Michael DeMichele playing in the $40,000 event sporting a new look.

The World Series of Poker isn’t all serious stuff. Here at BuffMagazine.com we’re well aware of the personalities that make this game so interesting and we wanted to find a way to deliver that to you. That’s why we’re introducing the An Orbit With Interview series. Nine questions, one to represent each hand played in a single orbit; asked of some of the biggest names in the game. Look for new Orbits each day.

Today we talked with 2008 $50,000 HORSE runner-up Michael DeMichele.

Are you looking forward to playing with Scotty Nguyen this year?

Yeah, it’s going to be a pleasure to play against him. He kind of tarnished my memory by berating me at the final table. But I think that’s kind of normal for him at this point. He also gave Erick Lindgren some chips, which I don’t think Erick had anything to do with, but it made it a little more difficult for me to come in second. You know I’m hoping there’s going to be a final table with us on TV this year. I’d love to see that.

So if you end up heads-up with Scotty are you going to order a Michelob Ultra?

I wouldn’t mind having a beer at the table, but why would I want to support Scotty’s beer? We all know we can only order Milwaukee’s Best at the table.

Do you have any prop bets going for the WSOP this year?

I’m not much of a betting man outside of poker so I don’t really have any bets going.

Lakers or Nuggets?

Oh, I would love to see Kobe vs. LeBron, but I don’t think LeBron is going to make it. But I would love to see the Nuggets play, they can sink threes all day. I’m definitely looking forward to seeing the Nuggets play in the NBA Finals.

What’s your favorite pastime outside of poker?

Now that you mention basketball, I played for nine years as a kid. When I was 17 I could actually dunk a basketball. It took a seven year break from it, but this year I decided to work on my NBA 3-point shot again. I’m sinking one out of seven or eight from NBA range. Once I get up to 50% they’re going to put me right in the draft.

What’s been your worst night in Vegas?

My worst night in Vegas? Oh geez…(long pause)(laughs) Let me take a minute and think of how to word this. (another long pause) I don’t think I have any funny stories for you guys that you can print.

What do you friends from high school think of what you’re doing now?

They’ve been great. Everyone is giving me a lot of support about it. Everyone thinks it’s great that I’ve accomplished something at this level. Nobody really expected me to get into this industry. It just kind of happened. Everyone has been extremely supportive and think it’s awesome.

So you have a little different look this year, what’s going on with that?

I like to flip styles a lot. I’ll grow out the beard and then go back to shaving every day. I like to change my hair; I’ve got a lot of it and I like to come up with new designs.

I’ve been begged to ask this, are you single?

Yes, I am. I was in a relationship for about a year and a half but I’ve been single for about eight months now.

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