World Cup of Poker: Mexico's CORONABEACH

The World Cup of Poker IV live finals in Barcelona are only a few weeks away. As the date draws closer, we're taking a look at some of the players who will be fighting for their country. Here is Team Mexico's CORONABEACH in this own words.

My name is Jonathan Stoker (aka CORONABEACH). I am 33 years old and originally from Yardley, PA, USA. I moved to Cancun, Mexico in 1996 where I worked as an Activities Director for The Hotel Crown Paradise for four years. I then tested the waters in vacation property sales where I found I had a true talent with people and reading their body language. I quickly rose to the top of the business, winning Salesman of the Year my first year. Shortly after that, I moved into management where I have been for the past seven years. I am currently the assistant manager at Playa Del Sol Resorts in Neuvo Vallarta, Mexico. The past two years have been very exciting. I met my beautiful wife and mother of my wonderful new eleven month old. God bless you both!

As a sales manager here in Nuevo Vallarta, I would work from 9 to 4 or so, and when was done, I would walk home along the marina and stop in to have a beer with friends. Each day, I noticed a gentleman playing on the computer. I asked "What are you doing each day?"

He said "Poker!"

And that was it.

I figured this would be a good way to spend some time in the house (I was single at the time), so I bought a laptop and joined PokerStars. This was three years ago. Since then it has been an uphill battle with game. I watched all the TV poker, read all the books, and have had so many bad beats I thought it was just better to play the worst hand. This past year, I took another approach. I realized that I would need to study more, watch more videos, study my play more and analyze my game to find the leaks. As a result this year, I feel my game has elevated to a higher level. The support of my wife is a big reason to my success. I could not play at the level I am or reach the goals I have without her by my side. Thanks for all your support!

My biggest achievement to date would be reaching the finals this year in the World Cup of Poker in Barcelona, Spain. This is the highlight of my poker playing. I also had strong finish this year in the $30,000 guaranteed $3 rebuy event on PokerStars. Recently, I was in Las Vegas playing at the Golden Nugget daily $100 tournament where I had five final tables of seven entries. One of the final tables was a first place finish for $1,800.

I feel I brought my A game to the World Cup Division Finals. I have been studying and analyzing my game every day. With this, I feel it gave the skill and mental edge over my opponents for first place finish out of 12.

The World Cup experience is amazing and we have not even begun the fun part! To think that the best players from 54 countries from around the world are in front on the computers and shooting for a chance to represent their country in Spain on TV and bring the a world title home to their country is truly priceless!

What do I expect at the live finals in Barcelona, Spain? The obvious is the best answer: I think I expect Mexico to bring home the title. I assure everyone onasis16, our other two teammates, and I are not flying 22 hours for second place.

I plan to grow from this experience by having the opportunity to meet people from around the world that have a good sense for the game of poker. I plan to use this World Cup to elevate my game to the next level, proving to myself I have what it takes to be a professional poker player.