Diary of a Poker Diva - Liz Lieu

Monday morning, I jumped into my Benz and started driving to Los Angeles to visit my Chilipoker Sponsor, Alexandre Dreyfus. I was supposed to meet him at 5am. Don’t ask. Something to do with Alex trying to stay on European time. He tries to sleep at the same time he would if he was in France.

I didn’t leave Vegas until 2:30am. I was struggling to leave at all. Alex has been so supportive of me and has been the absolutely best Sponsor anyone could ask for so there was no way I wasn’t going to drive to L.A. but I was soooo tired!! I arrived in L.A. around 6:30 in the morning and I decided to spend the rest of the week there. Alex and I had some good meetings on Monday and discussed some upcoming projects and pending business.

After joining Alex for breakfast, we decided that I take him on a sightseeing tour. We headed to Beverly Hills and Alex wanted to check out some of the homes in that area. There’s a slight chance he might move to Los Angeles someday, since he loves the weather so much. And then I took him to my favorite spot in L.A. That’s right! Rodeo Drive.

The rest of the time I just played poker online. I am not running well online!! I am actually playing quite well. I played heads up mostly. I ended up down 13k before I called it quits for the week. It was an up and down session. On Thursday I went heads up against a very loose and aggressive player and he hit so many times on the river. I wanted to puke. I would check raise and raise him on the flop and turn. Of course he had air everytime but this didn’t stop him from chasing me down and hitting every over card or draw on the river. It was pretty sick. Oh well, that’s poker right?

Here’s a funny story. It is Friday and I just returned from L.A. I am in Vegas now writing this blog from home and it took me 6 ½ hours to get here. The traffic in LA is an absolute nightmare. I called a friend and they asked me why I was driving back to Vegas on a Friday. That is the worst day to drive. I thought it was Thursday!!

Okay. I think I am going to book my trip to the British Columbia Poker Championships in Vancouver, B.C. next week. I hear it’s a great event at a great venue. I haven’t played this event before but I am looking forward too it.

The event will be held at the River Rock Casino Resort. Rumor is the first prize of the Main Event will be around one million U.S. dollars. I fly out Wednesday. I will report back from Canada and let you know how it goes. Cheers!

Picking right back up from where I left off. I made the short drive to the Bellagio to meet up with my friends to go to The Bank. When I arrived I ran into Eric Morris, Owner of Bluff Magazine and Justin Bonomo. I have never met Justin until then. They were waiting on Lacey and Christina.

I decided to book my own table separately on the dance floor since I had out of town guests and decided to invite a couple of girlfriends. It turns out our tables were very close. Jeff Madsen, Nenad Medic, Brandon Cantu, Tiffany Michelle, Maria Ho, Justin Bonomo and Rick Fuller were just a few among many other poker players that decided to come out for the Bluff Party.

(photo courtesy of Spy On Vegas)

We settled in around 11pm and ordered three bottles of Vodka. I don’t drink at all, typically, but I did have half a shot with Nenad towards the end of the night. It was one of those type of nights. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits. The WSOP Main Event was just a day away and I decided to celebrate the occasion.

(photo courtesy of Spy On Vegas and Napkin Nights)

Most of the night everyone bounced back and forth between the different tables. I also ran into the entire Asian Dragon APT Crew, Quinn Do, Nam Le, JC Tran, Steve Sung, as well as Martin Elliott and Tom Hall of the Asian Poker Tour. They had a few tables as well Saturday night. I am a big supporter of the APT and I plan to play in several events.

(photo courtesy of Spy On Vegas)

Sunday was really uneventful. It was a complete recovery day from the two nights before. A chance to catch up on errands. Check emails. I pretty much stayed in my home the whole day and ordered Mexican take out to be delivered to my place.

Now it’s Monday and I just returned from taking my mercedes into the dealership for some routine maintenance and oil check. I plan on driving to Los Angeles tonight. My Chilipoker Sponsor, Alexandre Dreyfus, is in Los Angeles for a few days. I want to catch up on some work with him while he’s in town.

Most of our correspondence in the past month has been over Skype or phone so this is a good chance to meet up with Alex because we are both travelling so much and he is always busy with work. Alex is truly one of the most intelligent business people I know and has a great sense of humor. I look forward to seeing him again.

