Translated Bluff Magazine Interview 
Croatian 
German
Calmness brings power
Dragan Galic is 35 years old. He lives on the Luneburg Heath in Schneverdingen close to Hamburg and he has made poker into a full-time living. In 2006 he hung up his overalls at BMW where he worked as a service engineer and started a relaxed life: "You can choose your own working hours and you earn more money", Galic tells us. Offenbach born Galic had his first car when he was just 17. He put it together in the way he wanted it. "I tuned the engine myself within the realm of what was permissible." Galic had been interested in delicate power plant engineering for a long time prior to concentrating on precision engine mechanics following his training. "For a long time prior to getting my licence", he states confidently and it seems as if each step was planned. Later on his passion for engines became his job as he trained as a vehicle mechanic. As he had always been interested in engineering, he specialised in something extensive and complicated in his work. In something in which many more factors than mere bolts and wearing parts played a role: power plant engineering.
At BMW - Galic will not drive any other make - his fascination with motor sport really took off. Within the framework of his work and especially because of his flair in the field of power plant engineering, his links with the BMW racing team gave him the opportunity to drive a German touring car class model. "That was quite an experience, a highlight over a few minutes." Galic just did it for fun without any great ambitions. He is modest, he's a tinkerer and he's creative.
Another very different passion which does have a connection with technique, but much more with physical control, developed while he was at school. At the age of 14 the boy from Offenbach started to get interested in Tae-Kwon-Do, a Korean martial art, a sport which is very much based on speed, dynamism and self-control. A sport in which almost anything is allowed - in which the head and upper body are protected. He stuck with the sport for 14 years, passing one exam after the other - right up to brown belt. It wasn’t that he didn't want to carry on after that, no, he had stuck at the sport in the first place. Nevertheless interests change as youths move towards adulthood. It is no longer so easy to be successful. Mind you Galic hasn't given up the sport. He has a much more relaxed attitude towards Tae-Kwon-Do and he only does the sport to keep fit and train his body in a form of personal fitness training.
While his school years were mainly devoted to learning, training or playing, more and more social aspects took centre stage for Galic later on. Along with his friends he developed an enthusiasm for snooker. The 35 year old learned a new type of concentration and self-control here. He kept this type of self-control and concentration on his path to poker. As with his training, it is the higher degree of technical difficulty in comparison to billiards which attracts him: the game which clearly required greater concentration and physical control due to the larger tables, smaller balls and smaller pockets. Galic got into this too and worked hard on perfecting his game. Again it is these fluctuating interests which keep him from absolute perfection. And "if you don't stick at it you will go backwards quickly." Galic knows this from his own experience. "Sometimes you just don't do it anymore. Practice makes perfect."
Enriched by experience, Galic started to play poker intensively in 2006. "I already knew the rules but up to then I had only had the cards in my hand maybe once every six months. That was it." The long established car mechanic had not considered the fact that money can also be earned from the game. When the poker boom started in Germany he started playing a bit on the internet and he improved bit by bit. Poker suddenly became an unending topic of conversation in his environment more and more frequently. They talked about Chris Ferguson, Phil Helmuth and the other poker professionals "and they played more often themselves too". In this period he became friendly with the Esplanade Casino and played various tournaments and cash games there with some success. "2007 went really well for me." He had several victories in Hamburg and Schenefeld which meant he could afford to take part in his first international tournament at the start of this year. At the Casino Austria Poker Tour in February in Bregenz he took part in the 300 rebuy tournament and made it through to the final without rebuy and add-on. There he was up against one of Germany's most experienced poker professionals: Eddy Scharf. "That was a funny thing", Galic comments - not cocky but full of respect.
If a few were talking about a surprise here, a quick look at his life story suggests that this was not particularly the case. Like many other successful poker players, the boy from Offenbach had been playing chess since he was a child so he was well acquainted with tactics and strategy: also the strategy of cards as could be seen in 2008. The variety of the game fascinates him. "It's a bit like chess. You can manoeuvre; you can play slowly or aggressively. There are various ways of outwitting your opponent. "You set up a trap which will suddenly snap shut two, three of four goes later. At the end of 2006 Galic handed in his notice at BMW.
That was not an easy decision: It wasn't as if he had told the whole world about it and said: "That's it. I'm finishing now. I just want to play poker." The father of two children had to weigh up whether part-time jobs could provide enough security if the poker went wrong. Practice makes perfect - over the course of the months in which he dedicated more and more time to poker, he became increasingly successful. "Today I can say: I definitely just live from my earnings at cards." Galic does not regret this step. It is quite the opposite. He is highly satisfied with his successes to date, he enjoys the free time between the tournaments and he spends lots of time with his children when he is in Schneverdingen as they are very important to him - even though he is divorced and they otherwise live with his former wife.
