Once a Dishwasher....

There are a lot of professional poker players who think Dan Colman should go back to washing dishes.

That was what the Holden, MA. native was doing before he won the $1 million buy-in 'Big One' and scooped $15.8 million, beating Daniel Negreanu heads-up.

The poker world felt Colman should have been grateful for the win. After all, before the 27-year-old found fame and fortune in poker, he was a low-paid dishwasher at a café in Holden.

Not only was Colman not grateful, but he was also arrogant. He refused to grant the media any interviews, he wouldn't promote poker, and he insulted Phil Hellmuth who came to the stage platform to shake his hand and congratulate him, calling Hellmuth 'spineless and cancer to the world.'

Whoa, this guy is full of himself.

In less than eight months, Colman achieved the remarkable feat of winning more than $20 million in poker tournaments. To date, his total tournament earnings exceed $28.6 million.

And yet he calls poker 'a very dark game with an ugly side to it.'

Maybe the other poker players are right. Maybe he should go back to washing dishes.

Colman does have some good traits. He doesn't like playing poker against friends because he knows the game can be vicious and he doesn't want to hurt his pals. He later tried to explain his reason for not wanting to promote poker or do interviews, saying most people lose at the game and he did not want to promote something that affected people negatively.

He also said he didn't owe poker anything.

One poker insider thought his attitude might be blamed on the fact that he sold himself to a lot of people and had to give away a lot of money he won. That could explain his attitude.

Antonio Esfandiari, who won the Big One in 2012 and collected $18 million, took the exact opposite stance of Colman. He was ecstatic about his victory.

Colman was later named Player of the Year because of his winnings.

He criticized poker saying many professional players fail to live a fulfilling life. He also said it could be 'insanely stressful to have a job where you are at the mercy of variance...it leads to a lot of unhealthy habits. Poker is a very dark game with an ugly side to it. It isn't a game where the professionals are always happy.'

Daniel Negraneau shrugged when Colman took his attitude. He said Colman certainly had a right to his opinion and that while he may not owe the game anything, he does owe poker something.

Gratitude.

If you want to watch Colman play, you can catch him in the high stakes game on late night television. He's the kid with the pointed ears and the designer tee shirt.

Colman was just 24 when he won the big money. Negraneau said maybe his age had something to do with his childish attitude.

I have another answer. Maybe he was cut out just to be a dishwasher.

Author: Geno Lawrenzi Jr.

(Geno Lawrenzi Jr. is an international journalist, magazine author and ghostwriter and poker player who lives in Phoenx, AZ. He has published 2,000 articles in 50 magazines and 125 newspapers. If you want to share a gambling story or book idea with him, send an email to glawrenzi@gmail.com ).