Diary of a Poker Diva - Liz Lieu

My plan was to come to L.A. last week and play the Monday tournament, but when I got to town the week before, life had other plans.

It started with a weekend call from my cousin in Vietnam. She told me that my aunt was in the hospital again but for an unknown reason. Of course this worries me and there’s nothing I can do from the U.S. except stay updated and make sure my aunt is getting the best care possible. Besides many phone calls to Vietnam, my weekend (and most of my week) ended up being filled with work and meetings, though I did fit in a quick trip to Rodeo Drive in L.A. to do a little shopping.

But poker was set aside for a few days, which means I didn’t play the LAPC preliminaries. The good part of that is that I’m saving my great poker for the Invitational and Main Event!  I will be heading to Commerce Casino on Saturday for the red carpet welcome party and the tournament that starts in the evening, and I plan to play through the day on Sunday, too, on my way to the final table. Then I’ll take a few days off before the start of the WPT LAPC Main Event that starts next Friday. I’m still feeling great about my game these days, so I’m looking for great results at Commerce!

Speaking of poker, if you missed my last post, check out the information on the Chilipoker DeepStack Open coming up in April. Players are starting to sign up, and a lot of Chilipoker players are already winning their seats. This looks to be a great event!

In the meantime, I have to send out a BIG congratulations to my friend Quinn Do, who announced his engagement to Gale Mah earlier this week. I’m so happy for them! And it is refreshing to see love in the air - so positive and powerful. Wonderful to see Quinn has found his true soul mate!

(photo courtesy of Anh Van Nguyen)

A true soul mate is probably the most important person you will ever meet. They will come into your life to reveal another layer of yourself to you. Someone that will mirror you, show you everything that is holding you back … a person who will bring you to your own attention so you can change your life.

May your engagement be the beginning of a lifetime filled with special love & happiness!

Cheers!

I hope everyone had a wonderful and fulfilling Thanksgiving. Now that all of the leftovers are gone and the chaos of Black Friday has passed, I imagine that most of you are getting into the Christmas spirit. I am certainly feeling the holiday cheer as you can see from my latest photo shoot for the chilipoker promotion.

This holiday season I am back in Vietnam for the fifth time this year to lend a helping hand to the less fortunate. It’s 4:30am in the city and in a couple of hours i will be on my way a remote area that I have been to and helped out before. I have arranged for supplies to arrive around the same time I do. I am excited to go back but things will be different this time due to the Typhoon Ketsana that they endured in late September that caused massive flood and wind damage to the area. It turns out that a typhoon is no different than a hurricane. According to Wikipedia: “The terms hurricane and typhoon are regionally specific names for a strong “tropical cyclone” hurricane (the North Atlantic Ocean, the Northeast Pacific Ocean east of the dateline, or the South Pacific Ocean east of 160E) typhoon (the Northwest Pacific Ocean west of the dateline)”

No matter what the storm is called or how it is classified it did severe damage to a large area that already had little and now they have even less. I am in high hopes that I can make a difference to some of the people that have never know luxury and have had what they do consider “luxuries” taken away from them by mother nature.

After my seven days in the area affected by the typhoon I will continue to try to brighten the lives of those who do not have much. As promised I am donating 20% of my winnings from the money finishes of the WSOP Europe and the BC poker championship but that is actually not enough to do all that I want to accomplish. My other plans are to visit the countryside and grant 30 kids their Christmas wishes and devote a day to the elders. I am also excited to revisit the Thien Binh Catholic Orphanage where I had my best birthday ever. Those children and elders truly are inspirational. I wrote a blog about that experience and if you have not read it yet you have some catching up to do. It was such an amazing moment in my life.

I did get some time to myself when I first arrived in Vietnam and I spent it at the temple with my dad. Even though he has made his way into the after life I cherish every moment I get to spend with him. It was a peaceful time of reflection that I really needed so I could prepare for the days to come.

“Always give without remembering and always receive without forgetting.” This is a quote that I used recently on facebook but I like it and I think it is very fitting for the holidays and it should be observed year round.

Cheers!

Quick blog update. Big news out of Chilipoker headquarter’s!!! Breaking new grounds, Chilipoker.com is now the official partner of XL Airways and Go Voyages and its brand new direct flight from Paris, France to Las Vegas.

I am excited there will be a direct flights from to one of the cultural hubs of Europe to Las Vegas and also about being a part of a company that is continuing to push the envelope and get involved in strategic new business partnerships. As you know, Chilipoker.com sponsored the first WPT event to ever take place on the continent of Africa. I recently played in that event held in Marrakech, Morocco. I cannot reveal what other business dealings are in the works but this is just the tip of the iceberg. Expect Chilipoker to continue to grow and become a household name among poker enthusiasts. Read the press release for full details of the Go Voyages partnership.

