Diary of a Poker Diva - Liz Lieu

Sorry for the infrequent updates on my blog. I want to tell everyone I am still in Vietnam and all is well. I’ve been doing some sight seeing with my cousin and even had some spiritual enlightenment during my adventures in Vietnam.

(sight seeing in Hanoi with my cousin Thuy)

Wikipedia defines spirituality as such:

Spirituality, in a narrow sense, concerns itself with matters of the spirit, a concept closely tied to religious belief and faith, a transcendent reality, or one or more deities. Spiritual matters are thus those matters regarding humankind’s ultimate nature and meaning, not only as material biological organisms, but as beings with a unique relationship to that which is perceived to be beyond the bodily senses, time and the material world. Spiritual also implies the mind-body dichotomy, which indicates a separation between the body and soul.

Yes, whatever Wikipedia just said!! I had one of those types of experiences in the past week, actually several and they are experiences you cannot explain in the logical and physical sense. At the risk of sounding crazy, ha-ha, let’s just say I’ve had some eye opening visits with some very spiritual people including some very high ranking monks. It’s been a very good experience and I have some renewed joy for the upcoming year.

Along my spiritual travel, I was also able to get in touch with one of my long lost half sisters. Without getting into detail, she’s going through some tough times but is in good spirits and an extremely smart woman. I had a very good and long conversation with her and I hope to be able to update everyone on some really good news and share more about this situation at a future date.

This trip so far has had many twists and turns. I did take a sight seeing trip this week. I visited many of the famous and popular tourist spots around Hanoi, Vietnam and on this trip I was even able to go by my old childhood home. This was before Colorado when I was very young. Our old neighbors still lived next door!! I learned my dad visited with them before he passed away last year.

Fifteen new homes have gone up since I left and the area is more developed than when I was a kid but many of the same landmarks still exist and I was glad to be able to chat with my family’s old neighbors that I hardly even remembered because I was too young. They told me stories of my dad and mom back in those days and it brought cheer to me. I never knew that I was actually born into a wealthy family. All the photos you see below are the lands that use to belong to my family, including the temple that still stands today.

(family neighbor)

(family neighbor)

(entrance to my family’s temple)

(family temple still standing)

(private praying room)

(main praying room)

I have two more weeks in Vietnam before travelling to the Philippines for the APT event in Manila so I hope to share some more stories and updates about my travels.

Cheers!

Here’s a quick little update from Vietnam. After a 16 hour flight, I arrived just in time to spend NYE with some family. After I settled in of course!! The trip didn’t really start off on the best note. It rained non-stop once I arrived in Saigon. At one point, I guess too much water accumulated on the roof and something was wrong with the drainage so it flooded the upstairs at my aunt’s house. There was water everywhere and we spent a couple of hours pitching in and draining the water the best we could. Eventually we stopped the leak and cleared out the water. I was finally able to get some sleep!

The next day was the day before New Year and that evening a bunch of us gathered together and headed out to a popular night spot, called the Volcano!! The weather was nice so my niece and I went for a walk around the city to see all the beautiful lights and decorations before heading out for the 2009 countdown. Tina’s husband Hoa reserved the best table/section in the house, right above the dance floor and DJ booth. We stayed until about 2am and I celebrated my first official NYE in Vietnam.

The next day I had to do some shopping for a more traditional looking Vietnamese dress for my niece Tina’s wedding. I found some great material in this soft green color and I had a dressmaker follow a set of designs I had. The dress came out beautifully and I was pleased. Unfortunately this day didn’t end quite as smoothly either because I dropped my blackberry into a puddle of water. The phone worked fine but the trackball couldn’t scroll up or down so the phone was pretty much useless. I couldn’t get to any of my applications or my address book. So, I went out and spent $300 for a new phone which didn’t work either because it wasn’t compatible with my service provider. Argh!

