Diary of a Poker Diva - Liz Lieu

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!

Greetings everyone! I hope you all are doing well.

As you may have read in my last blog, I ended by telling you that my July ended with me getting the most bang out of my buck and I sure did. I went and saw the UFC100 at the Mandalay Bay and quite honestly, I can only say one thing about this sport…

I LOVE IT!!!

I had ringside seats and it was amazing and unbelievably exciting to see that kind of…(umm how can I phrase this appropriately and ladylike?)…well I really can’t so I am just going to say it…that kind of raw, unedited, bone breaking, blood gushing, intense A$$ KICKING live! My heart was pounding so hard and even though I was not in the ring fighting, I still felt like I was a part of it. I could hear the punches and smacks as if the fight was happening right next to my ear. The adrenaline that goes through me when watching the UFC is so similar to the adrenaline I feel when I’m on the felt playing poker. Maybe that is why I enjoy it so much? Or maybe (most likely) I enjoy the UFC so much because, when I get a ridiculous bad beat…I just want to smack my opponent upside the head and knock him/her out! Hehe…I am kidding of course…ok, maybe not…

But really I do enjoy watching that crazy sport and I would recommend to anyone (that doesn’t faint at the sight of blood) to go see the UFC if given a chance.

After my bangs and busts in Vegas, I headed to Los Angeles for a few days before I was off overseas. The drive out there to let me clear my head and do some thinking about life in general and the things I have lined up for the next couple of months. Sometimes driving is the best alone time for me. I enjoy the cool breeze and quiet time I get from them. When I got to LA, I was able to get some business work done as well as a chance to catch up with a couple very close friends from So. Cal. which is always nice. Then, I was back on an airplane for my six weeks trip around the globe .. I’ll tell you more about that in my next blog.

Cheers!

What is she saying??? Well like many of you, my July began with a BANG of fireworks. As you may know, I spent Independence Day living it up Vegas style which meant fireworks under the Bellagio skies, drinks and dancing at my favorite clubs and enjoying the holiday festivities with my close friends. It was a very nice 4th to say the least.

I was well rested and prepared for the main event on July 5th, however the overall outcome was not what I hoped or strived for. I grinded it out the whole time and never hit any rushes. I wanted to be physically and mentally prepared and ready to drag in pot after pot at the event. Unfortunately, that was not the case at all. Well the dragging in pot after pot anyways. I was prepared and rested but I busted out on mid Day 3 of the event.

I started off Day 1 of the event dropping about 7500 in chips the first hand I played. I flopped two pairs and lost to a straight and a flush, which left me about 20000 in chips. But right before the break, I got pocket Q’s and went heads up against pocket 10’s. I knocked that player out and was back up to 34000 in chips. I was feeling good at break but by the time we ended Day 1, I was back to 14600 in chips.

(photo courtesy of Made In Poker)

(photo courtesy of Pokerlistings)

(photo courtesy of Pokernews)

I began Day 2 grinding it out and staying focused. I didn’t get too many good hands but managed to build my stack back up to 47000 by the end of the day. I was feeling really good and confident. In between the banging and busting, on Day 2 of the main event, I did get a chance to unwind and spend some quality time discussing business with Alex (CEO of Chilipoker) and Fabrice. Alex came out to Vegas for 8 days this month and as usual, he spent 6 of those 8 days tied up in business meetings. How does he do it? I don’t know but I do know he is a great businessman and the fact that Chilipoker is growing as fast as it is, is proof of his determination and hard work. I could not be happier!

(photos courtesy of Pokernews)

(photo courtesy of Pokerlistings)

As good as I felt the day before, Day 3 was definitely not my day! I was pretty much short stacked the entire day3, winning three all in’s to keep me alive till mid day. When the blinds got to 1000-2000 ante 300, I went all-in again with my last 30k picking up pocket 9’s on the big blind, and was up against an opponent with pocket 10’s. Needless to say, I did not hit my flop, turn or river.

(photo courtesy of Pokerlistings)

(photo courtesy of Made In Poker)

It’s okay though, things like this happen and I will continue to remain focused because I know my “rush” is coming soon!

