Lee Davy catches up with 888Poker Ambassador Bruno Politano at 888Live Barcelona to talk about his coaching business in Brazil, the importance of mindset, and the role spirituality has had in his life.
I will always remember the sight of Falcao in 82; arms outstretched; veins trying to reach the moon, mouth wide open like some yuppie who has been snowballing coke all night.
It’s the one defining memory I have of Brazil.
And that’s what I’m thinking about as I take a sip from my green juice, quietly observing the Brazilian 888Poker Ambassadors like a pack of wolves at the opening night party as part of 888Live Barcelona.
Nicolau Villa-Lobos.
The World Cup winner, Denilson.
I decide to ask Politano.
I cruise over, secretly thinking I’m Falcao, and tap him on the shoulder.
“Fancy a chat?”
“Of course,” he says with a smile that would give the Cheshire cat a run for his money.
Who is Bruno Foster Politano?
“I am a normal guy. I grew up in the North West part of Brazil….”
Hang on; you can’t be a ‘normal’ guy, you have just been laughing and joking with a World Cup winner {Denilson} and are good friends with Neymar Jr.
“But I am still a normal, calm guy. My life is poker. I travel a lot playing poker, coaching poker – I have a school called Line Up, in Brazil. We have 500 students and are growing. I have also been representing 888Poker since my November Nine appearance in 2014.”
Cardrunners and The Ivey League have closed down in the US this year, but your business is growing well in Brazil.
“After I made the final table we had our boom. The market in Brazil is good for players, media, live tournaments, and training schools. The Brazilian market is a good place to invest in poker. The market has been growing these past five years, and we have lots of recreational players.”
Talk about Neymar Jr.
“He’s a big name in soccer, but he’s just a normal guy. A very human, funny, happy guy. I met him after the November Nine. My friend who plays for Valencia is good friends with him, and that’s how we met. He is a multi-millionaire, but he is just like you and me.”
Do you have children?
“No, but that’s my plan, in 1-2 years. I have a fiancee in Brazil.”
What do you value in life?
“The most important thing for me is my mind. What I think about is everything to me. Every action is a result of thought in my mind – my soul. I believe in energy; good vibrations and positivity. The things that have value in this life come from your soul. It’s not just helping people; it’s how you think about people that’s the most important thing for me. For me, thinking this way is the best part of life. It allows me to feel good with who I am, my soul, my family, and my future kids.”
This must help you with your poker game.
“I think this is the best part of me playing poker, not technically, but the way I control my mind.”
It’s one thing to intellectually know that your thoughts create your feelings, which in turn create your actions, but it’s another to implement the theory.
“It’s very hard. Meditation is not for this. It’s like levels of life. I have thought like this since I was 15. I have had a lot of contact with people who think this way. I have learned a lot. It’s my religion. I am spiritual. I believe in God, but God for me is not a person, it is energy. But it’s the same God for everyone.
“Believing like this changed everything in my life. It’s how I work, and conduct my relationships with my fiancee and friends. I feel an energy between us and I have never seen you in my life. I feel this adds value to my life. I see the world, the people, and I see my soul.”
How did you go from a 14-year old not thinking like this to a 15-year old that did?
“It’s a process. It doesn’t happen in one day. My Mum and my Dad are spiritual, but they never forced anything on me. They would tell me to follow my heart and choose a religion because it’s important for my life. I chose spirituality because it’s easy. I love what I do, how I feel, and I how my family raised me. We are a strong family: me, my Dad, my Mum and my two sisters always had lunch and dinner the same time together. If my Dad were running 30-minutes late, we wouldn’t eat until he got home.
“They also taught me other values such as the importance of hard work and money. But spirituality has helped me in life the most, and I practice and liv
e like this all the time.”
There is good energy here today, but at times, like in the Rio, for example, there is also a bad energy, how do you handle the changes in energy?
“I feel the same as you. It’s clear for everyone. This bad energy needs to be here because this guy needs to learn that if his energy is bad, it’s not good for him. He will learn. If not, he will spend all of his life putting out bad energy for him and others. Imagine this guy playing all day complaining, and he comes home and complains and moans to his family – bad energy for his table, for him, for his wife, for his kids, the next day.
“I see this differently. I lose my chips. I go to dinner. I control what I want, what I think, what I feel. When I come into the Rio and feel a bad energy, I understand it needs to happen. If this guy does not learn, he never can touch his good energy side of his soul, always bad energy. He needs to learn through his experiences.”
Is this the philosophy you teach your students?
“I don’t teach them about spirituality because you cannot teach this. You need to feel it and know you need to have faith for everything. I work with the students on their winning mentality. It’s similar, but not about faith. It’s good vibrations. I have 500 students, and I can’t talk about spirituality with them all. If you are a poker student, and I talk to you about this you might think I am crazy. It’s easier to talk to you that how to play AK. I don’t have permission to introduce this concept into their lives. It’s important they learn to choose for themselves.”