Finally, the day of my nieces wedding arrived and it was a great wedding and ceremony. My niece is marrying a very kind and generous man. He is also quite wealthy and the reception was very beautiful. There were more than 700 guests invited to the reception at the Rex Hotel and I can only imagine how much the whole event cost. I was able to spend some time with the groom, Hao and his family and they are very respectful and kind people. I am so happy that my niece found a good man who loves her and will take care of her.

I am in Vietnam for a couple more weeks before heading off to the Philippines. I will continue to visit the temple my Dad is placed at and visit with my half brother and sister in the upcoming week. For now, I am with my aunt, cousin, and nephew in Saigon. I plan to do some charity work as well and travel all over Vietnam. I will keep everyone posted as soon as I can. I am not exactly sure how much I plan to blog while I am travelling but I will do the best I can. I hope everyone had a great New Year and 2009 brings everyone cheer and joy!!

This is a blog dedicated to my closest and dearest friends. This is how I want to close my year out. To pay tribute to those who have been there for me through many ups and downs in 2008. These are the friends I hold closest to my heart and trust the most. The ones I can call on at 3am in the morning if I just want to chat. The ones who call me every week just to make sure I am doing well. The ones that make me laugh, or cheer me up. The friends I share my daily experiences with. The ones who tell me what I don’t want to hear simply because I need to hear it.

I suspect many of them are true friends to a lot of people because it’s simply in their nature to be trustworthy and loyal people. These are the type of people who would lend a helping hand to a person in need instead of walking away. These are the type of people who think of others first before thinking of themselves. And I’m truly blessed to have these types of friends in my life.

I am leaving for Vietnam tomorrow evening and this will be my last chance to blog in 2008. I wanted to share my gratitude with all of my closest friends.

“What is a friend? I will tell you it is someone with whom you dare to be yourself.
– Frank Crane

“Without friends no one would choose to live, though he had all other goods.”
- Artistotle

“My best friend is the one who brings out the best in me.”
- Henry Ford

“Everyone hears what you say. Friends listen to what you say. Best friends listen to what you don’t say.” – Source Unknown

Not in any particular order, I want to share some thoughts about the friends in my life and why they mean so much to me. I know I am going to leave a lot of good friends out and it’s not intentional. The reason I choose to blog about these particular friends is because they are the ones I hold closest to my heart and the friends I stay in touch with the most frequently, the friends that have been there when I was going through some health problems. The friends that have been there for me through thick or thin and I communicate with very frequently.

Doc –
I met Doc years ago in California and he is truly one of the most sincere people I’ve ever met in my life. Doc goes out of his way to call me and check in on me on a regular basis. Doc is a very genuine and good hearted person and one of the most positive people I know. Doc is a very happy and uplifting person to be around. It’s almost impossible not to be in a good mood when you are around him. We also share a desire to do charity work and just recently the same passion for photography. A million thanks is not even enough to express my gratitude for the genuine friendship he has given me and the help he has offered me through some real tough times.

Alex Dreyfus – 
Alex is also a very sincere person and probably has done as much for me in the past two years as any single person. Alex of course owns Chilipoker and has treated me like family right from the very beginning. Alex is the reason I gravitated towards Chilipoker when I had other options on the table. Alex is one of the smartest people and intelligent business mind I have come across. Alex is very motivated and has quite a sense of humor. He is another uplifting person to be around and I want to personally thank him for continuing to support me as a poker player and more importantly as a person.

Zach –
I met Zach in Singapore during the Betfair event in 2006. At the time Zach was a college student and came up and introduced himself to me. Eventually we became friends and Zach became my web guy. Prior to Zach, I was having lots and lots of problems with my web people. I was getting overcharged and the sites weren’t built to specification or maintained consistently. Zach, unbeknownst to me was privately building a website for me and later showed it to me. I was impressed with his work and offered to pay him for it and he didn’t want money for it. He simply wanted to help out because I was having so much difficulty with the last two guys. I eventually hired Zach and he has been my main Web guy ever since. Zach has really done some fantastic work and has improved tremendously with his web designing and programming skills. I am truly happy to see him expand his business interest by starting his own web design company called theWebChap. I would highly recommend Zach’s work to everyone. Over the last couple of years we have become very close friends. I consider Zach like a younger brother now. Zach goes out of his way to maintain my website and is always available 24/7. Zach is another person who is very giving and loyal.

