QUALIFIERS - Jose De La Guardia

What's your home town?
Panama City, Panama.

How about your education?
I was born and raised in Panama and went to college at UF in Gainesville, Fla.

What's your marital status?
I’m single.

What do you do for a living?
I graduated from with a degree in industrial engineering last year and have been playing poker since.

How long have you been playing poker?
I’ve been playing poker since my early teens, Holdem since 2003.

What or who inspired you to start playing?
Well, poker is awesome because it’s like a sport where you compete against others to determine who’s best, plus it gives you the gambling adrenaline that you get from betting. So that’s probably why I started playing with my friends when I was 14.

How long have you been playing at Bodog?
I’ve been playing on Bodog since early 2006, I believe.

Tell us about your best poker win...
I won the Bodog $100K twice.

How did you win your seat?
I played the $270 tourney.

What do you think your chances are of winning the WSOP*?
Good if I get a stack.

Who is your favorite poker player?
I don’t really have a favorite one.

What would you do if you won?
Invest and probably buy something nice for family and friends. And obviously set my life forever, while traveling and enjoying myself.

What would your tagline be if you turned pro?
Something to do with the fact that I’m super competitive, a bit of a joker and very laid back.

How will you spend your time off in Vegas?
Probably partying and chilling at the house we are renting.

What type of player are you?
Sometimes I’m real tight-aggressive and sometimes real loose-aggressive, I don’t consider myself on one side only.

Have you ever been to Vegas before? If so, any good stories?
Yeah, I have been in Vegas for the WSOP* the last two years. And LOL, it’s always a blast but I’m gonna censor the stories, sorry.