World of Warcraft to Poker – “Hotted89”

Kirill | 2017-08-06 |

Alan “Hotted89” Widmann is a World of Warcraft pro-gamer and his streaming on Twitch is always heavily followed. But his passion for video games seems to have been shifted to the background recently.

Widmann has a weapon that nobody knows about – until now – a secret love of poker!

He is coached by friend and poker professional Viktor Blom. Widmann and Blom have even had a coaching session over Skype to prepare him for the biggest tournament of the year, the World Series of Poker.

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Widmann and Blom met for the first time during the Unibet Open, where they became friends. At that time, Widmann had no idea that Blom was a professional poker player.

After they got to know each other a bit better, Widmann said he was going to google the name Blom. He was amazed by the stories he read. On the advice of the Swedish coach, Widmann has decided to devote his energies to poker.

What Made Alan Compete in the WSOP?

Widmann is originally from Venezuela, and he has received great attention in World of Warcraft circuits where he streams his game sessions live. Recently, Widmann has begun to take poker more seriously. After a couple of live events in Europe, he competed in the WSOP Main Event, which had a $10,000 buy-in.

Alan has been playing poker on a relatively serious level for a year and a half now. He has studied the game and played a lot and according to him he is really lucky to have Viktor Blom as a coach.

Alan has always been interested in poker. He played some home games and smaller tournaments with friends and used to check out the World Series of Poker when he was 15.

Then Unibet arranged a Sit and Go for poker players and eSport streamers, and he was invited.

After that first event, he became extremely competitive and started studying the game. When he went to his second Unibet event in London, he won the tournament.

Is There a Big Difference Bbetween Poker and World of Warcraft?

According to Alan, gamers are often forced to adapt to changes and new situations quickly. So he definitely sees a connection with their ability to develop skills in new games.

In fact, he happens to know many professional gamers who play poker in their spare time. They do not participate in the WSOP, but they have good results online.

Support From Fans, Friends & Family During WSOP

The entire gaming community has backed him through this adventure, and their support feels great. According to him, it does not actually feel like he is here and playing. It feels like he represents the entire gaming community and wants to make them proud.

Future of eSports

According to Alan, the gaming scene is growing exponentially right now. The prize pools in the biggest events for Counter Strike, DotA 2, and League of Legends have already been equaled traditional sporting events such as the Super Bowl. This year was massively wound up, so there are plenty of opportunities within eSports. Demographics are perfect and in the future, he believes that more major players will enter the industry.

At present, many sports and betting companies invest in eSports, believing gaming is the next step.

Advice for New Pro Gamers

While there are many opportunities in gaming, it is still extremely difficult to turn pro. Alan always recommends to people who ask him about eSports to do it as a hobby, and if it develops into something more, then run on! But always have a plan B.

Give up eSports for Poker in the Future?

Alan is already taking poker seriously and would love to play more and gain experience, but gaming, especially World of Warcraft, has always been a passion of his.