Chesty –
I’ve known Chesty for a couple of years now and I tell him he’s the most expensive friend I’ve ever had!! I had a failed business relationship with a PR firm Chesty was working for and it cost me tens of thousands of dollars. In retrospect I would do it all over again because Chesty is truly one of a kind. Chesty has always lent me his ears whenever I needed someone to listen to all my bitching and whining to vent my frustration without any complaints. Chesty is the joker of all jokers, who never fails to crack me up with all his comical remarks and wittiness. Chesty has inspired me to view every situation with a optimistic aspect due to his positive outlook. Even though he’s the priciest friend I’ve had, he’s worth every penny. Chesty’s loyalty and sincerity are his strongest aspects. Chesty and Doc are probably the most positive friends I have.

Cathleen, Jackie and Tiffany –
I want to thank the three sisters. Cathleen is a very successful cash game player that I met years ago in California. We often play the same limits and she has become like extended family to me along with both her younger sisters Jackie and Tiffany. Jackie is like the mother hen of the group. She is the one who always keeps us in check. What I love most about all three sisters is that they have always been very real with me and keep me grounded and humble. None of them will hesitate to call me out or tell me when I am wrong about something. Collectively they are super honest but through thick or thin they always show me unconditional love. The three of them are very private and maintain a tight circle of friends but once you are in that circle you are treated like family. I cannot tell you how much I appreciate having each one of the sisters in my life.

Eddie Ting –
I originally met Eddie while playing high limit poker at the Bellagio approximately 5-6 years ago but according to him I wasn’t very nice back then. My sister also plays pretty high limit cash games and apparently she was much friendlier to Eddie and eventually they became friends. Eddie still refers to me as the mean one. In my defense sometimes when I am playing poker I am not there to socialize and just want to play poker. He-he. Over time we have developed a great friendship. Eddie is a businessman from New York. He is extremely smart and very intelligent in his business ventures. Eddie has been a good support system and has been there for me when I needed some encouragement.

Neal Wang –
I also met Neal playing high limit poker many years ago. We didn’t really start a friendship until about 4 years ago despite knowing of each other much earlier. I heard a lot of great things about Neal before we became friends. Anyone who has ever encountered Neal can speak to how genuine and nice of a person he is. I know Neal would bend over backwards to help out somebody in need. I have seen him help out many people in the poker community when they needed a helping hand. And nobody else understands me on a spiritual level like Neal does. We are very similar in our spiritual beliefs and Neal relates to me on that level better than anyone else. The way we approach life is very similar and we share many commonalities. Neal is also a very successful business person.

Quinn Do –
Is a professional poker player I met several years ago at the Commerce. When I first met Quinn he was an up and coming pro. He is one of the very few people I have ever helped out with their limit holdem game and he has gone on to be a very successful poker player winning lots of money on the tournament circuit. Quinn is a very encouraging person and I always enjoy running into him. I believe I will see him next in the Philippines for the upcoming APT event. Quinn is a very good hearted person and is the type of person that will always be there if you ever call on him. Quinn is another person who is just very sincere and loyal and I really respect him as a person and glad he is succeeding in life.

Craig Cunningham –
Is a family man, businessman, and poker blogger that I have known for several years. Craig is always looking out for my best interest and gives me terrific advice. I can always bounce ideas and thoughts off Craig and he will be very open and honest to me. He is another person that is just very open and transparent. I talk to Craig frequently and he is the type of person that is always supportive of me but unabashedly honest with me. Craig is also loyal and a very intelligent person. Most importantly, Craig simply cares about me as a person.

