Page 2 - Chi Phi - Fall 2017

CHAPTER NEWS

Alumni Spotlight the chapter house with a few brothers and
(continued from page 1) friends from campus.
Mostly, I honed my skills online where, be-
-fore leaving Atlanta in 2015, I was a mem- cause of the ability to play much faster than
ber at the Golf Club of Georgia, River Club, live poker and many more tables (I would
and Hawks Ridge and at one point had a play up to 40 tables at a time!), I got a de-
+1 handicap. Not having a traditional 9-5 cades worth of poker education in mere
job has led to having a very diverse group Daniel with organizers and sponsors after winning the World months. Some of the most famous poker
of golfing friends including ex-Braves John Poker Tour tournament of champions earlier this year. players in the world (Daniel Negreanu, Phil
Smoltz and Chipper Jones. I currently play Hellmuth, Doyle Bruson) might play 1 million hands of poker in
2-3 times per week when not on the road and maintain close to a their lifetimes. I was playing 3 million a year. By the time I gradu-
scratch handicap.
ated GT, I was at the top of my subset of the online poker world,
What advice would you give to young alumni and active 9-handed No Limit Texas Hold’em.
members?
What motivated you to take poker seriously enough, in order
I told the brothers this when I left school and I would tell actives to become a 2x World Poker Champion?
and young alumni the same thing: life is too short to work hard I’ve always been the kind of person to go 100% into work/hob-
at something you don’t enjoy. So many young people are on bies or to not get into them at all. It started when I was younger
a path that has been deemed “normal” by the rest of society. and was top 50 tennis player in US, before injuries caused me to
High School leads to college which leads to a job where you work lose interest in the sport. My time at GT coincided with the Pok-
until you’re 60 and then you retire. It definitely works for some er Boom of the early 2000’s which helped greatly. Anytime you
people, but many end up miserable with no alternatives because turned on the TV, you would see a World Poker Tour broadcast
they never tried something else along the way. Your degree from of WSOP episode on. I already had a love for the game and it’s
GT will open a lot of doors whether you are 20 or 30, so why not complexities, and turning it into a profession seemed like some-
spend a few of those 10 years figuring out what will make you the thing I would be great at. Also, the amount of money these guys
happiest.
were playing for was mind boggling, and everything I had learned
Side note: Don’t quit school and gamble for a living! about the game told me I was as good if not better than most of
How long have you been playing poker & how did you learn these guys.
how to play? Near the end of my time at GT, I was split between pursuing poker
I’ve been playing poker professionally for close to 10 years now. full time or getting an engineering job and play on the side. My
My last year at GT, I had already decided to give poker a try in- competitive nature couldn’t handle only putting a small amount
stead of accepting an engineering position, and it’s now been an of time into something I had worked so diligently at, and thus I
additional 9 years since graduation. I learned to play by play- put engineering on the back burner. Nearly 10 years later, I’m
ing with friends in high school and playing a few times a week at convinced I made the right choice.

From the Chapter President

he Omega Chapter academic responsibility to ourselves, our
Tis currently thriving. families, and to the organization to main-
We have been seeing tain good academic standards. We work
very constant growth hard each semester to provide the best
and stability over the support network we can to challenge each
past few years, and are other to succeed. We all know how hard
looking to build even Georgia Tech can be at times, but we have
more with a newly seen an increase in GPA over the past two
renovated house in the near future. Even years as my time as President putting us
with a growing chapter size, we have not well over the undergraduate average. We
lost sight on the Fraternity’s values and have dedicated a lot of effort and new
have continued to strive to be the best resources to ensure everyone needing
gentleman we can possibly be. will continue to bring more success to the help finds the help they need, and it seems
This Fall rush was a very successful one for active chapter in the coming years. We to be working to our advantage now.
us as a chapter. We obtained 17 new mem- look to continue our growth in the coming Community service and philanthropy are
bers this Fall and all are ideal candidates to semesters, and hope to be an even larger another important part of our fraternity life.
be Brothers of the Omega Chapter. We chapter as the new house comes in. Over the past two years, we have hosted
believe they have a bright future here and As a Fraternity, we believe that we have an (continued from page 2)

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