Robert Varkonyi, 2002 World Series of Poker Main Event winner, took some time out from the Champions Invitational to talk with BluffMagazine.com about poker, his family and what he does in his free time. 

When you won the WSOP in 2002 you had a prop bet with Phil Hellmuth. Do you have any prop bets going on this year?

I guess that was the hair cutting thing? Not that I”m aware of. But my wife might have one going on.

Are you planning on playing in the Main Event this year?

Oh, definitely yes, and my wife as well. She’s really the player in the family.

She cashed in the 2005 Main Event and you didn’t. How did you feel about that?

I felt really good. She could have won it, she had a big stack, she just got back to back bad beats.

So did you guys meet through poker?

No, actually we had a very romantic courtship, but she wasn’t involved with poker.

So did she get involved with poker when you started playing?

She didn’t get involved with poker until just a few weeks before I won the World Series. I just started teaching her.

She was a pretty quick learner then, obviously?

Apparently.

Are you two going to play in any events besides the Main Event?

We just played in the $1k yesterday. But that’s it, you know we normally, we are really just amateur, recreational players. We go professional once a  year at the WSOP Main Event. Any playing we do during the year is fun and warm up for the Main Event.

Now you have two daughters, and you named one of them Victoria after your victory at the Main Event.

Victoria was in my wife’s belly when I won the Main Event in 2002, so it seemed appropriate.

Does she know the story of her name?

She is starting to get inclinations of it. We haven’t told her that story yet, but a few months ago she asked me to teach her to play cards and I told her I would teach her cards after she learned how to play chess well. So I taught her how to play chess and now she goes to chess class and wants to play chess with me every night. When she gets good at that game she can learn how to play cards.

Are you two planning on having any more kids? If there is another win at the Main Event will that be cause for another baby?

That’s an interesting idea. (A boy we could name him Victor) You know we are young enough, we are leaving our options open. But our daughters keep asking for more babies.

So when you two are not playing poker, what do you do?

I’m trading equity options, I work in a hedge fund and Olga is a full time mommy.

Do you two have a favorite card room here in Vegas?

Oh well, the WSOP. When we come to Vegas, we come for the WSOP, that is pretty much it.

What else do you two like to do while your here in town?

We see shows every night here when we’re not playing cards. On some trips we’ll see like six shows.

What show has been your favorite so far?

We love all the Cirque De Soleil shows, we love the comedians, the magic shows, we love it all.

If you win the Corvette, what are you going to do with it?

Drive it around my neighborhood and show it off to all the neighbors of course.

Will it become Victoria’s first car when she turns 16?

Hmmm, I don’t know, it depends on how she drives I guess.

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