And I promise you some poker blogs are coming soon!!

Cheers!

After a seventeen hour flight, I’ve finally arrived back in Vietnam on the 29th of July.  Eight months have already pass by since my last visit back to my homeland for my father’s 100th day praying ceremony, amazing how time flies by so quick. And now I find myself back again. This time is for the one-year anniversary of my beloved father’s passing and also I will be spending a few weeks doing my charity work.

I spent my first two days in Saigon to spend some time with my father at Lam Te Temple. Then I hopped on a flight to DaNang with my cousin, niece, and nephew for four days to start my charity journey along with my Teacher monk. As soon we got off the plane, I grabbed a taxi and headed straight to my Teacher monk’s temple to prepare all the necessities needed for the early trip the next day.

We were off and on the road by 6 am, drove five hours on rough bumpy roads to finally reach our destination. By the time we arrived, all the villagers were already at the temple waiting patiently.

Before I began passing out the much-needed food to these villagers, a ceremony was conducted by my Teacher Monk to honor me with blessings. I slipped into a blue robe throughout the ceremony which represents my status as his disciple. Being granted  Buddhism relics is one of the most precious gift for a temple, and I felt honored when my Teacher Monk showed me the 3 relics that was granted to his temple in DaNang.

It was time to distribute the supplies to the villagers when the ceremony ended. There are more than 200 homes in that village so it took us about 2 hours to give out all the supplies. As an appreciation, the villagers prepared a vegetarian feast at the temple for me and my family. This charity journey took over 15 hours on the road, but it was all well worth it!

It was my birthday the day after our charity trip. However, it wasn’t a good time for celebration because I’m here to mourn for my dad. I decided to go the temple to spend a peaceful birthday, my Teacher Monk conducted a four hour ceremony to pray for both my father and I.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank all my family, friends, and fans for all the kind birthday wishes. Much love to you all!

I spent the rest of that evening and the following day just playing online at Chilipoker. Then took an evening flight back to Saigon. I’m currently still in Saigon right now preparing a big praying ceremony for my dad’s anniversary on the 18th of August. I’ll be here till the end of the month, then I’m off to Macau. Take care till then.

Cheers!

I have neglected my own site.  I admit it. And I am sorry

Thanks so much to everyone who has been so kind during my illness.  It was over forty days that I was sick, sicker, flown to the US, had an operation, then sat in bed recovering.  I’ve gone through every feeling imaginable:  discomfort, pain, anxiousness, fear, misery, sadness, anger, stubbornness, fatigue, graciousness, humility, thankfulness, and anticipation.  Now, I’m feeling great, ready to get all of the bad feelings (and bad beats!) behind me.

I wasn’t sure when I would start playing in the World Series of Poker until I received a call from Fabrice Soulier, my Chilipoker teammate.  He’s made a five-figure bet with a team from Winamax (a French company).  He’s betting that he and I can win more cash this WSOP than the Winamax team.  Here’s who we’re up against:

The Chilipoker Team:
Liz Lieu
Fabrice Soulier

The Winamax Team:
Michel Abecassis
Manuel Bevand
Guillaume De La Gorce
Vikash Dhorasso
Davidi Kitai
Eric Koskas
Ludovic Lacay
Antony Lellouche
Nicolas Levi
Arnaud Mattern
Alexia Portal
Anthony Roux
Almira Skripchenko

Game On!!  At least he got me fired up and ready to go, so I headed to the Bellagio to play a quick cash game Friday night, just to be sure I would feel up to playing cards.  There were no high stakes games going on at the Bellagio, so I played $100/200 LHE for a few hours.  I got a bit bored, but I remembered that a flush beat a straight, so I was ready to head to the Rio for my first event.

I played Sunday in the second Day 1 of Event #2, a $1.5k NLHE event.  These weekend events are going to have huge fields, and I’d recommend anyone who wants to take their shot at a bracelet to try one of these events first.  Sure, it takes a bit of luck, but Theo Tran is leading the event as they’re down to 18 players, so you have to be able to play to go deep.  I won’t bore you with how I went out (aces cracked again!!!!), you can read all about it on my PokerListings blog.