After busting out of the ME, two days later I played in the Dream Team Poker event hosted by DPG. My Chilipoker teammates Matt Waldron (Life’s a Bluff), Anh Tran (my beautiful girlfriend), and I had so much fun playing team poker while poking fun at the other teams (and ourselves). We did not place but it was a day filled with laughs and jokes. I ended up busting out with AQ(off) when I my opponent’s 22’s! All I have to say on that note is, “I retired my jersey”. Haha.

(Chilipoker Team)

But those events are now the past and my motto is to move forward and learn from yesterday and that is what I intend to do. I am truly looking forward to and will remain focused on getting prepared for the upcoming APT Celebrity Charity and ME in Macau, and Chilipoker’s WPT Marrakesh Event this October. It is going to amazing in Morocco. A beautiful city with unbelievable scenery is going be filled with top notched poker players from around the globe. This event is going to be the best of the best playing to win and I look forward to the challenge the felt in Morocco is sure to bring.

Anyways, it hasn’t just been poker in Vegas this month. I did find time to get the most BANG out of my buck… to be continued in “Bang” to “Bust” to “Bang” again… my July in Vegas Part II!

Cheers!

So much going on!! Sorry everyone for the long delay between blog updates. I’ve been busy running bad and trying to figure out how to run better! I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’m not really having a very successful WSOP this year!! Ugghhhh. Since my last update, I’m down another $25,500 in buy-ins. This is getting yucky!!

Even more amazing is that I’m not even really that upset. Can you believe that? I actually feel pretty good about life. The way I see it, part of life is continuing to do the right things and no matter how many setbacks you have or how long you run bad, eventually the cards always break out even. Or at least get better!! At this very moment, I’m just doing the best I can and patiently waiting for my ship to come in.

So what exactly is going on? To be honest, I’ve been playing very well the past couple of weeks. I couldn’t really say that for the first two events of this year’s WSOP. I looked back and just cringed at how poorly I played in terms of all of the little things. Luckily I went home and realized some minor leaks and focused on strengthening a couple areas where I felt I played weak during the first two events I played. I will post some key hands and my experiences at the tables on my poker blog over at PokerListings soon, so keep an eye out for it.

(photo courtesy of PokerListings and Pokernews)

Hopefully, all of this bad luck is building up and creating a situation where everything needs to even out and I have a crazy run of good luck at the Main Event this year. Wouldn’t that be nice?! But again, I just need to weather the storm and be confident there is a big pay off down the road. Sometimes the most successful people aren’t the most skilled or the most intelligent. They were just the most persistent. The ability to move forward when everyone else gives up, sometimes it’s the single most successful decision you can make in life.

Anyhow, moving away from Poker, it hasn’t been all poker for me in Vegas! I’ve had friends come in and out of town all month. I’ve been catching some shows and going out to the clubs with different girlfriends of mine. I’ve played some cash games on the side and trying to mix it up and keep every week fresh and new. It’s so easy to get stuck in a rut in Las Vegas if you let yourself.

Interesting fact. I did go through a stretch where I battled some insomnia in the middle of the month. That was fun. =) Thank goodness I’m over that! OMG, I actually had to skip some events because I wasn’t able to fall asleep until the sun was coming up. I am not even kidding. I had plans to play at noon and it was 10am and I was still awake from the night before!! Not really a good recipe for success if you want to play against the best poker players in the world.

Anyhow, looking forward to the 4th of July and partying with some good friends that are coming into town this Friday. I have a few days off before playing in Day 1 of the Main event on the 5th. And will go out to TAO and XS with my friends. We’ll definitely be doing lots of bottle popping and just enjoy life and celebrate Independence Day.

I look forward to having some of my support system in town this week and I think this positive vibe will carry forward. And maybe give me some good luck, perhaps? I know poker players usually say “luck” doesn’t apply to poker and they are correct, in the long run, there is little luck involved and it’s a very skilled game. But in the short term, luck can play a huge factor in a single tournament.

