It was late at night when the WPT main event in Venice ended that year, three o’clock in the morning and everyone looking to get out of town. Especially Mike Sexton, who had only to record the closing link and champagne toast before the WPT TV show could be called a wrap. And just as Mike was about to deliver his famous sign-off to the camera, a drunken yell came from the back of the room. “We love you Mike Sexton!!” We all shook our heads, and did the take again. It was Marvin Rettenmaier, caught up in the moment and innumerable beers from the bar. Little did Mike Sexton know that less than two years later he would be presenting the admirer from the crowd with the most prestigious WPT title of them all.
Back to Back
With victory in the WPT Championship in Las Vegas immediately followed by his barrelling of the field at the WPT Cyprus, Marvin Rettenmaier has become the first player in poker history to win back to back World Poker Tour titles. The whole poker world now knows Mad Marvin, a man whose success is only dwarfed by his popularity on the tour.
He Can Do It All!
He can play, and he can sing. Last season’s WPT in Bratislava was punctuated by Marvin’s all night serenade from the grand piano in the bar, and he closed down the Karaoke machine in Amneville for two nights on the trot. I’ve seen him bet the flop, turn, and river on a q-j-9-8-4 board and then proudly turn over the Queen deuce offsuit like the nuts. I watched him bust from a WPT final with an Ace King to a gutshot straight for almost all of the chips and still manage a ragged smile when walking away.
Road Warriors
He’s often in the company of Dominik Nitsche, the youngest poker player to have put his time in. Nitsche is a road warrior, a have-buy-in-will-travel type of guy who cashed in twenty countries before ever stepping foot in the USA. Dominik won a WSOP bracelet this year at the first asking, but never before has a 21-year old been so versed in the game of live tournament poker that for him Las Vegas is just another festival town.
Citizens of the World Unite!
Nitsche and Rettenmaier represent the modern face of German poker, citizens of the world and friends to all travellers first. Their family is the tour and they are home when on the road, in a hotel, deep in a tournament, and passports flapping in the wind. They are pioneers of the new poker profession, guys who look at a globe like a moving sidewalk. I caught up with them both recently in Cyprus, but it could have been any country in the world. They are on the move and having a great time playing the life of poker to its fullest.
The Poker Show Podcast is back!
Make sure to listen to the Poker Shows latest episode and all our fantastic archives below right here now on PartyPoker Blog!
Show 39 (August 27) With interviews from Dominik Nitsche and Marvin Rettenmaier! Just click on the play button to listen, sit back and enjoy!
[podcast]http://www.thepokershowlive.com/media/mp3/229.mp3[/podcast] Prefer to download? Right click here and Save As.