You might be able to see my photo there (hair color:  red!), but I had a friend tell me about a new policy that Harrah’s has this year.  Photos can only stay up 72 hours online then have to come down.  I’m not sure I understand why this is the case, but that’s the way it is.

Besides that, Harrah’s has made some nice improvements to the WSOP.  More food (Pizza Hut and Krispy Kreme kiosks!!), not so cold, color-coded table signs.  It all seems a little better than the last few years, and I haven’t had any problem with the long lines that plagued last year’s Series.

I’m hoping to play as many hold-em events as possible this year.  I promise I’ll write more here as well as on PokerListings, so check both of these sites out every day.  Thanks again for all of the love.  I’ve really felt it the last few weeks, and I hope I can return the favor with a big score this summer.

Hello from beautiful Monte Carlo, although I hardly feel beautiful today. It’s been a crazy few weeks, including my time in Malta with the Chilipoker team, a cash at the EPT San Remo, and a lot of expectations heading into the EPT Grand Final in Monte Carlo. I was so looking forward to getting off to a great start, but I unfortunately I never got out of bed.

I spent a lot of time working with the Chilipoker team in Malta. Alex has put together some terrific people, and we’re working on many great things for the rest of this year. I’m so glad I chose Chilipoker and Alex as partners, because that’s what they are: true partners in every sense of the word.

From there, I headed to Italy and EPT San Remo. San Remo is near France and not too easy to reach, as I flew into Milano then rode in a car for almost three hours. It is a beautiful, ancient place, but I had no time to see the sights. It was a great tournament for me, and not due to the fact that I cashed (although that is always welcome). No, it was great because I played great, made good decisions, and made no real mistakes. I was near the chip lead on Day 2 and would have been strong for a deep run had it not been for this tough hand.

The blinds were 800/1600 with a 200 ante, and I picked up pocket 4’s. I raised to 5k and both blinds called. The rainbow flop came 9-8-6, and I checked behind both blinds. When I saw 4(d) come from the dealer on the turn, I caught my nice bottom set. I bet 9500 after both blinds checked, then one of the guys moved all-in for 49,200. I quickly called and saw him turn over J-10o. If I could avoid a queen or 7, I’d have a great stack. It was one of the queens that spiked on the river, and it crippled me.

I went out in 53rd place with 8,000 euro (a little over $12,600). I felt I’d played poorly in Poland, and here I played really well. I even had a little luck, with my dreaded pocket aces holding up five times in a row!

After heading back to Malta for a bit, I flew to Monte Carlo for the final event of the EPT season, the EPT Grand Final. I arrived early so I could be really relaxed and prepared for this big event. I even skipped the PokerStars party the evening before Day 1A. I ordered salmon for room service and headed to bed early. When I woke up, I felt horrible. Major headache and drowsiness. I called Alex at Chilipoker to see if he could reschedule me for Day 1B (he could), and I went back to bed after taking some medication from the concierge.

The next morning, it was worse. I reached back out to Alex to see if he could get a refund, and I felt relieved when he told me he could. I was able to have a doctor see me, and I didn’t really feel better for a couple days. I missed playing in the tournament, but I’d rather not play then not play my best. I owe it to Alex and Chilipoker to only put my best foot forward, and Alex has been great throughout the EPT season.

And now, I’ll be heading back to the US and Las Vegas. I can’t wait to get out of the hotels and back home again. I play in the $25k WPT Championship at the Bellagio this weekend, and I’m hoping I’ll feel 100% by then. I’ll be staying in Vegas throughout the summer at the World Series, and I have high hopes to have a great few months.

Join me at Chilipoker when you have a chance. And if you’re somewhere in Asia, you can find me on the cover of Asian Poker Times as well (one of my nicer photos, too!). Keep up all the encouraging comments and thoughts. They really, really help me a lot!

Well, I made it back to Malta, barely in one piece after the EPT Warsaw event. You can read my recap on PokerListings, but I can tell you that I need some good luck with pocket aces sometime soon! Losing three out of five times in Day 1 will do that to you. I made it through the first day and made a horrible play short-handed on Day 2 that could have put me back in the thick of things.

