Spencer Sun won first prize in the 2000 Tournament of Champions, held in Las Vegas at the Orleans Hotel & Casino in July. Poker Pages recently had the opportunity to ask Spencer a few questions...

Where and when were you born?

I'm 27, born in Massachusetts. Grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. Graduated in 1994 from Princeton University with a BSE in Computer Science.

What is your occupation and where do you live now?

Computer programmer, Novato, California.

What attracted you to playing poker? When and Where did you start to play?

I started out just fooling around in home games, just as something fun to do with my friends. It's still fun, but also the mental challenge and mathematical aspects are appealing to someone of my personality.

What advice do you have for somebody starting to play?

Be realistic and honest with yourself about your goals. I think it takes a variety of ingredients to be successful at poker, and not everyone needs or uses the same ones, but they probably include things like good discipline, clear thinking, careful study, and a proper long term view. If you have some combination of these qualities and you're willing to work on your game, then you can probably be a successful poker player. On the other hand, if this sounds like too much effort and you just want to have a good time, then you might be better off putting poker in your entertainment budget along with things like movies or eating out or taking vacations.

There's nothing wrong with either approach, but if you want to be a winning player yet are unwilling to put in the time and effort to become one, you will probably just end up broke and frustrated.

Who are the poker players you most respect?

Hm, this is a tricky question. There are a lot of "name" players that I've never actually played with, but have impressively long lists of accomplishments, and I respect them. There are also people who have done good things for poker (some of whom I have met), and I respect them, too. And there are any number of tough players I've tangled with at the tables, and I respect them also. Many people of course fall into more than one of these groups.

What would you do to improve the poker industry?

I would try to improve the image that the non-gambling public has of gambling generally and poker in particular. Certainly there are people with gambling problems, and other undesirable elements that sometimes arise in connection with gambling, but many other forms of recreation and entertainment have similar problems.

If you could implement one new rule for poker, what would it be?

I'm not sure I can think of any one rule that I'd like to see, but I do like the idea of a unified set of general rules to be used in all cardrooms that is being developed.

Will you travel overseas to take part in any tournaments?

I don't have anything planned, but it's certainly a possibility.

Will winning change your direction in life?

Not really. I have a great job in the computer industry which I am quite happy with. I respect those who make a living playing poker, but I don't think it's for me. I'm probably not going to make any big moves up in limits, either. I'm pretty comfortable where I am now.

What is your ambition?

To win the WSOP next year <grin>.

What is your favorite poker game?

I would have to say Chowaha, which is a rec.gambling.poker invention. It's a flop game with three flops, two turn cards, and one river card. The top turn card can only be used with the top two flops, and the bottom turn card can only be used with the bottom two flops. It has many variations -- you can play it with however many hole cards, high low split, etc. We've actually gotten Binion's to spread this for us the last several years during BARGE (the annual RGP confab). This game is a lot of fun, mostly because it only gets spread at RGP events and RGPers are a great crowd.

In terms of "everyday" games though, it's hard to say. I usually play hold 'em, but I enjoy all the games because each has its own fine points and subtleties, so I try to get some time in at the other games for variety.

What are your hobbies?

Hockey, amateur astronomy. I used to play bridge, but that's taken a back seat to poker.

All-time favorite movie?

Field of Dreams

What music do you like to listen to?

Pretty much anything, no real preferences.

Do you have any good luck charms? Tell us about the hat.

I don't really believe in good luck charms. The hat was more for style <grin>. The hat actually belongs to Patti Beadles. JP Massar would occasionally wear her hats for fun in local tournaments, and during a dry run of cards during the second day of the 1999 TOC, Patti asked him "Do you want to wear my hat?" and he said sure. And of course, he made it to the final table of that event.

During the dinner break at this year's TOC, I forget exactly how the subject of the hat came up, but JP mentioned he had the hat in his car if I wanted to borrow it, and I thought what the heck, let's start a tradition.

So if someone in our group of friends makes it deep next year, you can expect to see that hat again.

Have you entered into our World Series Warm-Up Tournament?

Is this the Internet tournament for the freeroll into the WSOP main event? If so, I'm pretty sure I have.

Do you play poker on the Internet? Do you think Internet poker will take away from the old-fashioned cardrooms? Which do you prefer?

I don't think online poker will take away from card room poker any time soon. There are of course the concerns regarding security and collusion, but there's also the human element. Part of playing poker is interacting with the other players and the card room personnel, and while you can certainly interact with people over the Internet (most of my poker friends in fact I met through the rec.gambling.poker newsgroup first, and in person afterwards), it's just different.

I played a fair amount of "live" bridge as well as online bridge, and it's certainly convenient to be able to play any time you want with people anywhere in the world, but I think it supplements, rather than replaces, the "real" experience. I think this applies for poker as well.

For me personally, since I work in the computer industry, I sit in front of a computer all day long, so going home after work to sit in front of a screen playing poker is not high on my list of priorities <grin>.

What do you see in the future of poker?

I don't have any statistics I can point to, but it seems that the popularity of poker is growing. I think if we poker players take it upon ourselves to educate our family and friends about the game, we can help dispel some of the negative image surrounding poker and increase the player base at the same time.