Tim Lavalli –
I’ve known Tim for quite a few years now. Tim is another caring and loyal person. We share many similar thoughts about spirituality. Tim is another person in my life that is very open and honest with me. Tim is very involved in the poker business behind the scenes and is very successful. I respect his intelligence and the way he handles himself personally and in business. He is the type of person I respect and I am constantly bouncing ideas off. I enjoy talking to Tim about the business of poker but we also share a personal bond that includes having terrific conversations about life and through thick and thin, along with everyone else, he has been there for me frequently.

Lisa Cripe –
I met Lisa through friends in the poker community. Lisa does public relations and isn’t really involved in the poker world but has many friends in the poker community. Lisa is one of the most honest people I have ever met in my life. She is super honest with herself and around others. Lisa is a true friend that I know will give me honest advice whether I like it or not and always give me honest feedback about anything! Lisa’s greatest attribute however is her loyalty!! When I was going through my surgery earlier in the year, she was always the first person to call me out of all my poker gal friends. Lisa checked in on me probably more than anybody else.

My Family –
I wouldn’t be where I am if it wasn’t for my family. I want to thank my Dad (rest in peace) for instilling confidence into me. I want to thank my mom, sister, and brother-in-law for always being available and showing support of what I do for a living. I want to thank my other sisters and brothers for demonstrating unconditional love and to my nieces and nephews for showing me random acts of love and kindness. We can all choose our friends but we are born with our family and I am thankful for the family that I have. More than anyone, my family keeps me grounded and humbled because there isn’t anything I can do in the poker world that would impress them. I would still be the same person and they would treat me like the same person I was 5 years ago, 10 years ago, 15 years ago. With family, nothing ever changes no matter how successful you become and there is something very refreshing and humbling about that.

These are some of my closest and dearest friends! I have many other friends in the poker community. I have many friends outside of the poker community. People I have shared great times with and have a great bond with. People I respect tremendously and should probably get honorable mention in this blog but I fear I would leave somebody out and the list would be too long so this blog was intended for those that were with me every step of the way in 2008 and demonstrated the most unselfishness and unconditional love. The ones I could count on the most and the ones who never asked for anything from me except mutual respect and mutual love.

Happy New Years everyone!

Cheers!

Merry almost Christmas everyone! I think I have been a pretty good girl this year so I wrote to Santa and requested a few things. Before I show you my letter to Santa I wanted to talk briefly about this past week.

I haven’t blogged in almost a week now because I was busy playing in the Bellagio Five Diamond Classic. I am not going to talk about it too much here but you can read about it on my Pokerlistings blog which will be posted in a couple days.

Also, it is snowing right now in Vegas! It’s providing me the inspiration to write this blog. I already feel more festive. Although, admittedly, I am not a big fan of snow!! I grew up in Colorado and I have had enough snow for an entire lifetime. But I will make an exception because it’s almost Christmas. The two certainly go hand in hand. Well on to the letter…

Dear Santa,

This is Liz Lieu and I wanted to wish you a happy and festive 2008. I hope this letter reaches you well. I have had quite a year but you already know that. I feel pretty confident I was a good girl this year so here is my wish list and I hope you can make as many of them come true as possible.

(photo courtesy of Phu Vu)

It would be nice if you could arrange for my dad to visit me in my dreams. I’m not sure if you can make that happen or not. Maybe that request should go to God. But just in case, I thought I would ask you as well. I sure do miss him and would love to have him appear in one of my dreams in 2009.

I would love to receive a little puppy. Something small and feisty! Maybe she can scare all of the mean and evil people away. I think a cute little puppy would make my Christmas.

I wish you could deliver a “Secret Santa” who can step up and help me in my Charity efforts in Vietnam. I go back to Vietnam 3x a year and I never have enough to give to help everyone. I get together with Charity organizations and I’d buy staples of supplies and deliver them to the most impoverished areas of Vietnam. I also deliver money and supplies to the Children’s Cancer Hospital, the Elder Orphanages, the Children’s Orphanages, and to numerous Temples. The poverty and suffering is very eye opening.