The flight back to Malta was a nightmare. It took me over twelve hours including a layover in Frankfurt. Needless to say, I’m not a very big fan of Air Malta now

For the first few days back in Malta, I played a good bit online at Chilipoker after I went to the office for three-four hours. It was really great being with Alex and the team, and it made me feel even more a part of the Chilipoker family. When there are so many people working so hard, it gets you motivated, especially since they’ve involved me in many things going on there. A highlight for me was meeting Eric, Chilipoker’s main web designer. I’ve been working with him via email for several months, so it’s always great to connect in person.

Chilipoker is working on some great things to continue to grow the site. One of the most exciting things just popped up, a “cheaproll” tournament that I’ll be hosting. Anyone who knocks me out gets a free Wii, and they’ll be adding $500 to the prizepool plus giving an Xbox to one player who makes the Final Table. It should be a really fun time, and it will be 26 March at 20:00GMT. It’s a $1.10 buy-in, so it should be loads of fun.

Alex and Eric took me to see The Other Boleyn Girl, which was really a great movie. I was startled though when they stopped the movie in the middle for a fifteen-minute intermission. They used to do that in the US back in the ’60’s, but it was really odd to see everyone hustling out to get snacks or take a smoke break.

On Saturday, Alex had rented a convertible Mini Cooper and took both Eric and myself on a sight seeing tour around Malta. Some places he took us to had amazing views and scenery. We spent most of the morning to mid afternoon just driving around and stopping at nice places as we go. Fabrice joined us later Saturday, and we had a great time out that night. Easter Sunday we went sightseeing on another island near Malta called Gozo. I was exhausted, but it was great to take some time and see a place I’d been working.

Hope to see everyone at my cheaproll at ChiliPoker! I’ll be shooting to win it so I can keep the Wii myself!

After 6 weeks playing cash games at the Commerce and my early exit from the LAPC main event, i’m back on the road again.

First stop on this round of my travels was a quick stop in London where I did an interview with Gambling Online Magazine for a front cover feature to come out next month and also to catch up on the progress of the new site I am involved in www.ipokercal.com.

The very next day I took a flight to Malta where I will be situated for a few weeks working closely with my sponsor Chilipoker as we prepare for the next stage of my tournaments in Europe and start to discuss future plans.

While I was in Malta, which is my second visit to this hotbed of online gaming companies I had chance to spend some quality time with Alex and the Chilipoker team who have just moved into a beautiful large new office which is very impressive. It just shows the quick growth in this amazing company and proves to me that the vision of Alex is coming to reality.

Also Alex was kind enough to take me on a quick tour of the island and it was right on the day of the elections and so there were tons of Maltese people voting for either the red or the blue party. While I’m not fully up to date on Maltese politics, the blues winning was a popular signal for the online gaming industry on the island. The driver that took me to the airport the next day said “more power to Chilipoker”.

So it was an interesting introduction to island life but before I could even unpack my suitcases I was on a plane to Warsaw in Poland for the next stop on the European Poker Tour. However I had to fly via Munich because there are no direct flights from Malta so it was a 7 hour journey just to get here but luckily the hotel laid on a limo pick up for me to bring me to the Mariott Hotel where I am now staying right on the top floor - the views of this beautiful city are just amazing so I couldn’t resist going for a bit of sightseeing and of course checking out the local boutiques!

So let me just say first off that I have a new strategy for this tournament. As you know I normally prefer to play on day 1a if there are two first days. This gives me chance to get straight into my game and if it doesn’t work out to travel home. However since my 2 Final tables in Macau APPT, my tournament life has not been as good as I would have liked dropping out early in Melbourne and the LAPC in Los Angeles. Of course the hectic travelling also does not relax me sufficiently well enough. So this time I decided to travel a day early and book my seat in day 1b. This has allowed me to relax in my hotel, catch up on some much needed sleep, get my business affairs in order so that I am fully prepared for the day that I start to play in this event.

The EPT Poland is one of the latest additions to the European Poker Tour which seems to be ever expanding and I really enjoy these European events. I hope with my new start time and a couple of other strategic decisions I have made (which i’m keeping quiet about !) that I will go deep into this tournament and hopefully the final table.

So if you don’t get chance to follow my progress online then I will certainly let you know how I progress.

After Poland it’s back to Malta for a short while where I will be staying until the next EPT event which is in Saint Remo on the 1st April.

So I will write again when I am back in Malta before I’m back on the road again ! Cheers!