“Chilipoker.com becomes the official partner of GO Voyages for its new direct line from Paris to Las-Vegas”

Press release

Malta, 28 October 2009

The Malta-based company, which is celebrating its 3^rd birthday, has signed a partnership agreement with GO Voyages to become the official partner for its new direct line from Paris to Las Vegas, operated by XL Airways, which will take off on 23 May 2010.

There will be twice weekly flights departing from Paris Charles de Gaulle, on Thursdays and Sundays, leaving room for short trips of 3 or 4 days as well as stays of a week, 10 days or longer. The departure and arrival timetables mean that travellers from all over Europe can be transported, and Paris will be established as a direct gateway to Las Vegas.

As well as innovating with this exclusive partnership, Chilipoker.com is installing a free VIP counter in Las Vegas for all its European customers. This will offer a dedicated multilingual team in charge of helping tourists and poker players prepare their stays in Las Vegas, especially with reservations for restaurants, shows or limousines, or visits to the surroundings of Vegas, etc.

“Las Vegas is one of those destinations people dream of, but which appear inaccessible. As an online poker site we felt it appropriate to offer an answer to these dreams by offering all non-English speaking Europeans, and in particular the French, a chance to enjoy a unique experience,” states Alexandre Dreyfus, the French founder of Chilipoker.com.

“We hope that with the future regulation of the online gaming market in France, which is set to become effective before 23 May 2010, Chilipoker can occupy a significant place in this new market. From now on, Las Vegas will form an integral part of our marketing strategy in Europe for 2010.”

To celebrate this agreement, Chilipoker will refund 75 Euros to all Chilipoker.com account holders for each ticket* reserved between 15 November and 31 December 2009.

“In this way Chilipoker.com intends to assert itself as a partner for the “poker destination” of Las Vegas and in particular for the French community, as we have already been for 2 years in Marrakesh. It will mean an investment of several hundred thousand dollars for us,” explains the director.

* the full terms of this refund and information about this partnership are already available in on the website:

About Chilipoker

Launched in 2006 by French Internet entrepreneur Alexandre Dreyfus, today Chilipoker numbers 40 staff of 13 different nationalities distributed across its various offices in Malta, London, Costa Rica and Hungary. Since 2007 Chilipoker.com has also sponsored one of the best women poker players, the American Liz Lieu (The PokerDiva), who is based in Las Vegas. In 2009 the company signed an agreement with the World Poker Tour to organize the WPT Marrakesh for 3 years, the first edition of which was held on 16 October.

Cheers!

I must bid adieu to Marrakech after three amazing weeks in Morocco. I want to start off by saying the WPT Marrakech, sponsored by Chilipoker was a great success. We exceeded the number of expected entrants for every single event. Every event had the maximum number of possible entries and my Chilipoker team was absolutely amazing in the process and did a fabulous job hosting the Event. And a big applause to top international tournament director Matt Savage for his excellent work, running a perfectly smooth and well organized event.

It’s been awhile since I last blogged, but I have been super busy!! I arrived in Marrakech in early October and had a few days to relax at the Es Essadi Gardens & Resort. For starters they put me up in an amazing room. It was a huge suite with a four poster bed, black marble bathroom, walk-in dressing room/ wardrobe room, private terrace, TV area with a flat screen, Berber rugs, antiques and interesting modern paintings by local artists. If you can’t enjoy the comfort of home, well this was the next best thing!!

The first couple of days, I just waited on my Chilipoker team to arrive. I spent a couple of days at the pool, reading books and just relaxing. I went out to dinner with Alex, AH, and Ophelie. And it was really relaxing and peaceful. I wanted to do more sight-seeing but I postponed it in lieu of some peace and relaxation instead. I played a ton of poker in London and it was good to just take a few days off between the WSOPE, the EPT and now the WPT Marrakech.

Because Chilipoker was a big part of this event, I felt really excited to play all the events including some of the smaller events I don’t typically play in. There were a lot of players that qualified for different events thru Chilipoker and it was my opportunity to meet many of them and play with them in a live setting. I’ve probably played some of these guys and girls online before but it’s always good to socialize and meet people in person as well.

