You can find the first part of the interview here:
As you mentioned earlier, you have also worked with many star names who are more famous in other fields. Can you think of any related experience?
"Let's take Boris Becker. When I photographed him in Dortmund a long time ago, an interesting thing happened. German journalists, including Bild, were invited to photograph Mr. Boris Becker for the first five minutes of the tournament. And by coincidence, sitting next to Boris Becker was someone who looked like Boris Becker. So all the German journalists jumped on his neighbor, and the moment the real Boris Becker arrived, they realized that it wasn't Boris Becker."
And did anyone have any star manners that you can talk about?
"Star manners... When I photographed Neymar in Monaco, he had security with him, preventing everyone from taking pictures of him on their mobile phones. Because of course everyone wanted a selfie with him. But I don't know if it's stellar manners, basically everyone behaved normally."
And what about the poker pros you've worked with? For example, Negreanu, Ivey, Hellmuth...
"So I had Negreanu on my team at Pokerstars. Daniel is nice, I like him, he's a chatty guy. When I meet him somewhere, he says "hello Tomáš" and I say "hello Daniel". It's cool. I really like ElkY (Bertrand Grospellier). Nice guy, fair, over the years we've been working together, we've always gotten along very well. Of course, I could name a whole range of players who are absolutely okay. I really like Orpen (Orpen Kisacikoglu), Greenwood. I respect Steve O'Dwyer. These are the players I have been working with for years and have never let me down. There are many of them. Otherwise, you know what was the hardest thing for me? It wasn't even the most difficult, but so unpleasant. Because I have a good relationship with the players, during covid I was in charge of the High Roller in Prague at the EPT, and I practically had to go to everyone and ask them to put on a respirator. I think that if someone else had done it then, it would not have turned out well. Because I had to say it to, for example, to Leon (Tsoukernik - editor's note), Tony G and others on the super high roller. Everyone respected it because they knew I was doing it for a good cause and I have normal relationships with everyone."
Do you think some players wouldn't respect that from someone else?
"Definitely not. It's about trust, and when you build a relationship with the players over the years, even a friendly one, you need to not let them down. And they already know I won't let them down, and I know they won't let me down."
How do you perceive the poker community now, what direction is it going in? Those cases and other things?
"Cases and other things have always been and always will be. Cases and things are about one of the players having an advertisement. And whether the publicity is negative or positive... Take Bryn Kenney for example. Bryn Kenney is a nice guy I know personally. I talked to him in the Bahamas this year. I won't comment on what was going on (suspicion of cheating - editor's note), but in my opinion, even the negative publicity is publicity for him. It always seemed okay to me. As for the other cases, for example the case of Miki (Martin Kabrhel - editor's note)... I know Miki, he would never do that. The only mistake he made was getting up from the table, and he overshot the highroller behavior a bit. But otherwise he followed all the rules, and like Leon, I'd put my hand in the fire for him in this case. In many cases, I see it as the players rather retaliating. For not liking to see someone at the table. And I don't like that because everyone has the right to play. And it's up to him and his style, which way he will play. Miki plays his style, but a lot of people don't like that style."
It's not long after the Liechtenstein WPT Prime as we speak. How did you like it and work there?
"Look around you, at the nature. Liechtenstein is a beautiful country. Although it is a bit more expensive here than what we are used to. But the WPT itself was a huge success. The final table, even if there were no famous names, the gentlemen enjoyed it. And it was very nice and successful. The WPT broke the European record and I'm happy to have been part of the team. And part of the success.”
Now that we were in Lichtenstein, you told me a very fresh, essentially tragicomic incident. Share with others too.
