The Cowboy is Riding High
Having A Ball With his easy smile and western look, Kenna James looks like a singing cowboy right out of central casting, and believe or not, the affable Stetson-wearer would love to put an album out someday. He loves the social aspect of the game and keeps things upbeat by joking around and sometimes even breaking out into song.
"I'm always singing at the table, and I try to get everyone laughing," he states. "I just think that people who are pessimistic or rude, their chances of making it as a pro are pretty slim."
Laughter is fine, but how do you reconcile personal growth with the naked aggression necessary to win at the highest level?
"Aggression is necessary in life. We're a capitalistic society. We're capitalists and that's what poker is," Cowboy says. "But in America everyone has a chance and everyone has a choice. If you choose to play the game, you have the same access to tools as I did, even more today, so it's your responsibility to play the best you can. That makes poker a microcosm for life.
"You might say you're out to take someone's money or be aggressive over someone else. Look, I'm out here playing a game that I love, and I hope you're doing the same. The chips are just how we keep score, and if we don't have a way to keep score, we'd never improve.
"So if you're losing, it's not my doing. The problem is your own self-awareness of what you need to get better.
Better And Better Kenna said he finally came to a crossroads in the late '90s. "I had to make a decision to quit my job, because it was taking my focus." Ever since, it has been poker all the way, and the results have been phenomenal: six firsts in 2003, several firsts in the Plaza Ultimate Poker Challenge the following year, second at the WPT Legends of Poker at the Bike in 2005 and last year he has been on fire, winning an L.A. Poker Classic $2,500 event and taking second at the PartyPoker Million to the tune of $700,000.
As he shouted to the crowd during the final table of the PartyPoker Million: "I'm like butter, 'cause I'm on a roll!"
That roll got more lucrative lately when he signed on as the face of an internet poker site.
It has always been my desire to find a way to give back to the game that has been so good to me," says James, who recently moved to Vegas. "I was never one to look for and take advantage of the weaker 'fish' in the game, but rather I always looked to elevate my game by playing against the best.
"I have a goal to win a World Series," James says, with serious look. "I'm going to play in all the hold'em events for sure, and I believe I have a significant shot.
"Before it was a dream. Now I think it can be a reality."