Lots of poker professionals came out to play as well. The French were well represented, some of the big French names included Ludovic Lacay, Bertrand “ElkY” Grospellier, Nicolas Levi, Arnaud Mattern, Bruno Fitoussi, Fabrice Soulier, Antony Lellouche and one of the November Nine (WSOP ME), Antoine Saout. Other well known player such as Tony G, Antonio Esfandiari, Huck Seed, Annette Obrestad, Ross & Barney Boatman, Sorel Mizzi and one of last year’s November Nine, Scott Montgomery.

I’m please to say that I’m playing some really good poker lately and it’s only a matter of time before I win another tournament. Liz Lieu is back!! I didn’t have a name for this next chapter in my life but the comeback seems as appropriate as any. I was extremely pleased with the way I played in London. I managed to have a really strong showing at the WSOPE Main Event last week. I finished 22nd out of a Field of 334 players. I will go over some key hands in that event later and I played some really solid poker at the EPT Main Event as well.

Before I recap my time in London, I want to thank everyone for their support. If you didn’t catch the twitter updates, I will recap it shortly but the overall support was amazing. It feels good to play poker again on a regular basis and I want to personally thank the Chilipoker Team, especially Alexandre Dreyfus for sticking with me over the past two years. Shortly after signing with Chilipoker, my father passed away and I tried to play as much poker as I possibly could but my heart and soul really weren’t in it. Alex has been extremely patient and I feel like I’m on the verge of doing some of those great things that I’m sure Alex hoped for when we first formed a partnership. Thank You Chilipoker!!!

Speaking of Chilipoker, I am very pleased to announce, I am currently in Marrakesh, Morocco for our first ever sponsored WPT event. We expect a great turn out of top notch pro’s for the Chilipoker WPT Marrakesh Events. I am writing this blog from the Palace Hotel. This place is frikkin awesome!! Morocco is an extremely beautiful place and I cannot wait for the upcoming events. Partially because Chilipoker is sponsoring the event and partially because I am playing very good poker at the moment.

It all came together in London. Is it a coincidence my poker play increased exponentially now that my Two-year promise is over? I think now that I can focus on poker more and put some of the personal stuff behind me and move on, my poker play is going to improve month to month. I didn’t think it could all come together as quickly as it did but London was very encouraging. I finished 22nd in the WSOPE Main Event, outlasting one of the toughest field ever with ton of great players.

On Day 1 of the WSOPE ME, I managed to end the day with 65,600 in chips. I spent the entire day at the ME featured table. I had Hoyt Corkins, Allen Cunningham and Huck Seed to the left of me for most of the day at the featured table. How is that for a group of poker sharks?! But I managed to pick up pots and stay out of trouble most of the day. Above average chip stack by the end of Day 1.

On Day 2 of the WSOPE ME, I started to make some moves and got involved in some big hands. I dipped down to 50k at one point and doubled up to 100k. And then I doubled up again with pocket A’s. On a 9 high flop, went all-in and doubled through Brandon Cantu who had pocket Q’s. I was at 230k and among the top 5 chip leaders at this point. I did lose a few pots towards the end of the night and finished the day with 181,400 in chips. I was in very good shape still.

(photo courtesy of MadeInPoker.com)

On Day 3 of the WSOPE ME, for most of the day. I didn’t really make much movement. I just fluctuated around 180k until I did get involved in a hand against the SB when I had the button that admittedly, I got very lucky. I ran into a situation where I thought my opponent was overplaying his hand to take down the pot so I shoved all in with pocket 2’s. I ran into pocket A’s but hit a miracle flop with the first card being a deuce. After this pot, I had 240k. I eventually chipped up to approximately 300k by level 13 with about 60 players left. I guess the poker cards had to even things out because in level 14, I ended up losing 100k when I called an all-in with pocket 8’s. My opponent had pocket 4’s. He spiked a 4 on the flop and I was down to approx 180k. I finished the day with 193,500 with approximately 36 players left. I went into Day 4 with one of the smaller chip stacks.

(photos courtesy of Jules Pochy)

On Day 4 of the WSOPE ME, I had a pretty strong table. My table draw consisted of Keith Hawkins (4 WSOP cashes), Devil Fish, Teddy Sheringham (retired soccer player who has played in numerous WSOP and European events), Matt Hawrilenko (top young pro with 13 WSOP cashes and a bracelet in last year’s WSOP), Chris Bjorin (50 WSOP cashes and 2 bracelets, experienced pro), Stephen Zolotow (36 WSOP cashes, 1 bracelet and underrated veteran grinder), Thomas Bichon (won WPT Cyrus for $579k 3-weeks before) and Christian Harder (won Bellagio Cup Tourney in 2004 for $204k, 4th in the WPT Championships in April for $572k and several other 6-figure finishes). As you can see, I had my work cut out for me.