If you cannot deliver a charitable check, how about passing on some good luck to help me win a Main Event in 2009. Just a little luck is all. If you cannot deliver good luck, why don’t we just eliminate some of the bad luck? I’m getting a little weary of poker players doubling up on me through 2 outers or 5 outers. Thanks, I would appreciate it!! 

Okay this list is getting a little lengthy Santa, I have to apologize. But another great item you could pass along would be the opportunity for my immediate family to spend more time together. All of us. My mother, sister, nieces, nephews and brother-in-law.

I wish for happiness and health for my Mom. She is starting to get a little older and it would put my mind at ease if she could stay healthy for this coming year and is happy with life.

Okay, my last request is a little self indulgent but it would be a terrific gift for the upcoming Vietnam trip. I would love to take some professional quality pictures of everything I encounter on my charity missions. One of those Nikon or Canon professional cameras would be perfect for the job!!

Well Santa, I could keep going but I know you’re awfully busy and this will pretty much take care of it for now. I understand that you might not be able to give me everything I request and honestly I would be happy if you gave me any one of the items I requested. I can work on the rest of the wish list on my own but if you felt it in your heart to deliver me more than one of those gifts, I would be very appreciative. Thanks Santa!! I will leave some cookies and milk for you. If you can just turn the lights off on the way out. Thanks.

The question asked of me the most since I started playing poker has always been about my personal relationships! Who am I dating? What kind of guy am I into? I thought I’d spend some time in this blog discussing relationships and the challenges some of us female poker players face.

Well, I am currently single if that is any indication of how my past relationships have gone! Sometimes, it would be much easier to be a guy!! At least I think it would be less stressful. I can go play poker with the guy’s everyday and party with attractive girls every weekend and nobody would think twice.

Not that I want to live that lifestyle because like most girls I am perfectly content with just finding one good guy! I don’t need a dozen bad boys. I know a few!! I am usually pretty good about not dating the bad boys who date around a lot but I find a different type of bad boy. I will explain more in the blog but I am reminded of this Beyonce video:

I don’t really think all guys are bad but yes, I have had my share of dating some bad ones. I don’t really date cheaters but I have had some guys who were pretty controlling or manipulative. I have had a couple take advantage of my good nature and generous spirit.

Most of the guys I am attracted to are very intelligent. I am naturally attracted to guys who are very confident and smart. Unfortunately, sometimes when you date guys who are really smart they have egos and as a result some of them can be manipulative or controlling as a result.

As far as being a female poker player, it just complicates dating a little more. I have a really hectic schedule. I don’t have a typical 9 to 5 where I can meet a guy in a more normal setting. Most of the guys I meet are indirectly involved with poker somehow or some piece of poker business.

I don’t date poker players however! To me they are like my co-workers and if it doesn’t work out, you have no where to go or hide if it gets ugly. Your personal life gets spilled over to everyone else in the community. As a general rule of thumb, it’s a pretty bad idea to date other poker players.

I have been playing for a living since I was 18 and I learned a long time ago, if you don’t have respect among the guys you play with, it’s going to be a long hard road! As female poker players we are in a difficult spot. You’re not looked upon as favorably if you bounce around dating different guys in the poker community.

I am much better off just playing poker and making a living and not getting into any of the extracurricular drama. It’s not really that big of a community. Many players know each other quite well and you bump into everyone at all of the major events. It’s better if the other guys recognized you as a peer and just keep it at that.

Not to say it’s completely off limits. I haven’t met the right poker player yet, but I know of some really good relationships between players and when it works out like it has for Marco Traniello and Jennifer Harmon-Traniello, it can be a really great thing because it’s difficult to find guys who understand your lifestyle so there is some upside.