"Ah, you mean with pants. But since I wanted to do the best job possible, as always, and the casino recommended me to go take photos of the fireworks on the roof, so since I already know a little about it and know what to do, I wanted to have the casino and the fireworks in front of me. Which unfortunately meant going a kilometer into the field. So I took two tripods, two cameras, and ran for about 10 minutes, standing a safe distance from the fireworks to take pictures. Well, of course it was humid, which I didn't notice. When I got back to the casino I was knee deep in mud. Subsequently, I had to solve it somehow. By pure chance, which doesn't happen to me very often, I opened my suitcase and found that I didn't have a spare pair of jeans. So I had to wash them by myself. And since it is quite humid in Liechtenstein, which I would never have thought of in my life, the jeans took two days to dry. Meanwhile, I had to use my flying pants. But in the end they dried up and everything turned out well.”
So to get a good photo you sometimes have to experience things like this.
"Of course. Sometimes you have to be MacGyver and improvise to get a good photo."
What technique do you use, how has it changed over time?
"I started photographing tournaments with one of the first SLRs from Olympus, which at the time cost a fortune. Then I switched to Nikon, and I'm happy with it to this day."
Who do you respect the most from Czech and Slovak poker?
"I'll tell you exactly. It is a person who built something on a green field, took care of Czech online, and treats players very nicely. He has my respect and I respect him. It's Leon Tsoukernik.'
Do you even have time for any hobbies outside of this job?
"I've always liked knives, and I've always wanted to learn how to sharpen them skillfully. But never in my life would I have thought that I could make them myself. When there was covid, and I was taking care of the children, I tried to make my first knife. And I made the first one from damaskus steel. I enjoy it and it makes sense because it will be here long after I'm gone. So I've already made a few of them in my life, I've also given a few away. But I will never do it for money, I do it for joy. And since I'm making those knives, I can say that I also use them for fishing. As I travel a lot, I sometimes make time for it. Once, when we were in the Bahamas, we also went fishing with a photographer from Argentina. We fished from the shore in the sea, it was absolutely amazing. We also caught something, but mainly I experienced one of the most beautiful moments in my life there, when I saw giant manta rays jumping. You just can't see that. Then we met a local native there, so we asked him why those huge manta rays jump out of the sea. And he said that because they are being attacked by sharks. I googled it and there is something to it."
It's great that you find time for this. The players go to the tables to catch other fish and you walk around nicely with the rod.
"So. And as for other things, like most guys, I like driving. Sometimes not completely slow, but for some reason I can't say how much. I've ridden enough in my life. You see, for example, last time in Rozvadov one of my friends, high stakes player Emil (Emil Bise - editor's note), when he arrived in his Lamborghini, he came up to me and said, "Tomáš, please, I want you to drive on my car”. And replied that I'm not, I'm tired. But when he came to me several times, and the players were already circling around him, asking him to take them, so I decided to go for a ride. I went outside, and I see that Emil has a brand new limited edition Lambo. It was crazy. When I stepped on the pedal, the WSOP bracelet flew off the dashboard, luckily Emil caught it. I enjoyed it quite a bit. But the way back. I asked him to show me what the lambo gives to the fullest. And yes, dear friends. Let me put it this way, I spent three hours thinking about whether I was going to throw up or not. I finally got over it, but it was difficult. That Lamborghini also had great acceleration for me. But sometime back in 96-97, when I went to Germany, we went there with really ultimate cars for that time. They also drove 290 km/h. So I rode fast and a lot. I have one more dream that I hope to fulfill someday. It's going over 300 km/h, I still have 10 to go, so keep your fingers crossed."
How much longer do you see yourself in this job?
"As long as I enjoy it, as long as I make people happy with my work, I will be satisfied. If one day I'm no longer in charge, I'll pack it up and retire."
Is there anything you would like to add in conclusion?
"I will give one piece of advice to everyone who has read this far. Be cool, be positive and the success will come. Even if there is a downswing sometimes, that too has an end. And then the upswing comes and that's what it's all about. And I also want to say that as we were now in Liechtenstein, when I saw the final table from you (Spadepoker crew) I was so excited. I'm glad you're doing well and I'll always support you. After all, we are actually compatriots, "Czechoslovaks" and I am proud of that."