(photos courtesy of Jules Pochy)

I ended up getting cold decked and with this table I just couldn’t make any moves. Every time I raised somebody came over the top of me and I just didn’t have any hands to play back with. I had to grind my way to 22nd place and all things considered I was pleased with the result. More importantly, I was pleased with how I played for 4 days straight. I didn’t make any mistakes and made some really strong leads. I felt like I could have made it to the final table if I didn’t hit a cold deck on Day 4.

(photos courtesy of Pokerlistings.com)

(photo courtesy of Pokernews.com)

The results at the EPT London weren’t quite as good as the WSOPE ME but again, I played my hands very well. On day 1, I was chipping up nicely and ran into a cooler. After a raise and re-raise battle with Ivan Demidov, The flop came A-K-J. I had A-K. Ivan bet out 6,250, and I announced all-in. He almost folded but reluctantly called and ended up having J-J for a set. I was pretty much crippled after that hand dipping to about 6,800 in chips. My chips dwindled down to about 5000 and I tripled up with K(d) J(d). I actually played really solid poker and even chipped up to about 33,000 in chips. I didn’t last very long on Day 2. I saw a good opportunity to double up and took it. I pushed all in for my last 32k with pocket 7’s and was called down by A-K. The flop missed my opponent but spiked a king on the turn and my tournament was over. I wasn’t happy to lose but overall I was pleased with my overall plays. And I plan to play well in Morocco! I will be tweeting a ton so if you want up to the minute updates, follow me on my Twitter.

Cheers!

As I am writing this blog it’s Cinco De Mayo. I hope everyone is celebrating with loved ones and friends. I am currently laying low in London and spending time with some friends in town. I will fly back to the states soon and get some rest and relaxation before this year’s WSOP.

I’m wrapping up a whirlwind schedule that ended with the Dream Team poker event at Caesar’s in late March. Quinn Do and Matt Stout were my Dream Team partners and we didn’t have much luck on our side. For my part, I went all in with pocket Kings vs. pocket 6’s and lost full house Kings full of 6’s to quad 6’s. Arrghhh.

In the last several weeks, I have participated in a fashion photo shoot, played cash games at the Commerce, travelled to London and Monaco and I’m currently in the process of revamping this website. The overall design of the website will be the same but some of the content will be updated and I’m switching out a ton of old photos with some new ones. I have also just added two wallpaper downloads which I hope you all will enjoy. 

Some of the photos that are going up are actually part of the photo shoot I did 4 weeks ago. The photo shoot took twelve hours with me going through six outfit changes and shot at two different locations. I was really pleased with how the photos came out. What do you think?

After the photo shoot, I drove to Los Angeles to visit my mom and friends and when I found the time, I went to the Commerce to play in some live cash games. It was up and down for me but overall, I managed to squeeze out a small profit.

The biggest downside of playing at the Commerce in April was it seemed to be extraordinarily slow. None of the big games were going. The games were much smaller and it was tougher to find a juicy game which sometimes the Commerce can be famous for. They always seem to have action games. Perhaps the economy is having a negative impact on poker?

Anyhow, I spent a couple of weeks in Los Angeles, before heading off to Monte Carlo, Monaco for the EPT Grand Finale. This is one of my favorite tournaments to play in all year long. Last year I missed this event because of food poisoning. I was determined not to miss this year’s event!!

In 2008, I ordered some room service from my 5 star Hotel and managed to catch food poisoning from a salmon salad. I couldn’t believe it when I woke up sicker than I’ve been in my life. I thought maybe I could post-pone my Day 1A start and play Day 1B but I wasn’t feeling any better. Alex, my Chilipoker sponsor, had to pull me out of the tournament.

This year, I managed to stay healthy and made it to the tournament. Perhaps it would have been better if I caught food poisoning again.. haha.. Jk!! The poker gods surely wasn’t too nice to me! I won a total of four hands, none of which are big pots during the nine hours of tournament play, but I did manage to make it to Day 2, despite being completely card dead on Day 1.

(photo courtesy of CardPlayer.com)

On Day 2, I had just enough chips to last 2 rounds of blinds. I was dealt pocket 6’s on my very first hand of the day, blinds were 500-1000 with 100 ante, a player in early position raised to $3000, I decided this was my spot to double up or go home so I moved all-in with $11,200. The early position player called and turned over pocket Q’s. Not what I wanted to see.

I didn’t really expect to see him fold because I was short stack but I was hoping to be in a coin flip situation. Unfortunately, I was far behind and didn’t hit a 6 on the flop, turn or river and my tournament was over.

