Diary of a Poker Diva - Liz Lieu

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.

Don’t send the search party! Liz Lieu is in Vegas and doing fine. If you haven’t heard, I’ve been sidetracked by some bad fish! I’ve had a number of people checking up on me after looking at the live tournament updates wondering where I was. I was sick in bed, in of all places Monaco!! I had such high hopes for the EPT Grand Finale in Monaco last week and for the Five Star World Poker Classic in Vegas this week. These are my two favorite tournaments of the entire year. The only other tournaments that compare are the Five Diamond in December and the WSOP Main Event. I was really looking forward to competing and was really disappointed to get so sick

Ironically, I did everything in my control to be prepared for the EPT Grand Finale. I flew into Monte Carlo a day early to get adjusted and properly rested from the travel. I even passed on a great party thrown for the poker players, the evening before Day 1A to make sure I had enough sleep. Then I decided to order a salmon dish before going to bed and woke up the next day feeling very ill. The Hotel is 5 Star in one of the wealthiest countries in the world. I never even considered getting bad room service!!

When I woke up the next day, I was feeling dizzy, feint and just awful. Luckily, Alex was able to move my Day 1A start to Day 1B and I went back to bed hoping I could sleep it off. Unfortunately I just felt worse the next day. I had sharp stomach pains and asked my Sponsor Alex to try and get me a refund on my buy-in. Thankfully, they agreed on giving us a full refund and I didn’t have to suck it up and play it out. As bad as I felt, there was no way I could’ve played close to my “A” game.

The entire Day 1B was spent in bed and trying to convince room service to deliver me some soup. The only soup the Hotel had was Minestrone and they only gave me this after much struggle. Apparently the poker players were only allowed to order from the poker menu. Soup wasn’t on the menu but it was the only food I could keep down and after Alex made a phone call to room service they agreed to send a tiny bowl up.

The adventure didn’t stop in Monte Carlo. I spent a few more days in my hotel room recovering and then back to Vegas on my scheduled flight to the States. I still felt ill but hoped I could sleep through most of the flight. On the first leg of the flight, I was able to get some sleep but I awoke in a feverish sweat. I felt a little light headed and dizzy as well. The flight attendant noticed I wasn’t feeling quite right and made sure I was taken care of on my connecting flight. I was even provided a wheel chair to transport me around on my connection and arrival. I was whisked thru these long security lines and somebody even grabbed my luggage for me. It was actually quite nice! I didn’t realize how quickly you could navigate thru an airport when you are in a wheel chair.

That was my Monte Carlo experience!! I’m back in Vegas and still not well enough to play in the Five Diamond Event at the Bellagio but it did give me a chance to catch up on some blogging. I immediately went to the doctor after getting back home and I have all kinds of stuff wrong with me!! Low blood pressure, fever, food poisoning. The doctor tells me I’m too stressed out and along with the food poisoning and travelling I just need to chill out for awhile. I know many of you have been emailing me when you noticed I didn’t play either of the last two major events and rest assured; besides being quite ill right now from some bad salmon everything is okay.

And as soon as I get my strength back, I will probably play some cash games exclusively until the WSOP.

Cheers!