"Kenna James: Poker Player, Actor, and Patriot" - pt. II

By Justin West

Last week, PokerPages delivered part one of my interview with Kenna James, who joined the PokerPages team recently to provide readers with a behind-the-ropes look at being a professional poker player.

What follows is the second and final part, in which we touch on Kenna's thoughts on the true state of poker, his pending trip to Iraq in support of America's troops, and even his skills as a singer being tested at the opening of the 2007 Borgata Poker Open.

As we begin, we continue on the subject of Kenna's dream of producing and perhaps even directing a Hollywood film...

Justin: Any thoughts of making the first good poker movie since 1998?

Kenna: Absolutely. That is a dream of mine, to be able to write a script that kind of illuminates the human journey through poker, about how poker to me is kind of an analogy for life. How to communicate that is a challenge, and I'll be looking to meet that challenge in the years to come.

Justin: Have you played on one of these electronic poker tables?

Kenna: Yes, I have. I'm kind of a nostalgic person. My take on it is that I love the feel of chips in my hand, stacking chips and pinching cards. Somehow there is a human element that is removed with each new technology that comes out. And while we have to embrace technology, to me some of it is not so good.

Justin: One of the concerns I heard is that the tables could potentially be tampered with.

Kenna: I'm not at all concerned with that. Wherever there's money involved, you're going to find people that are going to try and cheat the system. It's the same as with cash games, live play, brick and mortar, whatever. I think you have to be aware that those people are out there. I'm not concerned with that as much as I am with losing something that we don't know we've lost until after it's gone.

Justin: It seems like these tables have the potential to take jobs away from dealers. You started out as a dealer yourself...

Kenna: It takes jobs away from dealers. But more than that it's the interaction of people, the social aspect of poker. The proponents of it, I'm sure, would say, "No. People are still sitting next to each other." But there's a difference, when you're looking at a computer screen. Somehow, at least in my opinion, it dehumanizes an event. I'm very apprehensive about that.

Justin: So, really quickly, I heard you were in quite an accident recently. Everything okay?

Kenna: Yeah, I was hosting a tournament down in Tuscon, AZ, for Chrysler. They were shuttling us back to the airport in one of these town cars, and a lady was driving the wrong way on the freeway. So we got into a four car pile-up, were thrown around quite a bit and we were taken to the hospital for four or five hours in the emergency room. Everything came out okay. No broken bones or anything, but I did have a few bruises.

Justin: What's your take on these exclusivity deals that seem so popular these days? Seems like a number of tours are teaming up with one specific media provider and ousting the rest of the media...

Kenna: I think it's absolutely horrible. Actually, I have a strong opinion against it because our industry is in its infancy. At this time, especially when you're talking about tournament poker reporting, so much needs to be done to up the level.

Constantly, the updates are done incorrectly, the companies that do the updates are underfunded or don't have the right people reporting. So often the facts and information are incorrect. That could be helped out a lot if the people in the industry came together in a unified effort to bolster the entire industry rather than getting greedy and only looking out for themselves. I think the industry could benefit a lot more by working together rather than apart.

Justin: I wanted to ask you about the WPT lawsuit that fizzled out. What was your take on that situation?

Kenna: It's a very complicated situation. There are certainly issues on both sides of the fence. I think that the poker players are being exploited in general, but not just by the World Poker Tour, whether it be the World Series of Poker or the casinos and the rakes that are getting out of hand now. Across the board. Definitely, there needs to be an organization to address this.

I support the World Poker Association, and am a founding member there. Until we organize and do have a unified effort, we're only to blame as players for basically taking what is handed to us. I don't blame anybody for making the best business decision they can make, and in fact the World Poker Tour deserves a lot of credit for the things they have brought to the industry.

Justin: What, specifically, has the WPA contributed? I follow the news quite readily and I really haven't seen a whole lot of action from them.

Kenna: Well, the first year in forming a huge organization like this is a membership drive, being solid, structuring the whole organization and getting board members in place. Jesse Jones has put it on the back of himself to do this, initially, I know putting up at least $100k of his own personal money. It's a non-profit organization. It's not to benefit anything personal, but for the sole goal and desire to benefit the poker industry as a whole and give the players a voice. What they've done is build a membership of almost 1,000 people, structured the organization, put people in place, start sending newsletters. That's going to take time to build.

Justin: What do you think needs to be address in the poker industry as a whole?

Kenna: Where do you start? I heard that the WSOP got tens of millions of dollars from advertisers, whether it be from Milwaukee's Best or Party Poker, but none of that money finds its way to the players. In fact, it's the reverse. You find it's still $3 for a banana [at the WSOP], and the prices of the merchandise are huge. If you want a photo of yourself at the WSOP it's $60 in a frame.

I guess the reverse of that is when I play at tournaments, such as the Bay 101 Shooting Star... we go up there, there's a beautiful buffet set up for us in the morning. They really appreciate us being there, and the players can feel that.

