Faces in the Crowd: Cancer Survivor, CPA, & Crazy Casino Security Tales

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Jun 04, 2018 4 min read Last updated Jun 05, 2018

The tables have been full throughout the weekend and into Monday as the multiple flights of the WSOP $565 Colossus continues. Players from around the world have shown up in force in hopes of a $1 million top prize and gold bracelet.

PokerNews takes a look at some of the players who turn out to play each summer and tell their own unique stories – ranging from retired CPA to a retired business owner who fought cancer to get back to the poker tables, to a WSOP weekender who’s seen some pretty interesting things working in casino security.

COMING BACK FROM CANCER

Poker runs in the family for Barbara Sargent. Growing up in Ardmore, Okla., her father played poker full-time traveling throughout the Southwest, occasionally at the table with some of the games early names like Doyle Brunson.

“But my father wouldn’t teach me poker until I got my degree,” she says laughing.

“I’m a tough old bird.”

After earning that degree from Cameron University in Oklahoma, her father finally began teaching her the game. She has now played for much of her life and is certainly no slouch at the table herself with more than $236,000 in career live tournament winnings.

In 2012, however, poker had to be put on hold for a bit. She was diagnosed with breast cancer. It was a shock, and two years later, she was also diagnosed with lung cancer. The battle was on.

“It was tough, but I got rid of all of them,” she says. “I’m still on oral chemotherapy, but I’m cancer-free.”

Sargent owned a swimming pool business in Florida for more than 20 years before selling it two years ago. She’s certainly all business on the poker felt. In 2015, she played in the Main Event and finished 846th for a min-cash of $15,000. In April 2017, she finished third in the $1,000 No Limit Hold'em Poker Night in America Championship at the Choctaw Casino in Oklahoma, taking home $85,000.

With all she’s faced in the last few years, however, playing poker is a breeze compared to battling cancer. Sargent brings that toughness to the poker table too, simply noting: “I’m a tough old bird.”

SECURITY DETAIL

Spend a lot of time around a casino, and you’re going to see a little bit of everything. Aaron Magers knows first-hand. He works in surveillance for a casino and has many interesting stories. What are some of the some of the wilder things he’s witnessed?

“A guy having a semi-automatic weapon and $50,000 worth of drugs in his car,” he says. “And I’ve seen people having intercourse inside of an elevator.

He’s not sure if Aerosmith’s “Love in an Elevator” was playing at the time.

“There’s a time and a place right?” he says laughing. "Anything you can think of, it can happen at a casino. I’ve seen a prostitution ring in the back of a van in the parking structure. It’s unbelievable."

While those are pretty interesting, his favorite story involves the apprehension of a man who was wanted for a felony hit and run. Law enforcement knew he was on the property and were scoping him out.

“Hopefully I’ll work my way into a Main Event buy-in.”

“The man found out they were looking for him and he got in his car and just started bashing through the parking lot,” he says. “He was hitting other cars, pushing them out of the way, running over curbs. He ended up diving out of his car while it was still going about 30 or 40 miles per hour. The car ran into a guardrail, and he ran back into the casino.”

Sheriff’s deputies eventually caught up with him inside the property and slammed him to the ground to finish the arrest.

At the Rio, he and his friend Brad Kodesh fired bullets in the morning flight of the Colossus. Both are regular players and have been coming to play in the event the last few years. They are hoping to parlay a nice cash into some other events.

“If we do really well, hopefully we’ll come out here every weekend and play some other tournaments,” he says. “Hopefully I’ll work my way into a Main Event buy-in.”

COUNTING CARDS

For Hoby Shapiro, playing at a couple of events at the WSOP and other Las Vegas casinos has become a regular part of his summer. He has several cashes and was hoping for another on Monday in the Colossus.

“I’m probably more conservative here than I am in my practice.”

Shapiro learned to play poker from his parents, who were both gamblers. After the first break, Shapiro said he was surviving, but had not made much headway yet in building his stack. He was considering changing his strategy up a bit when he returned to the table.

“I’m not really a conservative CPA,” he says. “I’m probably more conservative here than I am in my practice. Maybe I should change that up a little bit.”

A grandfather of eight, Shapiro also helps out a bit with his wife’s high-end retail clothing store on Long Island. His role in the business? He says: “I’m the accountant.” Of course.

Sean Chaffin is a freelance writer in Crandall, Texas. His work appears in numerous websites and publications. Follow him on Twitter @PokerTraditions. He is also the host of the True Gambling Stories podcast, available on iTunes, Google Play, TuneIn Radio, Spotify, Stitcher, PokerNews.com, HoldemRadio.com, and TrueGamblingStories.com.

^{Photos courtesy of Danny Maxwell, and Sean Chaffin}

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