I had my first experience playing poker against a celebrity this evening.

I was playing the 8/16 at Canterbury against a number of older gentlemen and one guy who appeared to be about my age. He was playing decently, a bit on the aggressive side, and listening to an iPod. None of this was out of place; there are lots of twenty-somethings playing poker at any given time. Then I noticed his watch.

While lots of guys in their mid-twenties play poker in card rooms, not many of them wear $4000 Breitling watches. Something didn’t add up.

A few minutes later, a passerby revealed the man’s secret with a question. “Recover from the concussion?” he asked, to which the player responded that he had resumed practicing.

It turns out that I was playing against Mattias Weinhandl, who is a right wing for the Minnesota Wild. Nice guy, not presumptuous or arrogant at all. He even took it well when I beat him with 94s. Hope he recovers from his head injury.