Just make people feel special for what they bring to the game. You can do that in a lot of small ways, not just big ways like putting millions of dollars in the prize pool, but quality food, a nice place to eat, clean restrooms without lines, a manageable audience that has a nice place to view the event rather than being moved around like cattle. There's all kinds of things that can be done.

Justin: You mention the spectators, but what's it like to be playing in a tournament with media shuffling around the tables, waiters running around, dealers changing seats, cameras in your face... is it ever difficult to just sit there and play cards?

Kenna: Oh absolutely. But, the distractions are what they are. It's part of the animal that has been created, and we benefit from that as well. You can't just take the good and not the bad.

The good is that I travel all around the world, am able to play in so many countries... that comes with the advertising, the marketing, the poker boom that has happened because of it. So I enjoy it. But is it more difficult to focus? Absolutely. I think that's one of the things that separates Phil Ivey from even the elite, his ability to focus and be aware of what's going on in the game despite elephants walking by, and all the cameras going.

Justin: So from what you've said, you don't think that poker is on its way down. You seem to feel that it's on its way up.

Kenna: Worldwide it's definitely escalating. I do more television now in Europe and the rest of the world, both as a commentator as a player. It's definitely on the rise in Australia, where I go to play every year in January for the Aussie Millions. It's definitely on the rise in Germany, in Asia, and many other countries. Here in America I think it's really at a point of kind of growing pains, a fork in the road, depending on the laws and judgments that are going to be looked at and passed on by lawmakers here in the next few years.

Justin: You recently ushered in the festivities at the Borgata Poker Open by singing the National Anthem. Tell me about that.

Kenna: I'm a proud American. I support our troops. They support our freedom. Whatever we as Americans agree or disagree on in politics, we have men and women that are standing up and fighting for what we tell them to do, every day, 365 days a year. I feel the least we could do is stand in recognition of the men and women that are fighting for us and for our country, regardless of whether we agree or disagree on certain principles.

It was my example, to stand up and lead the way there, when even that is under attack, whether we can say the Pledge of Allegiance in school. It was my way of standing up and being patriotic, and the Borgata agreed.

I feel good about it. We asked another casino to be able to sing the National Anthem and they said it was too politically hot to hang an American flag, that people from other countries would ask us to sing their anthem, to hang their flag. I just couldn't believe it. I was actually a little apprehensive as a result to approach the Borgata, afraid of getting a rejection once again, but it was well received by them and by the players.

Justin: Do you have any personal experiences that make that particular cause so important to you?

Kenna: I do, actually. A few years ago some soldiers that play on the front lines hit my website, KennaJames.com, and started writing to me. They're poker fanatics. It was a way to give them some normalcy on the front lines, just playing poker whenever they could.

That group of guys actually exploded into a group called the Screaming Eagles (ScreamingEaglePoker.org) and now they actually have tournaments on a lot of the different bases over there. That organization now supports a group called the Wounded Warrior Project which helps men and women who have been maimed in service. It's a non-governmental program, a non-profit organization.

All this came about from playing poker and I made some friendships there, flew over to Kentucky and had my head shaved. They took me through some basic training and the obstacle course, and the next thing is a trip over to Iraq to play with them over there.

Justin: So you're headed to Iraq?

Kenna: I'm due to go over there this fall with Collen Raye, the country superstar. It's been approved by Stars For Stripes, a USO-type program that brings entertainment to the troops. So I'll be going over there to give them a seminar, play poker with them, kind of build morale any way I can.

We're at a point where a lot of times our country is divided on issues. Ironically, there's division in poker as well, as to whether or not it's a game of skill, going on in Washington. Same as with our country. I think it's time that poker players stood up for their views not only in poker, but for the country.

Justin: You realize you're living the dream, right? There are millions of people that see you playing professionally and would trade places with you instantly...

Kenna: Well it is a dream, you know? I never lose sight of that. I'm certainly blessed to do what I love to do and make a living at it. That's the meaning of success. And now, you know, it's bleeding into Hollywood and a lot of events here, and opening up some doors and will hopefully let me accomplish what I want to artistically, which is to possibly have a production company and make films and television.

Justin: Well, Kenna, I thank you a lot for your time. I thank you even more for joining up with PokerPages and contributing your blogs to us, which have been incredibly exciting to follow.

Kenna: I'm really excited! PokerPages is for me the premiere portal site for information and poker news. I go there for my tournament schedules, it's got the best blogs, just a buffet of information. It's actually my home page.

I'm excited to be part of the team, looking forward to making a difference at PokerPages, reporting from a professional player's perspective from inside the ropes. Hopefully we'll have some video, and different things that we'll work on together to make PokerPages the number one poker site on the internet. I enjoy writing. I do.

I sometimes color a little outside the lines, but hopefully that'll make it a little interesting.

Part I | Part II

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Justin West played poker since the age of 17, he spent more than a year earning a living on the green felt; a modest living, to be sure, but a living nonetheless. His aim was at one point to win the WSOP main event, thus causing Hell to freeze over. However, given his penchant for sin and his extreme dislike of cold weather, Justin has put that dream to rest.