All I can do is get my head straight. Stay physically and emotionally healthy and do my best next week. Play at my highest skill level. Not worry about the luck factor but at the same time if “lady luck” wanted to visit me next week and stick around for a little while, I won’t complain!! The Main Event has a very good structure. Deep chip stacks with lots of plays because the blinds only go up every 2 hours. So, I am pretty confident that if I play my “A” game and dodge some bullets, I can do really well.

I really hope everyone has a wonderful Independence Day!! I look forward to relaxing and enjoying this 100+ degree Las Vegas weather. Is that possible?! Honestly, I just look forward to having my friends and Alex arrive in town. I’ll go out to some dinners with them. I plan to hit the clubs but not get too wild or crazy. I hope everyone else surrounds themselves with family and close friends on this 4th of July Holiday as well!!

Cheers!

I’m back in Vegas everyone!! I participated in my first WSOP event a couple of days ago. Event # 14 $2500 Limit Holdem (6-handed). I quickly built my chip stack to 13k after the first four levels of play, but ended up busting out late in Day 1 after going completely card dead after the dinner break. I’ve been back in Las Vegas for a week now. I was hoping to play in a few earlier events but as soon as I drove back from LA, I woke up the next morning with a bad cold flu. I had to wait almost a week until I was able to play my first event.

(photo courtesy of MadeInPoker.com)

(photo courtesy of Pokernews.com)

(photo courtesy of Pokernews.com)

(13k chip stack after 4th level before dinner break)

Since my last update, I made a sudden decision during my last week stay in London to hop on a plane back to Vietnam and spent a week there. I did some charity work for a few days and had an opportunity to clear my head from poker. This was my goal for staying in Europe and Asia for the entire month leading up to the WSOP, to mentally prepare myself for the WSOP and get myself spiritually and emotionally in the right state of mind.

While I was travelling through Vietnam, I had some amazing personal experiences that are a little difficult to explain. Through charity work, family, and friends, I was able to meet some very wonderful people in my recent visits. Some of the most wonderfully charitable and humble people I have ever met in my life. I had some eye opening experiences and moments that I cannot possibly explain in a blog. Let’s just say that I have a deeper understanding for life and my place in this world. I’d like to send out a very special thank you to Thay Hung, anh Phan, chi Thuy, and anh Banh for all the things they have done for me to make this charity journey a complete success!

(Xin thành kính cảm tạ Thầy Hùng (Hà Nội), người đã dành trọn tâm huyết cho chuyến làm từ thiện này. Và cũng xin chân thành cảm ơn anh Phán, chị Thuý, và anh Bằng đã cùng chung sức cho chuyến từ thiện này.)

Now that I am back in the states again, I am excited about playing poker again. I rarely get to step completely away from poker and I feel completely refreshed and with a strong desire to play really hard and put in the effort that is necessary when you are trying to navigate through some of these very deep and competitive WSOP fields.

I’ve only had a chance to play 1 day so far but I’ve noticed a trend where there are more and more unrecognizable faces every year. I am pretty sure some of these guys and gals are experienced and successful internet players so I always need to take caution and not assume I have a huge edge just because I don’t recognize somebody.

I also want to congratulate my friend Steve Sung for winning Event #4 for his first WSOP bracelet. Steve took home a cool $771,000. I’ve known Steve for a couple years now and he’s a really good guy and I’m extremely happy for him. And what Phil Ivey did in Event #8 isn’t very surprising at all but still amazing. Ivey is truly an amazing player and I heard rumors that he won close to $10,000,000 on a side bet for winning the Seven to Deuce event.

I’m hoping to have some of the same kind of success too and right now, I’m trying to figure out which events I want to play next. I believe there are 56 events this year so I have a long ways to go still and I’m trying to pace myself. I don’t want to burn myself out and throw money away when I enter a tournament. I really want to win every tournament I play.

