Guillen, Campero Make for Winning Mexico Poker Combination

"I guess when it comes to promoting the game, it all goes back to what I did when I started playing," said Guillen after he finished chatting with Campero on a recent break in the WPT World Championship, with Campero among the final 60 players at this time. 

“When I started playing back then, it was PokerStars with all those online qualifiers for different live stops. That's what gave me the opportunity to travel the world,” said Guillen. “I was playing in a lot of international tournaments. I started traveling in Latin America, and then Europe, and then Australia. I think that's what all poker players, regardless of their bankroll, aspire to aim for.”

"I got that experience being out there, and WPT Global offers that opportunity to many players now. That's what is beautiful about WPT Global. It's just what I did, you know, so I can tell [qualifiers] about what worked for me," added Guillen.

Fascinating Background

We've been interviewing Campero at different points of the tournament, but Guillen was able to clue us into some interesting background about Campero away from the poker tables.

“It's interesting, he's a really sharp guy. He's new to the game when it comes to being a professional. I don't know if you know this, but he's a PHD from M.I.T. He works on artificial intelligence. He took a year off to play the game, and learn the game,” said Guillen.

“He has a very curious mind, and is very good at studying it. I told him, 'you already know the fundamentals. It's all about navigating the tournament. In multi-day tournaments it's all about slowly advancing and progressing.' You've got to take things slow, and I think he has been very successful at it so far,” added Guillen.

That curious mind definitely comes across in the thoughtful answers Campero has been giving in interviews, and Guillen is just the right person to help him focus that intelligence on the poker tournament.

A Growing WPT Global Market in Mexico

Guillen and his wife, WPT anchor Lynn GIlmartin, were among the hosts earlier this year as the World Poker Tour brought a hybrid OnLive tournament to Mexico City. The WPT500 played online for its Day 1 flights, with Day 2 qualifiers traveling to Mexico City to play live to the finish. Guillen placed fifth in the inaugural event.

It has been quite a journey for Campero as he's run things up from small satellites on WPT Global to still be playing so late into this huge WPT Championship, and Guillen saw echoes from the start of his poker journey in what Campero is currently doing. 

"I'm sure he wouldn't mind me saying this, but his bankroll on WPT Global was quite small, compared to the buy-in for this tournament, and now he's competing for more than $80,000 that he's already secured - and he's going to keep moving up and maybe win millions of dollars thanks to trying it in WPT Global," said Guillen.

A Truly International Event

The WPT World Championship at Wynn Las Vegas certainly has an international flair to it, reminding many of us here of the World Series of Poker or a European Poker Tour stop. Players from all over the world are in the tournament room. Guillen is one of those citizens of the world who is helping to build the global poker community. 

Guillen had this to say when he was asked about the atmosphere that has been present in the poker room during the event, “It's amazing, it's a game where you play all different styles. So the people from South America will play differently than the people from Europe or America. Canadians, Australians, Mexicans in particular, we all have this particular style right, so it's very cool to see it in live tournaments and experience that.”

As the interview concluded, Guillen acknowledged that Campero has a good blend of traits that will help him in the game of poker. 

"His skillset is very meticulous. And he's also very passionate, and you need to be that passionate about this," said Guillen. 

Those are traits both gentlemen share.