Grinding the World Championship of Online Poker (WCOOP) in Mexico is a yearly event for poker player Shaun Deeb.
The American poker pro has to take a trip to Mexico so that he can play these events, and so far has accumulated 57 online cashes since August 30. For Deeb, the trip is typically worth it as he is easily one of the most successful WCOOP players of all time, with several bracelets under his name.
However, this year Deeb faced a whole new different challenge outside of the poker tables. Last Sunday evening, he recently revealed on his Twitter account that he had contracted COVID-19 while he was in Mexico.
"So I've been keeping this quiet last week and a half, but I have COVID now and I think I'm going to need your guys help making a tweet or two go viral so I don't have to get hospitalized in Mexico."
It has been said that there are those who get infected with the virus are lucky enough to have minor symptoms or asymptomatic (no symptoms), but for Deeb, he has definitely struggled with it.
His symptoms went pretty bad, so he had to finally check himself in to a hospital in Mexico.
The most notable problem Deeb experienced about this disease was that he seems to have a hard time getting himself constantly hydrated, because he quickly sweats out most of the water he drinks. He also complained about severe chills, among other unpleasant symptoms.
The (grind) battle continues...at the hospital
Unlike others who will easily get disheartened when they find out they tested positive for the novel coronavirus, Shaun Deeb still went on with his daily grind. He continued to play in WCOOP events online even while battling the symptoms of COVID-19.
Deeb replied to his inquiring fans via Twitter that he's getting better thanks to the IV treatment and medicines. The very next day he tweeted a light-hearted thought about his situation, "You [are] not really a #wcoop grinder if you're not one-handed 10 tabling on touch pad in a Mexican hospital with [COVID-19]".
However, his next tweet revealed the seriousness of what he's going through.
He also admits that the virus has run him "into the ground", but was optimistic saying, "Poker has trained me for this fight you have to show up every day ignore the results and do what you're told I'll have better days and days I'll feel I won't make it but can't give up mentally then you'll lose."
Bringing home the bacon
Shaun Deeb appears to be recovering nicely and should be joining his family soon. When he returns to America, he will surely be bringing home some impressive WCOOP results to his name. Through September 20, Dee earned a total of $95,754 across 57 tournament cashes. In four of those events, he reached the top 10, and had his biggest cash of the month in a $5,200 Pot-Limit Omaha 6-Max event where he finished in 7th place for $28,596.
As he multi-tables tournaments from his Mexico hospital bed, he's expected to make more cashes on the way. Despite getting the dreaded coronavirus, Deeb said some of his best poker results were achieved during this trip.
Deeb was released on Thursday, September 25 and will stay a bit longer in Mexico until he is cleared by government officials to return to the United States.