I think there are a number of different places you can get WSOP results and updates. Keep your eyes out for me. Hopefully, I’ll make some big waves in one of these events soon and generate some excitement. Until then, I will keep you posted on my progress. I look forward to catching up with old friends in Vegas and most importantly enjoying myself but don’t be fooled. I really want to win that bracelet and will give each and every WSOP event my absolute best effort.

Cheers!

I think many of you will find this journal entry is pretty topical considering recent economic events. I’ve spent the past couple of weeks playing poker at the Commerce in L.A. and something is definitely up. I’m not sure if it’s the economy or what but all of the high stakes games have temporarily dried up. I’ve been playing 100/200 at the Commerce lately because that’s the biggest game going in the high limit section right now. The few times we’ve been able to kick up the stakes, the game will fall apart within a couple of hours.

Las Vegas has been the same way if not worse in terms of high stakes cash games. I think it’s a combination of a lot of things. I know some of poker players are struggling lately. I’ve heard rumors of different players going broke. I know a ton of players spend a lot of time travelling or playing online. And the live cash games have suffered because of it. But it’s okay because I’m going to adapt and stay the course until better days.

In Nautical terms, staying the course means not altering your path regardless of the obstacles in your way. You weather the storm and reach your destination. In 2008, I ran into a bunch of different storms, personally, spiritually, physically, and professionally. And a few times I was thrown off course and had to find my way again and it’s prepared me for everything to come in 2009. In the past week, I’ve been able to stay pretty even playing the cash games. I ran pretty bad early, losing on some pretty horrific beats. I was able to finish the week strong booking 3 straight winning sessions. I took a lot of personal time in 2008 and now I’m back stronger and better than ever.

After pulling several all nighters grinding the cash games, I was wearied! So what did I do to get away? I took a short break! Last Friday night I went out with my girls to celebrate one of our girlfriend Kayla’s birthday at iLounge Nightclub, one of the new trendy hot spots in Newport Beach. We managed to get the best table in the joint in the Presidential VIP suite, which in my opinion felt like we were trapped in a cell behind bars. HaHa!! Nevertheless, we had a awesome time!

(Birthday girl Kayla)

At the moment, I see clear skies and sunrise. I am really looking forward to this weekend’s tournament at Caesar’s. The Dream Team Poker Event. Quinn Do, Matt Stout and I make up the Pokerlistings team. I know Poker Road has a team in the tournament headed by Joe Sebok. Also, Eric Morris of Bluff Media will have his team there ready to play. My good friends Lacey Jones, Maria Ho, and Tiffany Michelle will make up an all-female team. I believe they are going by the name “Yo Mamma” or something like that. Phil Hellmuth, Mike Matusow, Dennis Phillips, Jamie Gold and Jerry Yang are some other players with teams entered into the Dream Team field.

I hope I have more to report after this weekend. I expect good things and even if the cards or chips don’t fall my way, I will stay the course!

I am writing this blog from my sick bed! Yes, I caught the stomach flu that’s kicking my butt harder than anything I watched at UFC 91 this weekend!!

For starters, my weekend started off grand. My friend Jewels flew into Vegas for one day. She is a close dear friend of mine from Israel and it’s been 2 years since I’ve seen her last. Unfortunately she is travelling for business and was only able to stop by Vegas for one day. Jewels and I headed to the Wynn to eat at the very upscale Alex Restaurant. It is absolutely superb if you have never been there. We caught up on each others lives and shared some girl gossip. Love you Jewels! xoxo

The very next day I had another visit from another good friend, Eddie Ting. Eddie flew in with six of his friends. A few of them were staying at the Luxury Villas at the Bellagio. The Villas are 6500 Square-foot estates. It was my second time going to the Bellagio Villas. It is simply amazing. The Villa has its own private pool and Jacuzzi. It comes with 24 hour Butler service and the guests get treated like Royalty. The Suites are only available by invitation only.

If you haven’t received your invitation to stay at the Villa don’t worry, I am still waiting for my invitation too!! But at $10,000 per night I think I would possibly pass even if I was invited.

