In this episode with Chats with Tats, Nolan Dalla, longtime media director of World Series of Poker, looks back on the uplifting events that made his summer.
Nolan Dalla has just wrapped up another busy summer in Las Vegas. This year, the media director of World Series of Poker returned on the perch to cover the 2015 WSOP tournament in Rio Las Vegas.
“The players have a certain, I think you have what I call an intestinal fortitude for it in order to make it through this, and a bankroll. Those of us who worked the other side of this, which is covering it, I think you have to have what I call an emotional sustenance and a passion that just somehow will carry you six straight weeks,” Dalla told CalvinAyre.com.
Admittedly, covering 68 gold bracelets can be a roller coaster ride, but Dalla said the players’ stories rekindles the fire in him.
“It sustains my enthusiasm when I’m having one of those down days and I can [say], ‘Boy, this is just, this is getting really old,’ and all of a sudden you have this fantastic winner. It will just lift you up and [they’ll] tell you their story, and you’re right back there and say, ‘I can’t wait to come back tomorrow,’” he explained.
Dalla, who has been a longtime figure in the poker industry, is also glad to see a little bit of change in how players now interact with each other.
“Many, many years ago, the World Series did used to be a social network of people. It wasn’t just all about poker, but it was about experience and things going to dinner with your friends,” Dalla said. “This wasn’t just about poker, but it was about learning about other people and having a good time, and I’ve seen I think this year, a little bit of change.”
He recalled going to Chinatown in the wee hours of morning and seeing poker players in a restaurant he frequently visited.
“I see four, five tables of poker players, and they’re always talking, and these are people that I saw hours ago. They were playing against each other. Now, they’re eating Thai food. I think that’s what poker’s all about and that’s what makes this… That’s what we should have every summer,” Dalla said.