Monte Carlo wasn’t a complete waste of time, however. Monaco is one of the most beautiful places on earth. It is located near the Mediterranean Sea on the French Riviera. Squeezed in between France and Italy, it’s truly a sight to behold. I really enjoy coming back here every year. I cannot think of a better location for a poker tournament.

During my stay in Monaco, I was able to catch up with my sponsor Alexandre Dreyfus. Alex and I had a nice lunch and it was so pleasant to see his smile. Alex is one of the most positive and fun-going people and he was extremely exuberant during this trip.

It was good to hear that Chilipoker is doing very well and Alex is involved in some other business ventures that have him smiling. One of those business ventures is a partnership agreement with the WPT for the first ever World Poker Tour Marrakech on the continent of Africa.

Alexandre Dreyfus, Chief Executive Officer of Chilipoker, commented in a press release distributed by the WPT, “Chilipoker is delighted to be associated with a world-renowned brand like the World Poker Tour in the creation of this unique and attractive event. With the creation of WPT Marrakech, Chili Poker also intends to emphasize Marrakech’s attributes as a highly-desirable destination for European and African poker players.”

In Monaco, I was able to meet with some key members of the Chilipoker team and discuss the upcoming Marrakech event that will take place from the 12th-19th October. I cannot release names yet, but so far we have commitments from some very high profile poker players to participate in the event. Television coverage of the tournament is also expected. Stay tuned for more details.

I also won a “last longer” bet with Alex. We both played in the Main Event and had a friendly wager on who would last longer in the tournament. I made it to Day 2 and unfortunately for Alex, he was knocked out on Day 1.

I also had a chance to do some sight-seeing in Monte Carlo since my tournament was cut a little short. The island itself is pretty small. Somebody told me only 3,000 residents actually live here but it’s a destination for some of the richest people in the world including many celebrities. The country is spectacular and the views are gorgeous.

Sorry it’s been so long since my last update. I promise the next one will be within the week and we will not go a month without another update. 

Well, I hope you enjoyed the update. Stay tuned for some interesting and entertaining journal entries. I want to write some really personal stuff over the next few weeks while I rest up for this year’s WSOP which is right around the corner. Until then, Ciao.

I have some great news to share. My sponsor site, Chilipoker.com has just announced an exclusive three year agreement with the World Poker Tour (WPT). 

Chilipoker and World Poker Tour® (WPT) Launch WPT Marrakech in Morocco - www.chilipoker.com/wpt-marrakech

I would like to applaud Alexandre Dreyfus for putting this agreement together. I know he’s been working on it for quite awhile. If you remember back to my blog when I visited with Alex in Los Angeles, he was in town working on this deal.

Chilipoker.com and WPT Enterprises announced recently that they have finalized an exclusive partnership to launch the first ever World Poker Tour® (WPT) event to take place on the African continent — WPT Marrakech. The three-year deal enables the partners to create annual televised broadcasts around the events. The first WPT Main Event will take place next October, while several satellite tournaments on Chilipoker and other rooms of the Ipoker network are authorized to qualify players online as soon as March.

For those of you who don’t know, Morocco is located in North Africa and has coast lines on the Atlantic Ocean, Straight of Gibraltar and the Mediterranean Sea. I wasn’t exactly sure either. I had an idea of where Morocco was and I decided to go to Wikipedia and look up some interesting and fun facts about Morocco.

Here is an interesting fact: Morocco is the only African Country that is not a member of the African Union. Morocco is part of the Arab league but is an Ally of the United States of America. Most people are probably familiar with one of its biggest cities, Casablanca.

Casablanca of course is a famous American film popularized in the early 40’s by such legendary actors as Humphrey Bogart and Ingrid Bergman. The film won an academy award for best picture. Okay, well that’s my history lesson for the month!! Ha-Ha.

Fun facts aside, I just wanted to share with everyone this great news. The WPT in partnership with Chilipoker will play its first WPT event in Marrakech, Morocco in October and I am excited to be a part of Chilipoker and I’ve already confirmed my presence at this event in the fall. I’m hoping to see many of you there!

I also want to thank everyone who cheered me on and sent me words of encouragement during the Los Angeles Poker Classic (LAPC). If you did not hear, I did make it to Day 3 of the main event but I busted out just before the money.

(photos courtesy of Pokerlistings.com and Cardplayer.com)

I have been in Los Angeles for a few weeks now. Besides playing in the LAPC, I have been playing a bit online and also spending time with family and friends. It’s a rough time for many people because of the current economic conditions so I hope everyone continues to hold their head up and press forward with hope. I will update this blog again in a couple of days.

Cheers!