At the last minute my friend Eddie sends me a text asking me to go with him to UFC 91 Event at the MGM. I don’t know how he got his tickets at the last second but when you are staying at the Villas I don’t think getting tickets to any event is a problem. Our seats were pretty amazing. (Thanks Alan!)

A few of my friends were surprised I wanted to watch the UFC when I told them about it. Little did they know huh? I guess I’ve been around guys too much all of my life! That’s what happens when you are a female poker player. To most people’s surprise, this wasn’t my first fight. I’ve been to several other fights in the past and I really enjoyed it.

It’s never any fun going to any of these fighting events without placing any bets right? So Eddie and myself placed a couple prop bets on some of the matches. Result ending with Liz +2 Eddie -2. LOL! 

The Randy Couture vs. Brock Lesnar fight really lived up to the billing. Randy was the Heavyweight champion and UFC legend. Brock was probably the freakiest person I’ve ever seen in my life. He looked like the real life embodiment of the Hulk!! Despite the size difference most people seemed pretty confident about Randy’s chances. Because of his experience and history of beating all of the top guys in the UFC. The crowd was really behind Randy Couture but Brock Lesnar was too much.

And then comes this final ending, with Couture on the ground getting pounded on the head full strength -non-stop! It’s over! Sigh… Lets just say with Brock Lesnar winning the fight.. A large sum of money went down the drain.. WT*!

Afterwards, the 4 of us who attended the fight together - Eddie, Nick, Lisa, and myself, headed back to the Bellagio and ate a sushi feast before meeting up with Eddie’s friends Liberty and her husband, who also joined us at the Bank where a table was waiting for us. I finished out my night at The Bank and midway through I started to feel a stomach ache coming on. Ever since then I’ve pretty much been feeling like a dead fish the last couple days. I’m sure it was the sushi I ate! Argh!! I would love to be playing some online poker right now but it’s never a good idea to play poker when you are feeling sick.

I’d like to send my Congrats to Eddie and his beautiful wife on having an adorable healthy new born son Tyler Ting. (And Eddie if your reading this, you can ask me a thousand more times who your son looks like and you’ll still get the same answer, your wife! :P)

The last two days have been miserable but I am starting to feel better now. My next journal entry will probably be from Canada. I fly into Vancouver on Wednesday and plan to play some poker with our friendly neighbors in the North. Until then.

Cheers!

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!

It’s Saturday evening and I thought I would post a quick blog before getting ready attend the Bluff Party tonight at The Bank in the Bellagio. I will be joined by some of my good friends.

For the past two days, I have been entertaining a couple friends from out of town and handling some poker business. Many people are in town this weekend for the WSOP Main Event. I will be at The RIO on Sunday to meet up with Matt Waldon to do an interview for Lifes A Bluff and possibly Flush Magazine. While I’m there I’m also gonna swing by the final table to root for David “Chino” Rheem.

Many young players can be cocky and obnoxious but Chino has never been like that. Chino has always been respectful. Chino might still be young but he is a grinder who worked his way up from the cash games and always worked hard to improve. It’s no fluke Chino is at the Final Table and I wish him the best of luck.

I am not all work and NO fun however. I did go out last night for a bit to Lavo, the new club at the Palazzo last night. I met a couple of my friends out there and we had a good evening. If you haven’t been to the Palazzo it has a similar vibe as TAO Night Club but much smaller and more intimate. Right when you walk in there is a main bar area that feels more like a cocktail lounge and the upstairs is a dance floor.

I had friend’s texting me to come to Prive and the Hard Rock as well. Unfortunately by the time I received those texts it was getting pretty late. I grabbed a few late night snacks with my friends before we decided to call it a night. Tonight should be a much more adventurous night. Last night all of my friends were spread all over the place.

Some were saving there energy for the Hoyt Corkins Charity event today. Others were at Prive or the Hard Rock or just staying low key. Most of the friends I’ve talked to are all coming out tonight so this should be a really fun evening.

It is time to go get ready. I am going to grab dinner somewhere. Not sure where yet!! I need to get ready first however. If you happen to come across this blog and see me at The Bank tonight, say Hi. Until the next blog, arrivederci.