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//March 21, 2006
I had an off week from the WPT, so I stayed at home in LA. I played in a home game at a friend’s house. Who was there but the great tennis champ, Peter Sampras. Yes, Pete loves poker now and is good at it too. No limit of course. You know, even though I played the professional tennis circuit myself, (10 years in fact – got to be in the top 25 in the world) I had never run across Pete before. I retired as soon as he was coming on. Anyway, it was a pleasure to meet him and play poker with him. He really is a great guy. It was a nice game - very social and we got to talking about tennis. I brought up John McEnroe, one of my peers, who at 48 had just gone out and won a big doubles tournament. He nodded his approval and I went on to say that I felt McEnroe could still be in the top 100 in men’s singles if he so desired. Pete shook his head in disbelief and said, “No way, Vince.” I disagreed and persisted that he could be due to the fact that in team tennis he played Roddick real close. He was an all-time great, etc. Pete finally came over the top with his answer. “Vince, you know poker. Stick to it. You don’t know tennis.” We all laughed. A little later and a few more check-raises against Pete, Pete went on to tell us he’s practicing tennis again, getting ready for exhibitions and would I like to practice sometime. I said I haven’t picked up a racket in 5 years, but if he would spot me the alleys and one serve, I would play him tomorrow for $1,000 a set. The whole table roared with laughter and Pete looked taken aback. Then he smiled, looking intrigued. “I’ll have to think about that”, he said thoughtfully. I smiled and nodded and then exclaimed, “Think about it?! Pete, you’re the greatest player that’s ever played the game! You’ve got 14 Grand Slam single titles and years on me.” And then it just blurted out. “Guess who doesn’t know tennis now!” But Pete just chuckled. The game ended at 12 and I still didn’t get an answer. Talk about bluffing the big stack. Well, next week I’m off to Miami. Hollywood Poker is endorsing an IRL race car with Troy Hanson driving it. I’ve been honored to be asked to wave the green flag at the beginning of the race. Poker’s been good to me and I hope it’s also been good to everyone else on the site. Until next time, stay out of my pots! 
~ Vince Van Patten
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