The Monkey has Been Set Loose on the MSPT
There are very few players as polarizing as Will "Monkey" Souther. The Southern pro from Biloxi is a "love-him-or-hate-him" sort of guy, but no matter your thoughts, there's no denying that he's a true poker character.
Souther began playing no limit hold’em in 2003, and since then he’s amassed $657,240 in live tournament earnings. His biggest score came at the 2009 Venetian Deep Stack Extravaganza III when he won a $550 event for $61,326. He’s also placed third in the 2010 Gulf Coast Poker $5,000 Championship for $59,129; runner-up in the 2008 World Series of Poker Circuit New Orleans $1,000 NLHE for $48,484; sixth in the 2010 WSOP Circuit Horseshoe Hammond for $47,772; and 175th in the 2012 WSOP Main Event for $44,655.
So where did the nickname “Monkey” come from? Souther explained in an interview he did with Gulf Coast Poker:
“What was the factors leading up to the name? I am tall, have long arms...and am very spastic at times. Its funny, people who don’t know me think maybe its drugs! But its not, I just have a lot of nervous energy! I say NO to drugs! I have been running sports pools for 10 years (March Madness, NFL SURVIVOR, etc etc) and someone a few years back started calling me the Pool Monkey...kind of stuck. Sold wine for a while and assumed the moniker the Wine Monkey....so when I decided to play Poker for a living it was only natural that I become the Poker Monkey!”
Prior to making the drive from Biloxi, Souther joked with PokerNews’ Chad Holloway: “It was a tough call [to play the MSPT]. Walk out to my front yard, peel off 11 $100 bills and light each one on fire while laughing hysterically and saving the $200 on gas and 4.5 hours of driving or make the trip and watch one idiot after another beat hands like KK/QQ/JJ with hands like 3-9, 4-7 and K-2. Tough call, I know.”
No matter how Souther does here in Baton Rouge, rest assured you’ll read about it in his popular blog Poker Monkey Talk.
Souther can be one of the most jovial players in the room when things are going his way, but he’s also been known to be a bit temperamental when things aren’t going his way. We’ll have to wait and see just what sort of “Monkey” business we get in his first-ever MSPT event.
Written by Chad Holloway