Patience is a Virtue

Robert Fortuno, a Chula Vista resident, has been playing as far back as elementary school, but he didn’t start learning how to play Texas Hold’em until he came to the United States in the late 1990s.

Fortuno shared that, like many players, he first began to play against his friends, but that soon was not enough as Fortuno began to peer elsewhere to push his boundaries and test his poker skills against a larger playing field.

“I wanted to try out how well I would do playing against other people, other than my friends. A lot of times I won against my friends. My punishment was to get the pizza for the next game.”

Perhaps he was simply tired of buying pizza, or it was the hunger for competition that drove him, but Fortuno stated that he began to journey to poker rooms and casinos to play cash and eventually tournaments.

Fortuno shared that he feels the game of poker has been more than just a competitive pursuit, but that the game has helped him develop life skills that he feels have translated into his professional and personal life.

“I think through playing poker I developed a lot of patience,” Fortuno said.

Fortuno shared that he works in controls and automation, and he felt that the game offered a chance to gain work on problem-solving and enhance skills that would aid him in his professional life, which has also been what continues to keep the game of poker appealing all these years after learning how to play.

“When you work in that kind of field, you have to be patient. How can I diagnose the problem? I have to test things and see what works with the equipment,” Fortuno said. “It’s the same with poker in terms of making decisions and trying to develop a game plan.”