GMB - The organization of a stage like Sao
Paulo is more complicated than others?
Devanir Campos - Each one has its difficulty. It is not harder than others,
but surely the BSOP Millions is the most difficult event to organize. The
logistics is unlike any other. As BSOP's headquarters are in Sao Paulo, this
makes it a lot easier, although the size of the event makes it difficult, on
the other hand. It is different from smaller events, which we do in the
northeast, for example. Although the distance is large, the difficulty is in
logistics and not in the structure of care and organization. That is, each
stage has its challenge and, for us that live to organize events, our day to
day is to overcome these challenges.
On the competitive side, does the Sao
Paulo stage have a different weight for the BSOP season?
I do not see a difference from a sports point of view. It's more of a
competition on the BSOP calendar. It is important because of the number of
tournaments and the possibility of competitors accumulating more points. But it
is not more important than the others. It's the same thing you say that the
Dubai race is more important than the Monza race in Formula 1. Each one has its
differences and importance for the whole.
Is there a time when some steps end up
gaining more importance than the others? What is the main step in a BSOP
season?
When we get to the end of the championship, each stage gains a different
importance depending on how the fight of the ranking is. Everything can be
defined at the end of the season and it is there that much is defined. So the
BSOP Millions, which happens at the end of the year, ends up being more
important than the others, not only because of the size, the number of people,
the prize money involved, but also because it is the definition of the
championship.
Evaluating the level of competition of
the two stages of the Brazilian Championship so far, howdo you see the rest of
the season?
Each year it has become more competitive. Each new season brings a little
of what was the previous championship and this is sure to have much more
excitement because last year the championship was set in the last minutes, in
the last points. So the pros have fought in a very tough way for every point.
And that is the most beautiful of poker's sportiness. It's what you see in
other sports. The guy who is an athlete, who lives it, the sporting spirit is
this. He will fight until the last minute to get on the podium, to have the
trophy, the medal or here, in our case, the bracelet.
In your opinion, what has made poker
players come up with this spirit you mention? Why is it important to be a BSOP
champion?
The format of scoring and of dispute that we do has been very successful.
And that format translates into Brazilian champions who are unanimous. You pick
up the current Brazilian champion, Rodrigo Zidane, who is undoubtedly one of
the best poker players Brazil has had for nearly a decade. In 2015 the title
was for João Bauer, who today is one of the most respected professionals in the
country. The championship has a sporting representation that is unquestionable.
With current BSOP level, how are
Brazilian players and poker seen by the rest of the world?
Brazil is increasingly respected. Even though we have had competitions here
for only ten years, we are a very new country in poker. The United States has
had competitions for fifty years and Europe for nearly two decades. So it takes
a while for idols, great professionals, and talents to appear. Today, we have
professional players who play as equals in any world championship. We have
championships that are among the biggest in the world. So, Brazil has been
increasingly respected, both their competitions and their players. We have an
elite group that leaves nothing to be desired. We really fought for equal.
