Alan Frei’s Poker Journey to the World Series of Poker 2027

Alan Frei’s Poker Journey to the World Series of Poker 2027

After missing the Olympics with the Philippine Curling Team in December 2025, I needed the next challenge.

The pattern is usually the same: pick something slightly insane, commit publicly, and figure it out along the way.

This time, the challenge is poker.

My goal is to play the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas in summer 2027. That gives me time to go from casual card player to someone who can sit at the biggest poker tournament in the world without completely embarrassing himself.

From Curling to Poker

Before poker, my big goal was the Olympics.

Together with the Philippine Curling Team, we won gold at the 2025 Asian Winter Games and made it all the way to the final Olympic qualification path. It was one of the most intense and unlikely projects of my life.

But after that chapter ended, I needed something new.

Poker felt like the perfect next challenge. It combines competition, strategy, psychology, risk management and decision-making under pressure. In many ways, it is exactly the kind of game I like: incomplete information, emotional control and a lot of uncomfortable learning.

Training for the World Series of Poker 2027

The goal is the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas in 2027.

I started training at the Swiss Casinos. First at the tables, then with a coach.

Compared to the Olympics, poker has one decisive competitive advantage: if all else fails, you can buy your way into the World Series of Poker. That was not an option with curling.

But buying in is not the same as being ready.

That is why I am treating poker like a real training project. I want to understand the game properly, improve step by step, and document the whole journey along the way.

Right now, I am probably still the world’s worst poker pro. But that is fine.

I was also the worst curler in international competition once, and we ended up winning the Asian Winter Games.

Why Poker?

Poker is not just gambling to me.

It is a game about making good decisions with incomplete information. You never know everything. You have to read the situation, manage risk, control emotions and act under pressure.

That is also why poker is interesting for entrepreneurs.

In business, you almost never have complete information either. You make decisions with partial data, imperfect timing and emotional pressure. You can do everything right and still lose. You can also get lucky and think you are smarter than you are.

Poker makes that visible very quickly.

Supported by Swiss Casinos

My poker journey is supported by Swiss Casinos.

That makes the project even more fun, because it turns the challenge into something I can document publicly. I want to show the full process: the training, the mistakes, the losses, the progress and hopefully the moments where I actually start to understand what I am doing.

I will document the whole journey.

PS: I am also planning an entrepreneur poker tournament with Swiss Casinos Zurich in March 2027.

More information soon.