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 �C NAPT Ladies Event Champ Kyna Cool �C 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 �C 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.
