Frank Frigo

I'm going to oversimplify poker for a second.

But imagine you're at the World Series main event.

and take whoever you think is the most skillful poker player on the planet.

Let's just say it's Phil Ivey.

At the World Series main event in a showdown, I could take someone, a five-year-old kid, that has never played poker in their life, and I could give them a very simple set of rules where I could guarantee they could take down the top player probably a third of the time.

I could prove that mathematically.

I could just get them to push the whole time, and eventually the opponent will have to call.

In backgammon, if you took somebody you just introduced to the game and they played a top level player, a major tournament length match, say 19 to 25 points, they would have almost a zero chance of beating that player because you have so many active decisions.

You can't simplify the game down to that level.

This is going to make poker players cringe because I'm oversimplifying poker, but it's a fact.

That was a very memorable experience.

The world championship has been played in Monte Carlo since the 1970s.

It's been at the same location, the Fairmont Hotel, this iconic hotel.

I was with my wife and we decided to go to Europe for an extended road trip to Monte Carlo.

I was a fairly accomplished player back then.

I played a decent amount.

I didn't have kids yet or anything.

I got on a roll and it was like a magic carpet ride for me because I didn't really have a close match.

The quality of play back then wasn't as good as it is today.

I just got on a very good roll.