Inside Vancouver
The Poker Player
By Gary Stephen Ross published Jun 1, 2010
TOP STORIES
IT’S an hour before the fifth Kings-Canucks playoff game, and Players Chophouse on Beatty, around the corner from GM Place, is abuzz with alcohol, testosterone, and anticipation. The room is packed; hockey fans—mostly buff guys, many in Canucks jerseys—order drinks, ogle the comely servers, and keep an eye on the Washington-Montreal game on the screens above the bar. In the middle of the din sits the gregarious, six-foot-four, 225-pound, freshly Buddha-domed Greg Mueller. “Hey Baumer,” he calls to Canuck defenceman Nolan Baumgartner, in suit and tie. “How come you’re not dressed tonight?” “Sprained my MCL,” replies Baumgartner glumly, joining utility forward Matt Pettinger, also in civvies, at a table nearby.
Along with Garth Snow, Mitch Berger, Jason Strudwick, Len Barrie, Darryl Sydor, and several other current and former athletes, Mueller, 38, is part owner of the sports bar, as well as of Players Chophouse in Whistler. Born in Germany, he grew up in White Rock (“My parents had a fish and chips place, Moby Dick, on the beach”), where he still lives when he’s not keeping a schedule that takes him all over the world (he’s just back from a poker tournament in Indiana). It was during a nine-year pro hockey career in Germany that he became adept at poker (“all those 10-hour bus rides”). He quit hockey and returned to Canada to spend time with his mother, who had terminal breast cancer. He tried acting, and eventually devoted himself to poker. His ascent through the ranks has been remarkable; he’s racked up some $1.7 million in tournament winnings along the way. Last year at the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas he won two bracelets (and $587,906)—the legendary Phil Ivey was the only other player to win two. Tonight, as he eagerly awaits the Game 5 faceoff, those diamond-studded bracelets accent the cuffs of his Kyle Wellwood jersey, sparkling each time he raises his glass. He hopes to pad his totals at this year’s World Series, which runs from the end of May until mid July, then breaks until the final table of the main event reconvenes in November.
Mueller nibbles beef carpaccio and Caprese salad while greeting pals, happily bantering with the servers and frequently checking his BlackBerry. “Excuse me,” he says, “but my buddy Shawn Buchanan’s at the final table in the World Poker Tour event at the Bellagio right now. We’ve got 10 percent of each other”—meaning Mueller stands to pocket about $58,800 of the $587,906 Buchanan will eventually collect for finishing third. “Shawn’s from Abbotsford and we worked our way up together. We’re roommates when we travel.”
