Colman Controversy: One Drop Winner Refuses Winner’s Interview

Last night, Daniel Colman won the second biggest cash prize in poker. He defeated Daniel Negreanu to claim $15.3 million first place in the Big One for One Drop tournament, but last night and today this is not the context he is being talked about.

After the last hand was dealt and it was all over, Colman refused to give the winner’s interview or even take a proper picture with the bracelet and the winning hand. This caused a wave of both confusion and rage amongst some members of the poker media, as no one could fathom why someone who has just won more than 15 million dollars would refuse to take happy pictures and say few words about how he got there and what it meant for him.

Colman was very steadfast about his position on the matter, and would only speak shortly about the One Drop charity cause and nothing else after his win. Quite vivid discussion ensued on Twitter, with players either defending or blaming Colman for his behavior, although it seems that majority of pros had no problems with his decision, as he did not sign up to be the poker ambassador and was not getting paid to do the interviews.

Earlier tonight, Colman tried to explain his position in a 2+2 post. He stated that he did not feel he owed anything to poker and, while he has been fortunate enough to make money in the game, he has also seen its ugly side. The losers often lose the money they cannot afford to, and they do it because they are being misinformed by the marketing. Colman also stated he feels that individual achievements should rarely be celebrated and he doesn’t want it for himself.

It is clear that Colman has his quite different opinions and views of the matters that probably stem from his personal experience and while some of his points are spot on, there is the other side of the story that also has its merits.

If there wasn’t for the media exposure and characters in the game willing to promote poker, we probably wouldn’t be anywhere close to where we are today. If we just take a step back and look at the Moneymaker boom, it is clear that media exposure did wonders for number of players in the game. If there wasn’t for that, it is likely that there would never be a tournament with the $1 million buyin. Colman would probably never be in the position to win the $15 million prize.

Colman’s attitude would be much easier to accept if it was coming from someone who didn’t actually choose to make living playing poker. This way, it is a bit unclear why he would get in a profession that he has such an opinion on. In all fairness, Colman did admit to this fact and stated he was conflicted himself, so it is really hard to make any definite conclusions.

What we can say in the end is that Colman is certainly not obliged to give any interviews and it is not his job to promote the game. It is beneficial for him and other pros if he does, but if he doesn’t care about it, it is well within his rights. We all love a good story about dreams coming true, but after reading through Colman’s post, he may be getting way more heat than he deserves for missing an interview.