Mostly, finding a good partner is just difficult. I don’t think it’s easy for anyone to date because guys and girls are so different but playing poker isn’t really the ideal circumstance either. I am sure it’s complicated my life because I really prefer normal guys and I don’t get a chance to meet them often enough.

As of now, I haven’t met the perfect guy yet. That’s really all I can say about my personal relationships. I hang out with a lot of poker players but those guys are like my peers. I don’t really get involved with them. If you want to send a good guy my way for Christmas, send me his resume!

Right now, I feel like Beyonce. I feel like I’ve had some lost opportunities because a couple of guys I dated in the past didn’t know how to treat a woman and I just look forward to the day I can meet a guy who understands how to be a gentlemen and how to treat women. Most importantly Honesty and Loyalty is on the top of my list!!

Until then, I am going to focus on Poker because you cannot really ever plan to meet a good guy. It just happens by chance and when it comes along you run with it. Good things will come when you least expect it! For now, I have the main event of the Bellagio Five Diamond coming up this weekend. My biggest priority at the moment is to clear my head and get into the best mental state as possible to have a successful tournament.

Until next time… Cheers!

I came up with a great idea for this journal entry. Most bloggers get in the habit of telling you how they feel and explaining what they are going through! I wanted to have a little more fun with this blog!

I thought it would be a great idea to share with you some of the things that makes me smile or laugh instead. So, I have included a few videos that I personally enjoy. I want to share with you some of my experiences in hopes that it reveals a little bit more about who I am.

Before I get into the videos I want to let those of you looking for more poker related journal entries to go to www.pokerlistings.com. I am one of the featured bloggers on the site and you can read more about poker there. I usually post a new blog every Tuesday.

I also want to tell you a little bit about what’s going on this week. Well not much!! I’ve been playing a lot of online poker lately. You can read about it on Pokerlistings tomorrow and I also went out to celebrate one of my girlfriends birthday on Tuesday.

A few of us girls went to the Palazzo on Tuesday and had dinner at Lavo. I really recommend the place and it had some pretty good eye candy too! Several girls got together to help Joy Miller celebrate her birthday. Afterwards some of the girls had a couple of cocktails and we called it a night.

Outside of that it’s just been poker mostly. And of course I always get great feedback from everyone about the blogs. I enjoy reading the feedback and writing back to you whenever I can. On to the videos:

I want to start out with a more touching video first. This is a segment from X Factor which is the UK version of American Idol. I’ve been thinking a lot about having really genuine and authentic people around me lately and I remembered this Amy Connelly video.

“Honesty and transparency make you vulnerable. Be honest and transparent anyway.”
- Mother Theresa

Speaking of really honest and transparent moments. Check out this video. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

While we are on the topic of X Factor. This is one of my favorite shows. I fell in love with it when I first started watching it. I am reminded of another clip I think you should check out. This one made me really laugh hard. These two think they are the next P Diddy and Usher!

The next video is a spoof that a friend of mine in Vancouver recently forwarded to me. It’s a spoof of the T.I. Whatever You Want song. I thought this was pretty clever and it gave me a real good laugh. Thanks Saad!

The last video I want to share with you guys is just a video that makes me think about all my “slick” guy friends lol. It’s a song by Gym Class Heroes. I think everyone can have a good laugh and appreciate this video for what it is. Especially all the women!

Well I hope you enjoyed some of the videos. Sometimes you just have to laugh at life and go with it!! These are all videos that remind me to just keep laughing and continue to have a positive outlook in life. I look forward to sharing more interesting clips in the future.

Cheers!

This is how I feel sometimes!! I wanted to say a special thanks to everyone who left me positive comments about my last blog. A lot of people messaged me or sent comments to me on Twitter and mentioned how much they liked it.

Sometimes it’s difficult to expose yourself to the world in a personal way. There is an extra layer of vulnerability. I know I have had friends in the poker community go through some very tough times in a very public way.

It’s strange to be exposed to people who don’t really know you intimately and then having to hear about the negativity in the news or on a public forum where thousands and thousands of people view the gossip.

