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Second-Biggest Winner in Poker History Refuses to Promote the Game

I don’t see poker as being a sustainable source of income a few years down the road. It's like a gold rush, I have one of the best spots in poker to mine for gold. I might as well make good use of it. (Colman, 2013)

Good use he certainly made of it! One of the world's best online players, Daniel "mrgr33n13" Colman, just became the top live poker earner of the last 6 months after winning the Big One for One Drop and the second-biggest prize in live poker tournament history - $15,306,668.

Much has already been said and written about his decline to talk to the media and his reluctant photo session - some players close to Daniel have explained in his defense that he did not wish to promote gambling and poker or take away attention from the charitable cause. However, most members of the media and perhaps most importantly, most fans, remain unconvinced and feeling slighted and everyone misses the unbridled joy and celebration that followed @Antonio Esfandiari's win in 2012. You can read more on this topic in this highly recommended PokerNews article by Rich Ryan - Five Thoughts: One Drop Winner Colman Declines Media, Ivey Wins Number 10, and More.

Colman shared in an interview last year that in the summer of 2012 he had actually been planning to withdraw from poker and go back to college, but "I messed up my applications and then ultimately decided to give poker one last go around". As many other American players, after #BlackFriday Colman relocated to Canada and later Brasil where he was playing (and winning big) online, with occasional trips to Vegas and various EPT stops.

His breakthrough on the live torunament scene came this year at the EPT Grand Final in Monaco. Colman dominated the spectacular field of top pros and amateur millionaires in the EPT Grand Final Super High Roller, which ended with a chop deal between him, @Daniel Cates and @Igor Kurganov.

The $2,086,087 prize was not enough to get him into the Top 5, then dominated by @Mike McDonald and his spectacular series of THREE seven-figure cashes in 2014 (PCA and Aussie Millions). This year Colman and McDonald crossed swords and cards at the EPT Grand Final (in direct competition and in side bets).

In the 100K Super High Roller, Mike finished 9th, right before the official final table, while Colman went ahead and won the event. With the fabulous #OneDrop miilions added to his live winings, Colman left Mike McDonald and everyone else far behind. In the controversy surrounding Colman's refusal to give interviews after his victory, McDonald has been one of the pros (along with @Olivier Busquet) defending him: "I just think it's outrageous to vilainize him".

Interestingly enough, Mike, too, has voiced his personal disapproval of poker and gambling, which have done ‘more harm than good’. ‘If it were up to me casinos and gambling just wouldn’t exist because it’s just like one more way for dumb people to get [beep-beep] over by smart people.’