David Haye explains how he had to knock out his ego in bid for poker glory
David Haye admits he had to put his boxing ego to one side in his bid to conquer Goliath.
The Hayemaker isn’t, however, reminiscing about the night he toppled 6ft 9in Ukrainian Nikolai Valuev in Nuremberg in 2009 to become the WBA heavyweight champion of the world.
Instead, he’s discussing his attempt to win the biggest poker tournament in Europe, just a year after learning the game from a near-standing start.
“The biggest difference I found was that in boxing you don’t have time to think and in poker you do,” said Haye, the subject of Amazon Prime’s new documentary ‘David versus Goliath’.
“I’m very instinctive. I look at someone and if I think I can beat them in a boxing match then I feel I have an advantage over them. But in poker, that doesn’t matter – you’re playing the cards, you’re not playing the person, and that’s where I really struggle.
“If someone re-raised me, for instance, I felt obliged to go all in because I didn’t want to be deemed weak or someone who’d give up. I didn’t want to be bullied, and found myself losing lots of hands very fast. My ego got in the way, so I had to learn.
“It took a while to understand that but once I got it in my head I started having significant improvements in my game.”
While Haye is the star of the show, he is supported by pal Audley Harrison, the 2000 Olympic super-heavyweight gold medallist and former professional boxer turned poker player.
Harrison knows what makes his old mate tick and played a significant role in mentoring him along the way to last year’s Grosvenor Casinos ‘Goliath’ showpiece event.
“I find a way that works for me to learn,” said Haye, who retired from boxing in 2018.
“I don’t believe the best way to teach a boxer how to box is to give him a book to read about the history of boxing – that won’t make you a better boxer. It will make you know about the history of boxing, maybe, but it won’t teach you how to slip a jab.
“You learn to slip a jab by getting hit in the face by a jab, and slowly but surely you slip it.
“So I found a way that worked to get the best out of myself in learning the art of poker. When I started I didn’t know you didn’t use jokers and yet I still claimed I was going to win this thing.
“I go to the biggest poker tournament outside of Las Vegas, with thousands of people in it, and I go to win.
“You see me learning the art of poker, going all over the world and training with some of the best poker players.
“I’m treating this tournament like it was a boxing match with the boot camps, the preparation, how I’m eating, how I’m sleeping, how I’m immersing myself in the game.”
'David versus Goliath' is available now on Amazon Prime.
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