I am thinking about ways to improve this blog and share more of myself with you. Bear with me as I continue to work through some of my apprehension and expose more of my personal life with you. The hardest challenge is to find that balance between my public persona and the real me. I am always honest in every blog or interview I have ever done. I am sometimes guarded however with my responses.

I feel like there is this thin line between what is really personal and what I should share with the public. For instance just yesterday I received some very bad news about one of my half sisters in Vietnam. I have been looking for this sister for almost two years now.

This sister was basically missing or lost and I’ve been very worried about her. I go back to Vietnam frequently and nobody knew where she was. I just received some news that she is in a very tough life situation. And it’s something I cannot fix. I also have word of other relatives that are also having much hardship. The news is quite heart breaking.

I know others are going through the same type of life problems so I don’t want anyone to have extra sympathy for me. I just wanted everyone to know sometimes, I go through the exact same range of emotions as you.

I have had some recent events happen to me that are quite negative. Some business relationships and unfortunate news with friends and family. The worst part is that I have had people in my life who are aware of this and they still continue to try and take from me. The most unfortunate part about having any type of success is sometimes you have people who surround you that are strictly users.

I understand this is a part of success and now that I have been able to sustain a certain level of success and gain some wisdom, I am better at selecting the type of people I get into business with. The type of people I surround myself with. The biggest revelation to me this year was how much I distracted myself with poker and work. Instead of facing many of life’s problems, I just played more poker. Or I spent more time working on my other websites.

I understand now that I cannot run away from my problems. I came across a video which almost parallels my life perfectly. For those of you who want to know me on a more personal level, my life, pretty much looks like this:

My Love “The Story of A Diva”

Anyhow, I hope you enjoy the videos. It’s pretty powerful. I have gone through many moments and times in my life where I felt the exact same way.

The holidays are a really reflective time for me. Partially because I am going through my first Thanksgiving without my father and I really want to reflect upon life and think back to everything I should be thankful for. All my Dad ever wanted for me was happiness.

I cannot help but think about that as I continue the rest of my life’s journey without him. So, in honoring his unselfish and complete love for me, I am doing my best to be positive and to be happy!

I also want to address all of the past negativity in my life. I am washing my hands of unsuccessful business relationships. I am washing my hands of being around people who are constantly taking and never giving.

At this stage of my life, I just really want to be surrounded by positive people! I want to enjoy life with people I love. And I also want to be a little less vulnerable. I want my public persona to be a little more reflective of my private life. So, this is another step in that direction.

So, lets all be thankful we have each other to share in our lives and to be positive and live out our life the best way we possibly can. And always be aware of how you affect others!!

Be a positive influence not a negative one!

Cheers!

Happy Thanksgiving for those of you in the States! For many of us this is a good time to reflect and think about the value of family and the importance of friends and life.

This hasn’t been the easiest year, 2008. I lost my father in late 2007. I was actually at the table playing the Barcelona Main Event when I heard the bad news. I left in the middle of the event and immediately arranged a flight to Vietnam. I spent the first part of 2008 mostly in Vietnam . Paying tribute and respect to my father’s memorial. Doing lots of Charity work in Vietnam, I know my Dad would have wanted it that way.

Poker took a back seat for a while now that I reflect upon the year. I tried to get poker back on track and one calamity after another struck me down in early 2008. It just wasn’t meant to be I guess. For starters, I missed one of my favorite events of the year. The Monte Carlo event in Monaco. I ordered room service the night before Day 1 and came down with food poisoning the next morning. I had to pull out of that event. I flew back to the States a week later and got extremely ill, requiring me to be hospitalized and undergo surgery which took months to fully recover.

All of this occurred, just before this years WSOP. I came into the WSOP on a pretty significant lay off from tournament play but I still managed to play very well in a few events. Ultimately I just went card dead or ran into a bad beat at the wrong times.

