn a Porsche,” he said. “Kind of surreal. It’s been cool to share
the experience with them.”
Now a Supernova Elite, River Prayer recently cashed at the PokerStars Caribbean Adventure. He also still owns his dinged-up Hybrid. He uses it for long road trips and such. When he tools around the hills of his home city, however, it’s in the Porsche.
Surreal, indeed.
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