In October 2024, a special giveaway was held between the PokerNews Podcast and Life Outside Poker with Connor Richards. Throughout six episodes, code words were dispersed that spelled out a code phrase – NAPT Ladies Event Champ Kyna Cool – and last weekend listeners had the chance to submit that phrase for a chance to win a $10,000 Gold Pass to the upcoming PokerStars NAPT Las Vegas at Resorts World from Nov. 1-10.
The randomly-selected winner was 35-year-old Luis Rivera from Houston, Texas. When asked how he learned about the giveaway, Rivera explained: “I had jumped onto PokerNews to hear more about the Nick Vertucci incident on HCL and noticed a banner that was displaying the giveaway. I thought to myself, ‘Hell, it can't hurt to try.’ Boy, am I glad I did!”
Originally from Oviedo, Florida, and the oldest of three children, he has a sister Ashley (33), and my little brother Joey (30), Rivera has always had a love for computers and ultimately made that his career.
“I got my foot in the door with Best Buy working customer service, transitioned into working at Geek Squad fixing PCs/laptops, etc., then used that as a stepping stone to eventually get into a software company,” he explained.
As for poker, Rivera discovered it like so many others – on TV!
“I started watching Poker After Dark way back when. I immediately fell in love with the game from both the social and mental aspects of it and decided, this is what I want to do! I learned by losing over and over and over again playing $0.02/$0.05 on both PokerStars and Full Tilt. I didn't let the losses get to me, as I knew it was part of learning the game so I trucked on through it and over the years have really gotten much better at the game.”
Primarily an online grinder, including on Global Poker, the NAPT Las Vegas will only be Rivera’s second live tournament experience. He doesn’t even have a Hendon Mob profile, not yet anyway!
“Last year I won an online satellite into the Irish Open Main Event. It was incredible. The people were so down-to-earth, the beer was amazing, and the event was run spectacularly! It was the biggest event I had been in (€1,150) and it was quite the experience. I made it into Day 2, which was my goal from the beginning, I didn't cash, unfortunately, but I enjoyed every minute of it. It was the first live poker setting I had ever participated in. This will be the second, and I can't help but think that it helped prepare me for this!”
Outside of poker, Rivera enjoys video editing/content creation.
“Computers are great and all but nothing beats the satisfaction of finally uploading a video I've been working on for weeks. I also really enjoy video games, especially challenging ones like the Dark Souls series.”
He added: “Reading is a big passion of mine as well, as I am always hungry for knowledge. I recently read The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson. It was incredibly eye-opening and a book I think absolutely everyone can benefit from reading.”
Rivera has a small comedy-centric YouTube channel called Mixed Nuts, and he has also been known to stream poker on his Twitch channel.
