133 Seconds with… Ville Wahlbeck
Monday, 11 November 2013
Bluff chats to Ville Wahlbeck
What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever seen at the poker table?
There was one time I thought a guy had died. They cancelled the tournament. He just sort of collapsed. All the players got ushered out of the main arena and the paramedics came in. I don’t know if it was a small stroke or something, but he survived.
What’s your most treasured possession?
My iPad.
Who’s your poker hero?
Theo Koskigen. He’s a Finnish player. He’s not even 30 yet but he has a lot of intellectual curiosity. He likes gambling, but he has a very wide perspective on life.
Non-poker hero?
Not really a hero, but Vladimir Nabokov. I’ve read nearly all his books. There’s quite a few where the Lolita theme of an older man with a younger woman pops up, and you see their desperately doomed love affair. I’ve never felt that Nabokov’s novels are complex, but the way he writes is excellent and beautiful.
Tell us a joke…
No, my sense of humour is too rude. You wouldn’t be able to print any of them!
What’s the most extravagant thing you’ve bought with your poker winnings?
I really don’t have much… I think the most expensive watch I have was €500. I bought a gold ring when I was younger for a couple of thousand, but that’s about it. I think I’m a lot more sensible than a lot of my poker friends. I don’t really see the point of buying really expensive things, because then you’ll just want something the next level up that’s even more expensive and it never stops. It’s best to just be sensible from the beginning!
Do you believe in God?
No, not at all.
What’s the biggest life lesson that poker has taught you?
I suppose how to deal with disappointment. In poker it’s guaranteed that you’ll have hundreds of thousands of disappointments, bad moments and bad days. You just have to live with them and deal with them. If you take them too hard it’s just massively stressful. You see that in most players who have been playing for years, if they take a bad beat they just stand up and leave the table… they’re used to it. They don’t get furious or start arguing. Apart from maybe Phil Hellmuth, but that’s a whole different matter.
What’s the biggest bluff you’ve ever made in life?
It would definitely involve a woman… and I’m not saying anything more!