Poker has been very choppy for me this year. The high stakes cash games in Las Vegas have dried up. There has been some good action at the Commerce lately. I have had to go to L.A. a few times to find good games. Outside of L.A., the games have been pretty limited.

Because of my heavy travel schedule in 2008 and the lack of juicy cash games, I spent more time online than ever before. I’ve had very mixed results online. I have had some good sessions and some not so good ones. I am a winning player online, overall, but I definitely have less of an edge online than I do live. I think I really need to get back to the Commerce and get back to those cash games. This is a goal of mine in 2009! To play a lot more cash!!

Despite the rough year, I have many things to be thankful for! And I have grown as a person and become stronger. I still have my mother, sister, brothers, nieces, and nephew to enjoy. I have a good support system around me and many reasons to smile. A few very close friends have supported me emotionally and spiritually throughout the year and really helped me through some personal setbacks. Alexandre Dreyfus and Chilipoker have also been wonderful to me.

Life isn’t always perfect but it is always exactly as it was meant to be. A friend of mine just came across a very fitting quote and I like to post it here. I don’t know who to attribute the quote to? If you know make a comment.

“There is nothing for you to go back and live over, or fix, or feel regret about now. Every part of your life has unfolded just right. And so –now — knowing all that you know from where you now stand, now what do you want? The answers are now coming forth to you.”

In that spirit, life is good. I am lucky to have the freedom to travel. I have travelled all over the world and visited some beautiful places. In the past year, I have been to London, France, Poland, Italy, Australia, Hong Kong, Macau and Malta just to name a few.

I have very entertaining friends in the poker community. Love them or hate them, the poker community is like a large dysfunctional family. Some of them party too much. Some of them have unnecessary drama. Some of them just simply gamble too much. No!! I am not naming names. I am very protective of my friends and family. I don’t judge any of my friends for whatever they are going through. Sometimes it’s just a phase. Sometimes they are using it as a distraction for other issues. I love them all regardless!

I’m privileged to belong to such an interesting community of people. Not to say 2008 has been perfect. I have lost a few friends. I have gained new friends. I have drifted further from some and closer to others. That is life. Poker can be a very competitive game and sometimes a few toes are stepped on. Feelings are hurt and drama ensues. But we fight and make up and do it all over again. Just like any big family. We usually make amends and all that begins well should end well.

It is important to keep your sanity at times and I can honestly say I have been keeping it together better and better. This is what I am thankful for. I am thankful for having a positive life perspective. I am thankful of not being envious, jealous and bitter of others.

I am thankful that I don’t judge others and I try not to let those who judge me influence my emotional state of mind. I am thankful for charity and love. So many people showered their sincere feelings with me during some rough times. I know I am loved!

I am also much better at selecting friends and knowing who I can trust and who to keep close. I will reflect on 2008 someday and view it as a year of personal growth! I am about to celebrate Thanksgiving soon and I wanted to share with everyone that it is a way of life.

Thanksgiving shouldn’t be a single day on a calendar that we celebrate with an oversized Turkey. I travel to Vietnam frequently and other parts of the world and America has so much to be thankful for. All of us that are Americans are privileged. For the freedoms, for the democracy, for all of the little luxuries we take for granted.

I just had a funny conversation with a friend last night. We were talking about something as simple as a washer and dryer. I lived in an upscale part of London for part of last year and they don’t have separate washers and dryers?! You dry your clothes in the same machine you wash them in!

It takes about 4 hours to do a load of laundry!! In Italy, they don’t even have dryers! Or at least I didn’t come across one and have shared similar stories with others that travel frequently. Most people in Italy hang dry their clothes. These are modern first world countries. Really, we all have a lot to be thankful for. Even those simple little luxuries.

Don’t forget to appreciate the moment. Don’t forget to absorb all of life’s lessons and don’t forget to apply every bit of wisdom gained and lesson learned to forge an even better future. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!! This includes all of my friends and fans around the world!

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 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!