Interview with Kevin Laird (Koovoon)
Kevin Laird won a 1 million Spin and Go about half year ago (CLICK HERE). I contacted him to ask how he is doing. We talked abit about his future plans.
Charles Hawk: Hey, Kevin. How are you and your stay back in USA? Don't you miss poker? What's in your mind to do to replace it?
Kevin Laird (Koovoon): I'm really glad to be back in the US. I dont miss poker at all, at least not playing professionally...I found a $1/$3 home game that I go to on Sundays. So I've been learning cash games a little bit, reading some books and looking up some videos and whatnot. But nothing serious, don't plan to do it for a living anymore, just a hobby because I still like the game.
Charles Hawk: maybe you are planning to transition to live poker tourneys across the US and Canada?
Kevin Laird (Koovoon): I may play in some WSOP events, I've only played one live event ever (PCA back in the day, Elky won it the year I played).
Charles Hawk: How about staking and coaching? Are you done with earnings from poker industry completely?
Kevin Laird (Koovoon): I'm not really interested in staking… I've heard some horror stories and don't really want to get involed in any of that. A lot of variance in it, too
Kevin Laird (Koovoon): As for coaching, I don't think I'd be a very good coach. It would take a lot of work for me to become one. Except for the last year where I played spins, my entire career has been 6-max SNGs, so I dont feel like I'm well-rounded enough to even consider being a coach. I was a really good grinder, I was good at what I did...but there are tons of players that have a lot more poker knowledge than me
Charles Hawk: So what you gonna be doing to "give a meaning to your existence"?
Kevin Laird (Koovoon): Good question lol...
Kevin Laird (Koovoon): I'm probably going to try to pursue some sort of business venture. Right now I'm getting into the beginning stages of learning how to code. I've been reading some books, doing some research, trying to figure out what area to get into.
Kevin Laird (Koovoon): "business venture" is very vague, but that's all I have right now. It's a matter of what opportunities present themselves. I don't want the money I made to go to waste...I want to use it to make more.
Kevin Laird (Koovoon): If poker comes back to the U.S., there is a good chance I'll come back for a few years to take advantage of the boom
Charles Hawk: Could you share your business ideas in more detail (if its not a secret ofc)?
Kevin Laird (Koovoon): Well there isn't much to share, I don't have any specific ideas. It's more like researching the areas that have the most potential to have a huge impact in the future. A.I., biotech, etc...and just trying to find a way to be a part of it.
Charles Hawk: Nice! Please give tips to our readers how to do it?
Charles Hawk: I have Bioetics in university. We touched biotech abit - interesting stuff!
Kevin Laird (Koovoon): I've spent most of my time so far just relaxing...haven't done much of anything towards those goals. Now is about the time where I need to saddle up and get more serious about what I'm going to do.
Kevin Laird (Koovoon): I've set up a few private loans with some of the money, just filed my taxes (ouch), put some in a retirement fund…
Kevin Laird (Koovoon): So it's just a matter of figuring out what I want to do with the portion I'm willing to be more aggressive with.
Kevin Laird (Koovoon): Two things I've realized since winning... 1) It's not as much money as a lot of people think...once I pay off some debts (student loans and car and whatnot), and pay the taxes, it's not even close to a million. 2) It's not enough money to retire off of, but it's definitely enough to give me a good head start. It brings a lot of added pressure...pressure to do something with it, which has a decent chance of failure. So if somehow I lose it all people will be like how did that happen?
Charles Hawk: Also it should be harder and more responsible to create healthy business than making ev calls? Especially when expanding, hiring etc.
Kevin Laird (Koovoon): Yeah, things get real pretty quickly.