Counting down my favorite Thinking Poker Podcast episodes of 2017. Details/retrospective here.
I’m embarrassed to admit that I made an error that I’m sure is as familiar as it is unwelcome to folks with disabilities. In retrospect, I think I came into my interview with KL Cleeton assuming that he would be defined by his Spinal Muscular Atrophy. I was operating on an assumption something along the lines of “This is just some guy who likes poker who got a freeroll from Daniel Negreanu to play the WSOP Main Event because his disability makes for a compelling story.”
Well, to call KL Cleeton “some guy who likes poker” is like calling Kobayashi “some guy who likes hot dogs”. In our conversation, he exudes passion for the game in a way that almost no other guest has. His disability certainly makes him unique in the poker world, and we talk plenty about that, but at other times the conversation is just pure poker geekery. It was a really enjoyable talk that gave me a new appreciation for how significant poker-as-recreation can be in a person’s life.
Number one for me.